New GSP

[HermesGSP]

Hi guys. Name is Matt and I'm from Raleigh NC. Long story short, I have one remaining GSP that I'm totally falling for. My fiancé talked me into these little guys at the lfs before I really knew what I was getting into. We have 3 betta tanks already, which give you no real fish tank training, haha. We had talked for months about a bigger tank, probably total marine and maybe porcupine puffers and whatnot, then saw these guys. I found a decent little 40 gal tank with a stand and filter on craigslist and picked up 4 GSPs that day. I'm a musician and play at night so after helping her clean and place the tank I went to work. I came home and she had put straight tap water in the aquarium and let the puffers in without any prepping and went to bed. (she meant well, it was my fault for leaving it to her and not researching more before buying the fish) She was trying to surprise me. 3 were already gone and the last remaining little guy was barely hanging on.

I grabbed a cup of water from one of the established betta tanks and put him in there while transferring a betta into a bowl so I could temporarily house the GSP til I figured out what to do. Once I got him in the 5gal betta tank, he curled up and sat near the bottom, hovering there all night. Good news is he made it. Bad news is I needed a crash course in how to take care of this little face with fins immediately. I found this forum (thank the puffer gods) and combined the advice I got here and 3 lfs and got the tank cycling with bio spira and dechlorinator, and also threw in 4 little danios and two silver tipped fw sharks to get the tank going. This was a week ago. Once I got the ph to around 8 I had the lfs test the water and put Hermes (greek god of luck and speed....name seemed fitting) into the tank and he took off exploring. Not the optimum way to get the poor guy started, but I learned my lesson. Now that I see how much personality he has, I'm really pissed at myself for the demise of the other three.

After 5 days of intense study, lol, I have ordered a companion for him and am getting a 55-75 gal tank that will allow for more room and the gradual transition to full marine (bw in between of course). I know now 4 GSPs are too much for a 55-75gal. I plan on using the current tank as a breeder tank for snails and keeping the other fish so the GSPs don't chomp them.

Hermes is already getting territorial. I put a bunch of fake plants in with him and some plastic caves. He has claimed the biggest one in the middle of the tank and allows nothing else in there. It's hilarious to see him chase the sharks out. When he's not in there, he tank surfs or sits in this one certain spot where he can spy on the sharks. He hasn't straight out attacked them that I've seen, but he is definitely stalking them. I suppose I will have to switch these tanks pretty soon before I have too much carnage on my hands.

I bought two Seio 320 pumps today to get some flow in the meantime. Enough? Hermes seems to enjoy that. His coloring is brown to bright green most of the time, grayish on the edge of his belly and white in the middle. His forehead is always vibrant green. He seems to like bloodworms, but I'm anxious to get him eating snails soon. We have a bunch of recently spawned ramshorn snails in one of the planted betta tanks, but they're tiny still. I'm currently looking for another source til they are big enough to feed. Should I worry about his beak growing too much at his size? (1 1/2")

Any other general advice would be great. I've read a bunch of posts and articles, but I'm aware that there's a lot I have to learn. It'd be nice if it wasn't at my new little buddy's expense.

[Nuclear_Glitter]

Puffers are perfectly fine alone, I don't recommend the tank mate. Get the other fish out of there as soon as you can because they're likely to become food and live fish really aren't healthy for other fish, leads to fatty liver disease and other diseases. Also, since it's a 40 gallon tank, the tank mates are most likely too much bioload anyway. These fish 30 gallons MINIMUM, and 55 is really the optimal.

Do you have him fresh, brackish, or full salt water currently? Biospira only cycles marine tanks.

Do you have a liquid testing kit? Or even test strips? pH doesn't show you if a tank is cycled or not.

[HermesGSP]

Thanks for the input. Yeah, I got some test strips the next day. There's a little ammonia left now, but that is part of the process as i understand it. I'm doing 10% wc every day and checking the progress, vacuuming the substrate, etc. all the fish seem to be doing well, especially Hermes.

As for the tank, it's freshwater now, but I'm going brackish as soon as I'm confident this one is thoroughly established and do the tank upgrade for the new puffer this week. I already ordered the other puffer, so I'm going 75 gal to give them space.

As for the other fish in there currently, I can sense the tension already. They will be out of there in a couple of days. Hermes almost got one of the sharks today.

[Nuclear_Glitter]

Ammonia is highly toxic to fish, and especially puffers. Do larger water changes every day. Go for like 50%, it won't affect the cycle at all. Test strips aren't accurate, at all. So, you probably have even higher ammonia than you realize.

When you get the new tank, I'd highly recommend going full marine. Maintaining super high brackish water is much more expensive in the long haul than going full marine. GSPs do just as good, if not better in full marine. I'd recommend doing a FOWLR (fish only with live rock) for the tank, it's the sand, live rock, and fish with the regular marine equipment.

He's most likely going to get a fish or two before you move them. Also, I'd recommend treating for IPs (internal parasites) because most puffers come with them.

[HermesGSP]

I had the lfs check the water sample I brought in as well as the strips. I have also found the strips to be pretty worthless. Is there any better way to check from home?

As to going full marine, I definitely plan to. My question is when? I see mixed opinions on that on this forum. How big should they be before getting live rock and skimmers and going full marine?

[Pufferpunk]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255NCI?Sub ... B000255NCI

[HermesGSP]

Thanks for the link. That kit is $40 at petco.

[Nuclear_Glitter]

I would just do it right away. So far, no one has seen negative effects of putting small GSPs into full marine, when properly cared for.

Get an API liquid testing kit. Far more accurate than strips. Just read the directions and do it properly. Shake the nitrate bottles like crazy, and wait 30 seconds between bottle one and two.

[Pufferpunk]

I'm an amazon sparkler!

[Nuclear_Glitter]

I'm an amazon sparkler!

Oh god. I didn't even see the Amazon link, so when I seen this post I was like O_o "What in the world?!"

[sgtmyers88]

Wouldn't this be better if he is going marine? http://www.amazon.com/API-Saltwater-Mas ... e+test+kit

[RTR]

Test strips are not useful at home by the nature of our slow rate of use. They have serious reliability issues in home use. Liquid based tests are far more reliable and stable, and also reproducible. If you have not used such before, when the instructions say "shake" they mean it in spades. Learn to use both arms so you do not develop lopsided shoulder muscles on one side... (: Be as accurate as you can on the timing. Consistency in technique helps a lot.

[HermesGSP]

Sgt has a point. I'm actually going brackish first. Which testing kit would work better for brackish? I'm just not quite studied up enough for full marine just yet. I'm planning on 3 or 4 months of brackish before I get my *%#t straight for full marine. I'm determined to not cause more puffer death.

[Pufferpunk]

API FW test kits are fine for BW.