help please new puffer

[frogman5]

well today i decided to get a puffer a green spotted puffer to be more precise he is not in the best of shape right now that is one of the main reasons i got him now i would like to convert him over to brackish wat is the best way to do that and wat salinity or specific gravity should i keep him at much help is appreciated

[marksrush]

Assuming you got him in fresh, and he's no more than 2" long, get some Instant Ocean and raise the specific gravity by .002 each week until you get to 1.005-8. Don't go any faster than this or you'll crash your beneficial bacteria. There is a good article here: http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profile ... h/gsp.html - and of course, this site's article on GSPs: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Nigroviridis/

Now what do you mean by "he is not in the best of shape"? If he's got a serious problem, you should not delay in taking care of it.

[frogman5]

naw he is in alright shape kind of made it sound like he is terrible just a few fin nips and some torn fins thats it he is about 2 inches right now...now should i add the instant ocean tonight or wait

[Pufferpunk]

Be sure to add Melafix for faster healing & to prevent secondary infection.

[frogman5]

yeh ill try to get some...right now he is just laying on the sand and has some very dark colorarion to him his color has completely changed is he ok

[pufferfreak]

Do you already have a brackish tank setup? If so you can acclimate him using the drip method.

[frogman5]

no he went to freshwater from freshwater and i just recently added the salt now he is starting to move around a bit not much its a start it seems maybe a little bit of his color is coming back to i will keep everybody informed he is a pretty sweet lil guy

[Pufferpunk]

Was the tank cycled? How big is the fish & tank?

[frogman5]

yeh the tank has been cycled for close to a 7 months now and it is a 29 gallon...he is starting to explore the tank but still very timid about pretty sweet tho

[frogman5]

great news guys he is eating did not expect him to eat but i tossed some in there any ways and i was astounded as soon as he saw it he went over there and started chowing down and his color is beginning to come back this guy was definitly worth the money he is awesome

[frogman5]

he ate bloodworms by the way going to try and get some snails tomorow and some shrimp and other goodies for him during the week

[sparks42]

enjoy, gsp's are awesome

[frogman5]

now when this puffer reaches full maturity will it be able to handle full marine conditions if so can i keep it in a reef tank setup

[riggers]

When he gets to maturity yes it is recommended to keep them in full marine. However I'm not sure how this fish would work in a full reef set up. Just have visions of it eating the corals, and other fish if you plan to do that. But I don't know, so wait until someone else comes along and they will tell you about that bit. But they do need marine I know that.

[Jase]

Actually they are recommended to be in high end brackish, it is just easier to maintain a SW tank. As for corals, every puffer is different. Some have had no problems and some have had many corals eaten. You can get less tasty corals such as mushrooms and leathers though, which he will be less likely to eat.