The Puffer Forum

Hello All,

I am new to the forum and will be new to puffer motherhood in the next few weeks. I kept community freshwater years ago.

So, before I ask my questions -- I hope you dont mind hearing my plan. (After reading so many horror stories of people just picking up a puffer and coming home with it -- I decided to be a very conscious parent and plan, plan, plan.) I visited three shops today and did not leave with any puffers! That is hard to do!

So. I have a 29 gal tank which I want to keep simple but elegant

The tank was set yesterday (I added stability, gravel, a few decorations, biowheel, heater, fake plants, etc) and is currently cycling with 2 mollies and some ghosts shrimp. I figure once I put the puffers in there I will probably have to return the mollies to the store.

I have started a small snail breeding tank for yummies for the kids (I have been a vertarian for 15 years so this is a big step towards puffer motherhood!)

I am most interested in GSP and also maybe F8. I understand that GSP can often be pretty agressive but the GSP are really what i want so I am going to submit to their nature and built everything else around them, even if that means having no other critters in the tank.

I am starting with a very slightly brackish tank. I was going to go full brakish but all the puffers I see in the stores are kept in straght freshwater. So, over the months and years I plan to make it more and more brackish -- eventually hopefully turning it into a marie tank. Another reason why I want to keep the tank simple. I know that as adults they do much better in marie water and this seems like a natural progression for both the puffers and I

I am trying to figure out the how many, what and when. I would like to stay with the 29G set up if possible.

1) Anyone had any luck with GSP and F8 co existing?
2) Anyone had any luck with GSP and Dwarf Puffers co existing?
3) Since they like hard water are Coral and shells of for the tank?
4) I have read that GSP and F8 need 10 gal each at adulthood. I want to plan for this. Which means my tank could possibly handel 3 puffers. But I am worried that this will be crowded. At the point they are that big they will have lived together (hopefully) for years so maybe that wont be the case.

Anyway -- all advice is welcomed!

Thanks and I am glad to join the pufferlover family!

-Ms. Andy Gish

1) Short term co-existance, certainly (days to weeks). Long term coexistance, no. F-8 are light BW fish and get about 3". GSPs are high end BW to full SW, and get ~6" (more than 4x the mass). Incompatable water requirements, incompatable sizes.

2) No. GSPs are high end BW. Dwarf puffers are just FW, period.

3) Yes.

4) You read bad information. The minimum allowance per F-8 should be 10 gallons for that fish alone. The minimum allowance for GSPs should be 30 gallons per GSP alone. Your tank could carry 3 F-8s and nothing else with excellent care , or one GSP under the same care. The two types should not be kept together (see #1 above).

Please read the articles on keeping and maintaining GSPs and F-8s in the Library section on this site.

HTH

Umm, well this was also posted in General Discussion so you can check there for my input

Thanks for all your help and please keep it coming. I want to be as responsible a puffer owner as possible.

After reading for a few days, I have realized there is so much CONFLICTING info out there from size at adulthood, to water prefs to compatibility. I have seen pages upon pages just on the whole brakish/freshwater/marine debate. Thanks for helping me sort it out.

I am leaning towards keeping a GSP tank and eventually turning it into a marine tank. I was to ease into it as I have never had a marine tank but having that as my long term plan is exciting.

So, the GSP I have seen are about 1-1.5 inches in length. If I had a pair, how long do you think it would be until I needed to upgrade to a larger tank? I have access to a larger tank (its either 70 or 90G) but finding a place for it in my apartment is the problem ;P

-andy

I just thought I would add one little note: you can keep your mollies! They thrive in brackish water and do a fair job of cleaning up after a messy puffer(s). IME, mollies are usually spunky enough to hold their own without being terribly mean themselves.

My F8, fluffy, has two young mollies, 5 bumblebee gobies, and two white-cheek gobies as roommates and they all get along very well. Just watch for nipped fins... not all puffers are so well behaved.

Just about quarantine time, approximately a month, would be safest and most conservative. Puffers and clown loaches are the most easily stunted fish commonly kept IME.

The problem w/keeping mollies is 2-flod. My GSPs killed even a large sailfin. Also, if you are cycling or keeping the bacteria alive w/them, then there is opnly enough bacteria to support their bioload, not the puffer's. Personally, I'd cycle w/ammonia. There is an excellent article on fishless cycling in the Library. Then you can fully stock a tank when it's done.

Or even just introduce some biospira in when you put the puffs in the tank.

Hi there,

I have had my F8 and GSP in the same tank since I got them, almost a year now.

They are absolutely fine together! I also read some scary stuff about aggression from the GSP, but my two have been ok. It seems to be a 'luck of the draw' if you can keep the two species in the same tank. I guess I got lucky! I was not properly informed by the fish shop that there could be potential issues between them, nor that the GSP could actually do better with a bit more salt than the F8s usually live in.

I plan to separate them for this reason, however it is expensive to keep the one tank, let alone two!

If you decide to try them out together, you'll notice very quickly if there is any aggression/nipping.

I only have my two puffs in the tank, along with numerous plants, rocks, logs, tunnels to keep them busy. They haven't gotten up to much mischief, but are an absolute joy to observe. My F8 is especially curious and loves to play 'follow the pen/whatever is in the human hand'! They are always watching every move around the living room, and especially enjoy watching me vacuum!

Best of luck with your new babies, I wish you all the best

I highly suggest against this long-term. Not only will the GSP outgrow the F8 by 5x it's mass, it also requires a much higher SG as an adult.