getting a puffer on sunday

[karllenz87]

ok i plan on getting a puffer on sunday for my new 3 week old 55 gallon tank that currently has 4 dianos in it.
here are my water tests so far

Aug 21
N02: <0.3mg/l
Ph: 8.0
Nh3/nh4: 1.5mg/l

Aug24
N02:0.3
Ph:8
NH3/NH4:1.5
50% water change done

Aug28:
MO2 0.3
Ph:7.5
Nh3/nh4:0


i plan on slowly raising the sg over time till the tank becomes fully marine as the puffer grows. what are a few tank mates i can get for him that will be able to tolerate the same idea of raising the sg til it becomes fully marine??

[karllenz87]

sorry forgot to tell you what kind of puffer i plan on getting a gsp

[coldmachineUK]

GSPs don't do too well with tankmates It's unfortunate, I know, and the salt is only one aspect of that. GSPs are not the most buddy-compatible of fish, especially as they get older.
In case you might have missed it, there's a useful article in the 'pedia on GSPs: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Nigroviridis/

[yunachin]

I will say, IME, in my marine tank, my Green Spots have not been aggressive to larger equally aggressive fish. Something smaller though, definitely inflates their egos and will make them more prone to fin nipping and harassment.

[apachepufferman]

dido to what chin said. I had some lyretail sailfin mollies in with my GSPs and they left them alone. I think it was mainly cause the mollies were bigger than the GSPs

[edmlfc1]

Once you get to full marine you will have more options for tank mates. I have a wrasse and a lawnmower blenny with mine and niether one of them bother the other fish. I also have a stars & stripes puffer in the same tank. Right now they are in a 120 but will be upgraded to a larger tank within the next 5-6 months.

[Agnate]

Are you getting 1 or 2 GSPs? If you get them young (between 1 - 2 inches) and from the same tank, you can easily keep two GSPs together in your 55 gallon without problems. It's technically possible to keep YOUNG GSPs with an adult Knight Goby, however, Knight Goby's prefer a low salinity for their adult life which conflicts with GSPs' preference. As mentioned, Mollies (with the exception of Balloon Mollies) can also work with GSPs, though there is a known history of GSPs suddenly "snapping" and murdering the Mollies.

All-in-all, I would suggest against getting tank mates (unless it's a second GSP purchased at the same time as your first) until you go to full marine, as you'll have greater options to choose from.

Remember, pick the HEALTHY ones! It's very easy to get lured into helping a sick/dying puffer, or to pick the "smallest and cutest". Unfortunately, as I've found out the hard way on several occasions, it almost-always ends in heartbreak. It's something I don't wish upon puffer owners, especially not those who are getting their first puffer(s). Look for puffers with bright-white and rounded bellies (not sunken, if you can help it), ones who come to the glass and are swimming strong, and ones without tiny white spots on their fins (ie. ones infected with ich). If their fins are nipped, though, it's okay, as puffers have a tendency to nip at each other when they restricted to overpopulated tanks.

[Pufferpunk]

I got mad at the Sailfin mollies who were picking on my F8s & put them in with my adult GSPs. Never saw them again...

IMO, 3 weeks is not enough time to cycle a tank. Although, 1 or 2, 1" GSPs will not produce much bioload if placed in a 55g tank, so they should be fine in there. Just remove the danios. Keep an eye on the parameters for a few weeks & when everything looks stable, you can start raising the SG. Even better, would be to fishless cycle the tank & then you can be absolutely sure the GSP/s are safe.

[Idontknow]

I have a black molly with my f8 in a brackish tank and another black molly in my full marine tank. Mollies can easily adapt to brackish or full marine. They are great because they eat up all the leftovers and any algae that appears. Of course, I don't know how long this harmony between my f8 and molly will last because it has been only less than 3 weeks since I got them.

Also, I used to have a silver molly with my gsp in another brackish tank, but the silver molly started to eat up all the food. I seem to have gotten a really non-aggressive gsp and wouldn't fight for its share of the food. So, I transferred my molly out of its tank and now the gsp is happily by itself.

[Pufferpunk]

I do keep regular black & gold mollies in with my F8s now, who don't pick on them. Just saying what my GSPs did to the more aggressive sailfins.

[coldmachineUK]

IMO, 3 weeks is not enough time to cycle a tank.

Actually I missed that, and I agree with PP. Also I'm not sure 4 danios would support the same bioload as one or two GSPs so I'm not sure that cycling with them is the best bet. I'd recommend fishless cycling; it's easy enough and you don't need to dose pure ammonia (which is the method many recommend). Just stick one or two shrimp in your canister filter (or whatever filter system you have going if it can accommodate them) and let them rot over time. They'll produce ammonia, and start off your cycle. And more importantly enough to cycle a tank ready for a GSP (plus it won't harm fish in the meantime like it will with your danios).

Hope it goes well; don't forget to post pics when you've got him/her settled in his/her new puffer home!

[apachepufferman]

I got mad at the Sailfin mollies who were picking on my F8s & put them in with my adult GSPs. Never saw them again....

Wow I just get some weird experience with my fish it seems. My GSPs never even looked at them but they definately weren't full grown.

[Pufferpunk]

These were 6". Ate a clownfish too.