Pea puffer vacation feeding

[Rxhart]

Hi!  In December we will be gone for 12 days.  On day 1 and 12, I can feed my fish.  From day 2-11- auto fish feeders for most of my tanks.  Don’t have any close friends I trust to handle feeding the puffer tank.

question is this: I have a 20 long with 7 young pea puffers who dine richly most days on snails or scuds or frozen bloodworms.  I also give them live blackworms occasionally and other frozen shrimp,etc.  but none of these will work for vacation…. Except…. I wonder if I just load up a ton of snails and put in a large load of scuds the day I leave, if that should be ok for 10 days.  What do you guys think?  I can’t think of another way to feed these ferocious little beasts.  Anybody have any ideas?  Presently they are fat and happy- but I’m a fish mom and I worry.☺️🐠🐟

[itsfoxtail]

I would absolutely think that would work. I've overloaded my pea puffer tank with snails before a 7 day vacation and when I came back they all still had fat tummies and I even saw a few snails that managed to evade them the entire time. I know yours is a bit longer but I wouldn't doubt they would be alright. I have left them for 5 days multiple times with really no food besides whatever they can scavenge and they were just fine. Granted they were incredibly happy to see me and some bloodworms when I came back (lol).

They can go quite a while without food but loading up is always my preferred option. They are quite gluttonous, but in my experience they do sort of save some for later instead of eating absolutely all of them which would bode well for your vacation! Just my little two cents! 

[Levi_Aquatics]

I think it would probably be okay, but obviously it would be optimal to have someone feed the aquariumm though. If that's not an option I think what you have suggested would be the best alternative. 

[gardenman]

If you have a hang on breeder box like the Marina/Fluval ones, you could load that with snails/scuds and the snails/scuds would work their way out of the box and into the tank where the hungry puffers could nibble away at them. Those boxes have a water inlet and an overflow and with the right flow the snails/scuds would have an escape route from the breeder box into the tank and into the bellies of the puffers.

[Rxhart]

On 11/19/2022 at 9:44 PM, itsfoxtail said:

I would absolutely think that would work. I've overloaded my pea puffer tank with snails before a 7 day vacation and when I came back they all still had fat tummies and I even saw a few snails that managed to evade them the entire time. I know yours is a bit longer but I wouldn't doubt they would be alright. I have left them for 5 days multiple times with really no food besides whatever they can scavenge and they were just fine. Granted they were incredibly happy to see me and some bloodworms when I came back (lol).

They can go quite a while without food but loading up is always my preferred option. They are quite gluttonous, but in my experience they do sort of save some for later instead of eating absolutely all of them which would bode well for your vacation! Just my little two cents! 

Your two cents is worth a lot!  They are dining on blackworms today and left some on the ground wiggling, so I think they are full.  Thanks for the advice!

On 11/20/2022 at 7:23 AM, gardenman said:

If you have a hang on breeder box like the Marina/Fluval ones, you could load that with snails/scuds and the snails/scuds would work their way out of the box and into the tank where the hungry puffers could nibble away at them. Those boxes have a water inlet and an overflow and with the right flow the snails/scuds would have an escape route from the breeder box into the tank and into the bellies of the puffers.

Wow I had read that before and do have a breeder box , so it’s worth a try.  The scuds are in the gravel and come out at night .

On 11/19/2022 at 9:53 PM, Levi_Aquatics said:

I think it would probably be okay, but obviously it would be optimal to have someone feed the aquariumm though. If that's not an option I think what you have suggested would be the best alternative. 

Yes- I don’t have any aquarium buddies in the area😢

[Odd Duck]

Make sure to add the scuds and snails at night when the peas are “sleeping”.  The Marina box is an excellent thought, @gardenman.  Remove the outflow gate and leave some blanched kale, green beans, or maybe a small slice of zucchini, and a couple algae wafers in the box for the scuds and snails.  If you have blackworms, you can even put some of them in the box with algae wafers, and some will no doubt wiggle their way into the tank.  Your peas will probably learn to spend their daylight time waiting by the box outflow.  You won’t even have to get the big box.  A medium should be fine, just give it enough flow to make sure the water in the box has reasonably good turnover rate or the veggies/wafers rotting could cause problems.  Don’t overload the box too much with veggies, just pick something that might last for at least a few days without getting too rotten before it’s eaten.

Actually, maybe a couple pieces of mulberry and/or Catappa (Indian almond leaves) might be better for longer lasting food and only a small piece of veggie as a starter course.  Mulberry leaves get eaten over about 4-7 days, Catappa last several weeks (you could put them in the tank after you get back).  Veggie and algae wafer will get eaten first, then mulberry, then Catappa for the second week since it will be softening up by then.

[Rxhart]

On 11/21/2022 at 12:10 PM, Odd Duck said:

Make sure to add the scuds and snails at night when the peas are “sleeping”.  The Marina box is an excellent thought, @gardenman.  Remove the outflow gate and leave some blanched kale, green beans, or maybe a small slice of zucchini, and a couple algae wafers in the box for the scuds and snails.  If you have blackworms, you can even put some of them in the box with algae wafers, and some will no doubt wiggle their way into the tank.  Your peas will probably learn to spend their daylight time waiting by the box outflow.  You won’t even have to get the big box.  A medium should be fine, just give it enough flow to make sure the water in the box has reasonably good turnover rate or the veggies/wafers rotting could cause problems.  Don’t overload the box too much with veggies, just pick something that might last for at least a few days without getting too rotten before it’s eaten.

Actually, maybe a couple pieces of mulberry and/or Catappa (Indian almond leaves) might be better for longer lasting food and only a small piece of veggie as a starter course.  Mulberry leaves get eaten over about 4-7 days, Catappa last several weeks (you could put them in the tank after you get back).  Veggie and algae wafer will get eaten first, then mulberry, then Catappa for the second week since it will be softening up by then.

Thank you so much for the advice in detail!!!