breeding shrimps and snails...for live food?

[mybabyweightiseightyearsold]

So, is this a yukky, evil, "dawn of the dead" idea?

We have a tank with south american puffers - they are freshwater puffers and cute as cute.

DD (8) in love with them - but has, correctly, spotted that their teeth are overgrown. Best way to trim the teeth is to feed them live snails and shrimps. So, we now have a small tank, waiting for an excess of invertebrates to put into the big tank....and DS (6) is upset at this corrupt and wicked plan.

Arguments for: 1.it's nature. 2. There a loads of hiding places for the shrimps and snails in the big tank. 3. Doing dentistry on a fish is not a skill I have.

Arguments against: DS loves the shrimp. Like, really, really loves them.

Sigh. Should have got a kitten. They really wanted a kitten.

PS Will swap snails for babysitting.

If you have a puffer fish then it's pretty much compulsory to breed snails for food- as you've said, their beaks can get overgrown otherwise.

Malaysian trumpet snails have very tough shells and breed very quickly so that's the one that most puffer keepers go for. You can get them off ebay very cheaply or try asking on freecycle.

There are some feeding tips here as well as dentistry tips (for the very brave and/or experienced).

Shrimp probably wouldn't be worth it tbh, they aren't crunchy enough.

Oh goodness I'm so jealous! I would love some puffers.

Sounds like this is a great time to learn about food chains

Lots of stories about how the beloved puffs will become poorly and sad without snails to crunch?

I'd maybe spare the shrimp though, they are kinda cute and you could have them in a nano tank with your snail breeding stock perhaps? Could that be a compromise?

They are South American Puffers, bought from a woman who had them in a community tank - which wasn't working out. They are totally cute, and really working out as pets because they have personalities and come up to the glass when the kids pay them attention. There's only two, but I've found a shop that has some more and will get a group of five. They cuddle up together at night, these things are just brilliant wee fish.

I had bought some apple snails, ramshorn snails and malaysian trumpet snails - thinking they'd instantly start breeding and the puffers would pick off one or two of the stragglers...

...but, the fish are hunting machines!

So, I borrowed a small tank from nursery and put the remaining shrimps and snails in there. Where, there are eggs, so that's all happy. And, as of this morning, planaria - so that's not.

Sigh. I presume nursery overfed their fish to death - and that planaria eggs were in the tank's gravel? Dunno.

Anyhoo, am hoping to get a good colony of "prey" going and let them get established in the big tank so I can get rid of the worm-infested one.

Blokie a little bit unhappy that living room is starting to look like a fish shop.

I am delighted to be embracing my inner-fish-geek.

Thanks for the link on the dentistry - am hoping to avoid it, but one of them is really quite buck toothed.

Wonder whetheer fish dentistry could go on my CV as a skill?

Are they planaria or detritus worms? Planaria are fatter, a bit like slugs but detritus worms are very fine, like a hair almost. Both are common in newly cycling tanks. Some kinds of planaria are harmful to snails, some aren't. Best to squish any you see to be on the safe side. If you keep the feeding to a minimum then they shouldn't become a problem.

I miss the days when my sitting room looked like a fish shop :( How big do the puffers get, is it about 6 inches or something?

Fish dentistry is definitely CV-worthy.

not heard of detritus worms - will off and google for sure. I thought they were maybe baby planaria, they are so tiny and fine you don't see them at first. Not feeding the tank, and swapped the sponges from the established tank to see what happens.

And, delighted to report - snail eggs! Berried shrimps! This is better than falling pregnant myself, am so totally over that one...

SAP's only grow to 3" or so. Some report of 5", but they are fairly small. Super fast, and I'm getting way more pleasure from the tank than my daughter is.

Kids all sick today, so will go on a calpol forage to boots tonight. Where they sell clove oil and cuticle cutters...

What did you keep in your domestic fish shop?

Well done, that is exactly what they are.

I noticed yesterday that the filter flow was way down, swapped the tiny filter for another, more powerful one. Wonder whether the oxygen's been down a bit.

Will see what happens! Thanks for your help!

Just google these puffers and when DH gets home will be doing my
'I really really want some of these!' (as well as a hedgehog, which I've been asking for for ages!)...
Too cute!!

Hope your brood are better soon.

I've kept a few things over the years, started off with fancy goldfish and then moved on to tropical. I've had corys, congo tetras, hoplos, peacock gobies, bolivian rams... er... possibly some others.

Oh, I've been down the hedgehog route.

Tried tempting them in with food left out at night, the foxes liked that. I am not so keen on fox poo following the toddler smearing it on himself.

Then I tried to volunteer as a hedgehog rehabilitation centre - was hoping the wildlife hospital might have a wee head injured or three legged hog needing somewhere to limp out it's last days...but nothing yet.

Instead of a charming, disabled hedgehog - I have three kids. Who are not as cute, and do not eat the slugs in the garden. Pah.

I've got legions of hedgehogs in my garden (or possibly just one hedgehog with a bowel condition). I very rarely see any but I haven't seen a slug for years and the lawn is always covered in hedgehog poo.

My niece in Canada has a pet hedgehog. It looks very cute but it wasn't very friendly, it just sort of hissed and curled up.