might give up on puffers!
might give up on puffers!
I bought a couple of green spotted puffers a while back from a pet store. The guy there said they were relatively easy to take care of. I just needed to keep a specific gravity of 1.012 and feed them some frozen shrimp. I took puffers home and put them in my 12 gallon tank and within a week both died. A week ago I thought I would try again and bought a couple more puffers. Yet again within a week both died. I have kept the specific gravity at about 1.013. I asked the guy at the store if I was doing something wrong and he didn't see any problems. I have several plastic plants and a piece of coral in my tank now. I dig the puffers but am thinking on giving up on them since I don't want to kill any more of them.
Being that I am so new to this I am not sure what you mean by brackish or fresh. I thought brackish meant that the water is partially saltwater and that was what the specific gravity of 1.012 meant. I am not sure if my pet store has figure 8's. So are you saying that GSP's are out for my tank? Sorry for my ignorance.
Some call it a product of a mis-spent youth, I call it Rock n Roll ! 
Dear Leeish:
There are two articles in the Library section of this forum that are particularly important to those of us with an interest in maintaining healthy GSPs -- "The Care and Feeding of Green Spotted Puffers," by Pufferpunk, and "The Story of Puffy, a Green Spotted Puffer," by Puffer Archer. In my personal experience, it's frustrating, at first, to get with the program -- that is, the Puffer Program! There are a number of things that distinguish these creatures from other tropical fish -- you evidently know some of them already -- and the challenge of keeping them can appear daunting. After a while, though, if you are like the vast majority of the people who frequent this forum, you will find that it becomes surprisingly easy and is certainly most rewarding.
I, too, initially had problems establishing my tank. Then I discovered a product called Bio Spira, which "cycles" fish tanks quite readily. I also learned that having a single GSP -- alone -- in 40-gallon tank with dimensions that give it generous surface area, made for a successful habitat. I'm not offering my experience as any kind of "model" -- but I thought I'd share it for your reference.
Best of luck, and do continue to keep us posted!
Sincerely,
Peter
There are two articles in the Library section of this forum that are particularly important to those of us with an interest in maintaining healthy GSPs -- "The Care and Feeding of Green Spotted Puffers," by Pufferpunk, and "The Story of Puffy, a Green Spotted Puffer," by Puffer Archer. In my personal experience, it's frustrating, at first, to get with the program -- that is, the Puffer Program! There are a number of things that distinguish these creatures from other tropical fish -- you evidently know some of them already -- and the challenge of keeping them can appear daunting. After a while, though, if you are like the vast majority of the people who frequent this forum, you will find that it becomes surprisingly easy and is certainly most rewarding.
I, too, initially had problems establishing my tank. Then I discovered a product called Bio Spira, which "cycles" fish tanks quite readily. I also learned that having a single GSP -- alone -- in 40-gallon tank with dimensions that give it generous surface area, made for a successful habitat. I'm not offering my experience as any kind of "model" -- but I thought I'd share it for your reference.
Best of luck, and do continue to keep us posted!
Sincerely,
Peter
I am not sure what cycling the tank means. I was not given much information when buying these fish. I guess I am discouraged by the fact that these fish looked fine for a couple of days and then all of a sudden they got sick. When they got sick they declined rapidly. I don't want to kill any more fish so I would like to get as much information as possible beforehand.
Any ideas on why these fish would die within a week when they live in small tanks at the pet store? Both times I bought the fish there were two in a small tank.
Any ideas on why these fish would die within a week when they live in small tanks at the pet store? Both times I bought the fish there were two in a small tank.
ok so this is wat u need to buy, buy biospira for freshwater, buy the puffers, a heater, and a filter, and some substrate (gravel or sand), and somthing to declorize the water.
set everything up , make sure the water is declorized, have the heater running for a good 5 hours before u do anything else, then when the temp is at 79 degrees Farhenheight (spelling*), make sure u get the right salinity,then add the biospira,acclimate the puffers to the new water\heat, this should be a good remedy..i did everything but the biospira cause i couldnt get a hold of it around here till i found a better shop...this should eliminate ur dead puffer problem.
edit: have a source of air too.
set everything up , make sure the water is declorized, have the heater running for a good 5 hours before u do anything else, then when the temp is at 79 degrees Farhenheight (spelling*), make sure u get the right salinity,then add the biospira,acclimate the puffers to the new water\heat, this should be a good remedy..i did everything but the biospira cause i couldnt get a hold of it around here till i found a better shop...this should eliminate ur dead puffer problem.
edit: have a source of air too.
Last edited by Dawgz on Wed Nov 02, 2005 4:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
(1)F8 puffer - 10 gallon
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The Fisherman
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 694
- Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 2:46 pm
- Location: West Michigan
- Contact:
If you wanted to stay with the 12 gallon tank, you could see about getting a F8 puffer. First cycle the tank with liquid live bacteria( you should be able to get some at yopur LFS).
The specific gravity of the tank will need to be lowered to whatever they were keeping the puffer in at your LFS, then after you get the puffer, slowly increase the specific gravity by.002 each week, until you reach a SG of 1.008.
I keep my F8 in a ten gallon tank, with plenty of rockwork and caves, driftwood and plants, an undergravel filter, large airpump, airstone, heater, and a whisper filter. I keep the SG at about 1.008, and i use instant ocean marine salt.( its actually quite cheap if you buy it a small amount.)
I feed him frozen krill, ghost shrimp, and snails a couple times a week to keep his teeth down.
hope this helps,
-John
The specific gravity of the tank will need to be lowered to whatever they were keeping the puffer in at your LFS, then after you get the puffer, slowly increase the specific gravity by.002 each week, until you reach a SG of 1.008.
I keep my F8 in a ten gallon tank, with plenty of rockwork and caves, driftwood and plants, an undergravel filter, large airpump, airstone, heater, and a whisper filter. I keep the SG at about 1.008, and i use instant ocean marine salt.( its actually quite cheap if you buy it a small amount.)
I feed him frozen krill, ghost shrimp, and snails a couple times a week to keep his teeth down.
hope this helps,
-John
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mr_jason32
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:08 pm
i keep seeing that each gsp should have 30 gallons to itself but I'm not sure if you really need that. i used to have them in a 10 gallon, yes, i said them because i had two and was a broke buttocks who couldn't afford a larger tank. they are now in a 30 with a f8 are are doing amazing, they are growing, they are playing, and they haven't been sick since the early days when the water in the 10 gal had a nitrite and ammonia problem.
as for giving up on the puffers, you should also buy test kits if you haven't already done so and test your nitrites, ammonia, and nitrates. if you are having huge nitrite spikes, even after cycling, change your water and condition the new water before adding. i had to do that a lot when my fish were new. after a few weeks of roughness, they did great. now I'm no pro but i have had 3 puffers for around 7-8 months and haven't lost any yet, I'm even starting to raise my own food for them.
as for giving up on the puffers, you should also buy test kits if you haven't already done so and test your nitrites, ammonia, and nitrates. if you are having huge nitrite spikes, even after cycling, change your water and condition the new water before adding. i had to do that a lot when my fish were new. after a few weeks of roughness, they did great. now I'm no pro but i have had 3 puffers for around 7-8 months and haven't lost any yet, I'm even starting to raise my own food for them.