Green spotted Puffer: what should i be more worried about?

[Nas]

Which is more worrying, a puffer going pale or a puffer going dark? There are times during the day, usually when i'm near the tank where he swithces from pale to dark but when i pass the tank after being away his colour seems fine...

[StormySkiez]

How are your water parameters? Is your gsp in brackish water? Any other signs? Fading I have read seem to be normal with gsp's.

As long as his belly does not go black and stay black no worries? Guess on my part from my experiences. When you say dark do you mean black w/ black belly or dark green on top only?

My 1 3/4 inch gsp fades on top somewhat regularly. He was having black side stripes on his belly when he went to sleep sometimes. I have not seen that in weeks. My 1 1/2 inch gsp stays bright on top all the time although this week her color started to fade on her sides a little. It looks like the fading might have something to do with age because this has recently happened. I'm anxious to see if when I acclimate them to brackish if this brightens their colors permanently.

Black bellies most of the time on a gsp mean STRESS.

[crazedpuffer]

Puffers change their colors a lot, you should only worry if it is continuously dark or pale and he seems stressed. If he acts normal and changes it's nothing to worry about.

[Nas]

How are your water parameters? Is your gsp in brackish water? Any other signs? Fading I have read seem to be normal with gsp's.

As long as his belly does not go black and stay black no worries? Guess on my part from my experiences. When you say dark do you mean black w/ black belly or dark green on top only?

My 1 3/4 inch gsp fades on top somewhat regularly. He was having black side stripes on his belly when he went to sleep sometimes. I have not seen that in weeks. My 1 1/2 inch gsp stays bright on top all the time although this week her color started to fade on her sides a little. It looks like the fading might have something to do with age because this has recently happened. I'm anxious to see if when I acclimate them to brackish if this brightens their colors permanently.

Black bellies most of the time on a gsp mean STRESS.

It seems to be a combination of all these. Sometimes it's just his belly, sometimes just the top and sometimes he goes all dark. The water parameters are fine, sometimes there is a little bit of no2 and no3 but only very little. I keep the salinity at about 1.008 and he's about an inch to 1.3 inches...

[crazedpuffer]

What size tank is he in, how often do you do water changes, and how much water do you change?

[Agnate]

I've also heard that sometimes, if they aren't in the salinity they prefer, they can be moody. If he's the only one in the tank (or is with a couple mollies), try bringing up the salinity by 0.001 (very small amount), and see if he acts any differently. Just keep an eye on him and look over his body to see if anything is out of the ordinary.

I assume you do water changes every week, or at least every two weeks. If not, he might not be happy with the waste in the tank. A lot of waste isn't visible to the human eye and is dissolved in the water, so even if the tank appears to be clean, it's often not.

[zombiefetus]

It could be a stress issue. How long have you had him? How was the tank cycled? The tank size could also be an issue. While he's that small, he'd be fine in a 20gallon or so, but when he's over 2.5" he'd need a 30gallon tank (both of these tank sizes are assuming he has no tank mates). How much decor is in the tank? Maybe add a few more plants/rocks to help him feel more secure, if the tank doesn't already have a background that could help too.

[StormySkiez]

Hmm, sounds like salt does not make a difference in gsp color. I would make sure the water is as perfect as you can get it to reduce any stress to start with.

[groovitudedude]

Puffers change their colors a lot, you should only worry if it is continuously dark or pale and he seems stressed. If he acts normal and changes it's nothing to worry about.

Yeah, GSPs tend to do that sometimes (There are other puffers that stay the same color all the time). As long as he's acting healthy and eating (etc.) there should be nothing to worry about. Perhaps it's a change in the room? Is it a dark room, and you turn on the light suddenly? Maybe it's not the water paramaters.

[StormySkiez]

The only way to know if the water parameters are effecting the gsp is to test it. Testing tank water and regular water changes is the best preventative we can give our fish.

Even the small amount of ammonia and nitrite he has can affect the gsp.