New GSP...new tank :(

[JonTheRevelator]

Hey everyone, im new to the site and new to brackish tanks. I have no experience with them, but a recent turn of events has me here. My fiance brought home 2 GSPs from the pet store that were sold to her as freshwater fish. After a little detective work on the internet, I came to find that these are not actually freshwater fish, but belong in a brackish tank. OK so, as it turns out I really like these little guys a lot and I want them healthy and long-living, I also want to expand my knowledge of aquariums and start a brackish tank... so im here hoping you guys will help with the vital information. For example I read not to add salt directly to the tank, to use marine salt and not aquarium salt for these guys.... anything else I should know? I'm setting up a little 10 gallon because that's the only vacant one I have and I'm on a strict budget. But these guys are small right now so, ok. Thanks for the help guys!

[t1gerbee]

2 gsp's in a 10G will be very hard, they will not last long in there. You'll need to be setting up a much bigger tank in a very short period of time, ie a couple of months max...

it is also very difficult to cycle a tank with puffs in it as they are so suceptible to ammonia/nitrite/nitrates, so the best way of doing it is to use substrate and filter material from your old tank to seed the new tank, makin it ready cycled freshwater for your puffs..

then slowly raise the salinity week by week, by adding pre-mixed saltwater into your water change schedule.

You'll need a hydrometer or refractometer, and will need to raise the salinity by no more than 0.002 a week to avoid wiping out your cycling bacteria.


let us know how you're getting on.

[JonTheRevelator]

thanks man... i have a larger tank on the way. anyway, one of them isn't looking so good. he's lounging on the bottom a lot and has a cloudy green hue coming up on his back. also, could you tell me what you mean by substrate material? Thanks for the info... even if these die i will definitely get some more

[fishfrend]

Hi- Substrate is the gravel in the tank. You can put some gravel from an established tank in a piece of stocking and place it on the bottom of the new tank. It will help seed the new substrate with the bacteria that the new tank needs. Good luck!

[t1gerbee]

can you get a pic of the ill one? Please don't give up on them, with the help of this forum you may be able to get them through this..

we never give up on a puffer here!

Is it just his belly colour that is changing? A black/dark belly is the first sign of stress.. could be just that?

[JonTheRevelator]

dont worry, im not giving up on him.
ok my camera doesn't take good pics of the aquarium. but ill post one as soon as i can. his belly is white, best i can tell. however, it is flatter than the other fish's stomach the only thing that looks different on him than my other puffer is, on top of him looks like is has a green... on top of him and he lays on the rocks alot and the other one doesn't. maybe theres nothing wrong with him... I have never owned these fish before

[riggers]

I wouldn't worry about the salt just yet, they will be fine without it for now. When you say flat stomach, how flat exactly? He could have IPs (internal parasites). Laying around could mean a few things. Nitrite poisoning and carbon dioxide poisoning would make him less active, and nitrite poisoning could make him go off colour. Pics would definitely help here. Also what equipment have you got on the tank at the moment? Are they eating? If so, what are they eating? You will also need a freshwater test kit to test the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings. There is a product called Bio-Spira or Dr Tim's [?] which will cycle your tank instantly. Or the methods others have said work well too. Have you read the article on GSPs in the library (found at the top of the page under the learn tab)? If not it is definitely worthwhile to read it. I hope he manages to pull through all this ok!

[t1gerbee]

he has a green... ? on him....

like a slime? not just the patterning.. something actually film like on his body? Can you describe it better?

Maybe a bacterial skin infection? Do you have melafix on hand? It's great for clearing up skin infections.

[JonTheRevelator]

riggers: the tank they're currently in now is 10 gal with a regular filter pump and submersible heater...they're eating flake food.

t1gerbee: really hard to tell as i just noticed it looking up close... looks a little fuzzy and its a bit darker green than the rest of him... wish i could take better pics of him.

[edmlfc1]

Puffers don't eat flake food. At least I have never seen one eat flake food. You really need to read the feeding article in the library before they starve. I feed mine shrimp, crab, mussels and clams from the local grocery store.

[Nick]

I have seen them eat it, but never actually enough of it to even hold their weight. My GSPs, strangely, will now take hikari sinking carnivore pellets.

[Pufferpunk]

One of the best suggestions I can give you is to read many of the hellpful articles in our Library. Especially the one about GSPs & the one on Fishless Cycling.

[t1gerbee]

Jon, the reason they need crunchy food is to stop their beaks over growing and causing them mouth problems. Your local tesco/sainsburys will have a seafood section. I get about 30 shell on prawns for £2 .. you can get shell on mussel, cockle etc as well... and one bag lasts months and months in the freezer.
Hard to tell from your pic, i'd melafix it (available from all LFS's) and suitable for all your freshwater fish... i always keep a bottle in the cupboard and it's yet to fail me.

Did you move some of the gravel and filter pads from the old tank to the new tank?

[JonTheRevelator]

yea dude, i read the article. you see, i was not well prepared for these guys. The salesman sold em as tropical fish. but i've gotten some bloodworms for them until i can get something better. Yes, I did swap the gravel and filter pads. Ill try to locate some melafix today. The sick one looks worse this morning. He's started to get pale white cloudy stuff on his face. The other's still looking fine and swimming actively.

[Myaj]

I am going to move this to the general discussion, as it was posted down under the "non puffer discussion".

I'm not putting it in brackish, because, although the photos are poor, I actually suspect you *might* have two different species. The top one is definately a GSP (mid-high brackish, 30 gallons minimum) that doesn't look horrible (a bit skinny, colors a little off but not horribly bad) but the second photo is questionable.

It actually looks like it could be one of the freshwater species.. then again, its so dark its impossible to tell for sure. Can you get a better picture? It very well could be a second GSP just such a dark picture I can't make out the spots or color.


In the mean time, what are you doing for them? Have you done any water changes, added any products?

If not, clean water is the #1 thing to keep fish healthy. Start small, take out a little tank water and replace it with clean water (if you are on city water, you will need to buy a decholrinator, Amquel or Prime are the best, especially for your cycling tank but you will probably have to go to a "real" fish store to get it, not Walmart, if Walmart is your only option, see if they have Wardley's Chlor Out). If you are on well water, don't worry about chlorine/dechlorinaters. Every day, take out maybe a gallon and replace it with clean water, after a few days, start taking out more. Most of us change 50% or more once a week, but since your fish are trying to get through a cycling tank and are getting burned and poisoned by their own wastes, they need it done more often until the tank stabilizes (takes about 2 weeks, usually). Doing a few smaller changes adjusts them to the cleaner water without shocking them, and then you can start doing larger ones..

As far as any "products" you can buy from the store to help them, Melafix is a great one for any skin issues and general stress. As I said above, Amquel or Prime are dechlorinaters that also detoxify ammonia and nitrites, which you will have in your tank, so if you can get either of those I'd recommend it. Try to avoid products such as Cycle, StressCoat, etc, they seem to do more harm than good. IF you can find it and want to spend the money, Biospira or Dr Tims freshwater bacteria will cycle your tank for you, be sure to follow the directions though.