How to Tong Train Your Pufferfish

Many pufferfish available in the aquarium trade are wild-caught, collected directly from rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters around the world. Their unique appearance, quirky personalities, and reputation for intelligence make them instantly appealing to aquarists, but behind that charm lies one of the biggest challenges in pufferfish keeping: feeding.

In the wild, many pufferfish are opportunistic predators, relying on movement to trigger their hunting instincts. They chase down crabs, hunt for worms, and even ambush small fish, crunching them apart with their powerful bites. When suddenly placed in an aquarium and presented with prepared foods, many puffers simply don’t recognise these items as edible. To them, if it isn’t moving, it isn’t worth eating.

This instinct often results in frustrating standoffs between the keeper and fish. New owners may watch their prized puffer stubbornly ignore anything offered, leading to days or even weeks of refusal. During this time, the fish can begin to lose weight, and if the problem isn’t resolved, the consequences can be severe: prolonged malnutrition, compromised immune function, and in the worst cases, starvation.

Even when puffers do accept food, they can be maddeningly selective, locking onto one or two “preferred” items and rejecting all others. Members of the Pao genus are especially notorious for this behaviour, with some individuals accepting only a single type of prey item for weeks, months, or even years on end. A narrow diet might keep them alive, but it won’t keep them healthy.

Without enough variety, puffers can miss out on essential nutrients, and for the aquarist, this can be both worrying and discouraging.

Some keepers resort to offering live food exclusively, which can be expensive, messy, and unsustainable. Others give in to their fish’s selectiveness, unknowingly reinforcing dangerous or nutritionally incomplete feeding habits.

Fear not, there is a solution. By using a simple yet highly effective technique called tong training, we can overcome these obstacles. This method harnesses the puffer’s natural curiosity, intelligence, and strong feeding response to create a reliable association between a pair of feeding tongs and a meal. Once that association is established, the aquarist gains far greater control over the diet. Safe, appropriate foods can be introduced and accepted, variety can be reinforced, and reliance on risky or nutritionally poor items can finally be broken.

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What You Will Need

Tong training doesn’t require fancy equipment, but a few key tools (and the right mindset) will make all the difference:

• A pair of long, slim feeding tongs (with good gripping teeth) – preferably stainless steel, at least 12 inches in length. These keep your fingers safely out of range of your puffer’s beak, while giving you enough reach to position food accurately in the tank. Stainless steel is durable, easy to clean, and won’t leach anything harmful into the water. Avoid plastic if possible, as it can bend or break when offering foods to large puffers with a strong bite.
  

• A variety of safe, species-appropriate foods – Tong training works best when you rotate foods, since it encourages flexibility and prevents pickiness from taking hold.

  
  

• A dash of patience – perhaps the most important ingredient of all. Building a positive association between the tongs and feeding doesn’t happen overnight. Some puffers will “get it” in a single session, while others - especially the more stubborn Pao species - may take a few weeks before they willingly snatch food from the tips. The key is consistency: offer food with the tongs every time, and eventually your puffer will learn that these strange metal sticks mean dinner is served.

  
  

With these simple tools and a bit of perseverance, you’ll be ready to begin shaping your puffer’s feeding behaviour in a way that makes long-term care easier, safer, and healthier.

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How to Start Training

Tong training isn’t complicated, but it does rely on repetition and consistency. Across our community, aquarists keeping everything from the reclusive members of the Pao genus to the big, bold Tetraodons have reported great success using this approach. Many members who once struggled with stubborn, selective feeders now describe tong training as the single most useful technique they’ve learned for puffer care. The feedback we receive is consistently positive: fish that once refused food for weeks can be coaxed into eating a wide and balanced diet, and even the pickiest species can be persuaded to try new, healthier options once they associate tongs with mealtime.

• Step one: Start with irresistible food Choose something your puffer will almost certainly respond to: a food that is wriggly, lively, and impossible to ignore. Many keepers report great success with live earthworms, cockroaches, or feeder snails, as their natural movement strongly stimulates a predator that hunts by sight. Grip the item firmly in the tongs so it can’t slip away, then lower it into the tank slowly. Avoid rushing straight at the fish or shoving the food directly in its face; puffers are easily startled by sudden movements. Instead, position the food just within its line of sight and let the movement do the work. A gentle wiggle, a slow “swim” through the water, or even resting the food near the substrate so it twitches slightly can all mimic the behaviour of natural prey.
  

  At this stage, you may see two typical responses. Some puffers will strike instantly, their hunting instinct overriding any caution. Others take a more measured approach, watching from a distance, circling, and retreating without taking a bite. Both behaviours are perfectly normal.

  The goal here isn’t to fill them up in one session, but to spark that crucial first strike. Even a tentative nip is progress, because each interaction builds the association between tongs = food. Once that mental link is established, the rest of the training becomes far easier.

  If your puffer does take the bait, reward it with another offering. If it refuses after a few minutes, remove the food and try again later, either in a few hours or the next day. Do not drop the item into the tank as a fallback. Puffers are intelligent, and if they learn that refusing food from the tongs means it will be dumped into the tank anyway, they’ll hold out, and the training will stall.

  
  

  A Note on Wild-Caught Puffers and Hunger Strikes

  Wild-caught puffers are often the most difficult to tong train. Accustomed to chasing down live, wriggling prey, many refuse to acknowledge frozen or prepared foods for long stretches of time. In our community, keepers have reported individuals who held out for weeks, sometimes even two months, before finally taking their first bite from the tongs. This can be frustrating and worrying, but it is not unusual.

  It helps to understand the natural rhythm of these fish. In the wild, the lurkiest species (the true ambush predators) do not eat every day. Many spend long hours, even several days, conserving energy by lurking among roots, hiding in crevices, or half-burying themselves in the substrate, waiting for an opportunity meal. Their metabolisms are adapted to infrequent feeding, and a healthy specimen with good body mass can safely endure a period of reduced intake while it adjusts to captivity and new foods.

  That said, there is a crucial distinction between a strong, well-conditioned fish and one that is already thin or stressed. A robust puffer with “good meat on its bones” can withstand several weeks without food, but concessions must be made for weaker individuals. If a new arrival is in poor condition, do not push the hunger strike approach too far. Offer highly stimulating foods (live snails, earthworms, etc) until the fish regains strength, then gradually transition into tong training once its health is more secure.

  The key is patience and balance. Tong training works, but it requires the aquarist to read the fish’s condition and act responsibly.
  

• Step 2: Be consistent with the tongs Consistency is the backbone of tong training. From the very beginning, make sure every meal is presented with the same pair of tongs. Puffers are intelligent, visual learners, and over time, they will come to recognise the tongs themselves as a feeding cue. This recognition is what transforms the tongs from a strange object in their environment into a trusted signal that food is coming.

  It’s important not to break this association. Avoid dropping food into the tank “just to make sure they eat something,” as this undermines the process. If the fish learns that food will arrive regardless of whether it accepts it from the tongs, it has no incentive to cooperate. Instead, reinforce the idea that the only way to get fed is by interacting with the tongs.
  

  In practice, this means presenting the tongs calmly and deliberately every time you feed. Keep your movements predictable, introduce the food in a similar place within the aquarium, and don’t swap between tools. Over a few sessions, many puffers will begin to rush forward as soon as the tongs appear, already anticipating a meal. This excitement is exactly what you want, it shows the association is taking root.
  

• Step 3: Begin introducing variety Once your puffer is confidently feeding from the tongs with its favourite food, the next step is to broaden its diet. Start by offering a different item, something safe and nutritious, but unfamiliar. Present it in the same way as before.

  If the fish takes it right away, that’s a breakthrough. If it doesn't take it after a few minutes, remove the uneaten item and switch back to its favourite food so the session ends on a positive note.

  The real trick is in combining the two. Offer the preferred food alongside the new one, holding both together in the tongs so the fish bites at one and tastes the other. Over time, this pairing helps the puffer realise that different foods are just as rewarding as its usual choice.
  

  The logic is simple but effective: the puffer already trusts the tongs and the food it loves, so introducing variety through that same trusted channel makes it far more likely to accept new items. This is how selective feeders, even stubborn species like Pao, can gradually be moved onto a balanced, sustainable diet.
  

• Step 4: Keep increasing variety Once your puffer has accepted a second food item, keep building on that success. Introduce new options regularly, always presented with the tongs. Some will be taken right away, while others may take a few attempts before the fish is willing to try them. The important thing is persistence and rotation.
  

  Over time, the association becomes so strong that the fish no longer hesitates. The tongs themselves become the signal: whatever they bring is edible. At this stage, even cautious or previously selective puffers will begin striking confidently at almost anything offered, because the trust in the feeding process outweighs suspicion of the item itself.

  This is the turning point in tong training. By continually reinforcing variety, you ensure your puffer receives balanced nutrition and the enrichment that comes from different textures and flavours. Before long, you’ll find that your fish eagerly snaps up whatever those tongs have to offer.