GSP hiding away alot

[BobRivers]

Hello,

I have been reading the forum for some time before joining so hello to every one as this is my first post.

I have kept tropical fish quite successfully for over two years now and two years ago I wanted a puffer fish I have now purchased a GSP 1 week ago its about 1" long and I keep it in a well plastic planted and rock/bogwood tank 15G (I will get a bigger tank when it gets bigger) i have a vision 260 downstairs that i might convert if i have success with brackish set up.
I have struggled with the salinity of my tank for a few weeks trying to get my SG to 1.015 I was amazed at how much salt you have to use and how expensive the salt is.

My question is the GSP seems to hide at the back all the time and moves from top to bottom in the corner and very rarely comes out when I am in the room the first few days it was quite active and It was exploring good. It now seems very timid and shy I was wondering if its the tank that is to small or if it just takes time to adjust. It feeds very well. I have a small tank with snails breeding which it loves it also tears earthworms apart very quickly and it eats frozen bloodworms and shrimps.I also feed prawns.

Tank cycled for over two months Stats all 0 SG is 1.008 I keep trying to raise it every 4 days with 25% water change
I have a fluval 2 internal filter could this be an issue as I believe some like external filters only?


Any help would be greatly appreciated

[sparks42]

I also just got a new GSP and he's eating great too.... but also hides away at the back most of the time.
Almost like he's spying from back there.....

[Pufferpunk]

What test kits are you using? After 2 months, you should be showing some nitrate. How did you keep it cycled for 2 months--were there other fish in there all this time? SG should only be raised .002/week, so as not to disturb the biological bacteria.

Is it eating?

[t1gerbee]

At 1 inch there is no need to get him up to 1.015 just yet.. just try and keep everything stable.. if your salinity is jumping around too much then it could be damaging your cycle.. meaning you may be getting some ammonia/nitrite in the water...

what are your parameters?

You say your puffer moving from top to bottom, as in pacing... this is normal puffer behaviour as they get used to their new environment, if you think not so long ago your fish was in the wild, it's not hard to see why glass confuses them...

What is your fish's colouring, bright and a white belly, or dark? Is it dark all the time, or just at night.. the later is more normal...


I *would* say the fish is just settling in, but as he was out exploring happily for the first few days i'd say something was up...

your tank was cycling for two months, how? With other fish, or with ammonia? Was it left without fish or ammonia for any length of time....?


I suspect your tank is not as cycled as you think, possibly due to the salinity changing over 0.002 in a short amount of time killing some/all of the nitrifying bacteria... cycling a freshwater tank and then adding large amounts of salt at some point will mean the tank is no longer cycled... or cycling a brackish tank and then changing the salinity by over 0.002 at a time, will also render the tank uncycled...

Large, daily water changes will be the best way of getting your happy, exploring fish back.. at least until we eliminate all other possibilities...

[BobRivers]

Having read the replys I guess the tank is not as cycled as first thought it was used for over a year as a fry tank which raised corys and guppys and swordtails then I decided on the change to brackish I used the same filters for a while then changed out one at a time as the salt was added I removed 25% every 4 days with roughly one cup of salt per 20l of water which was look warm.

The readings all seemed okay with API Saltwater Master Test Kit. i bought a floating Hydrometer of ebay which to be honest not sure if it gives me the best reading

The fish colouring is bright spot at front with top body slightly darker nice round belly which is white I did get a fright this morning as when i first saw it it looked very dark

He is eating good, devours the snails I put in and I put in an earthworm and when he found it he tore it to bits quickly

what is the correct way to increase the salinity by 0.002?


Thanks again.

[t1gerbee]

that's great, eveything sounds good then, if he's got healthy colours a big white belly and is eating well then maybe he is just getting used to the tank...

the correct way to raise the salinity.. i guess evryone does it differently....?

I add half a bucket of very hot water, mix in the salt until its fully dissolved and doesnt feel gritty, then make up the rest of the bucket with cold water until i gt the right temperature... add dechlorinator and throw it in... if you make up a bucket of very salty water, maybe full marine, then keep slowly adding it and reading off the SG until the whole tank is 0.002 higher than it was...

but the floating hydrometer could be the key as they are really not at all accurate...

you can buy a refractometer from ebay ( i did) for £20... and they are super accurate.. then it's easy to raise the SG by 0.002.. you just look through the view finder and read off the results...

a more expensive hydrometer may work as well, as long as you get one that covers the low brackish end..

the puffer can potentially handle salinity swings, but the nitrifying bacteria can't....






oh, and i know what you mean, a sleeping puffer is very unsettling... you want to poke it and say, 'are you still alive..'