Depends, I think rocks are easier to clean....or maybe hides dirt better, but doing the change to SW eventually...maybe sand. I personally prefer sand...I think it looks nicer.
Good luck with the little fishies! Keep us updated, I think you will have the largest collection of GSP's in a single collection.
#2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
-
julianchan
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 709
- Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:25 am
- My Puffers: 1 GSP Elevator.....Lord Vator to everyone else...
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
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Dadof4
- Tech Team
- Posts: 2862
- Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:50 am
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 1 GSP (Microfiche) RIP, 1 Monotrete Turgidus (Leon) in a 30gal. 1 Monotrete suvattii in a 40 gal FW. 120 gallon BW with 3 juvenile Dragon Gobies (so cool). 55 gal with a 2" GSP named Hank. 180 gallon being set up for a Fahaka in the next few months!
- Location (country): United States
- Location: North Wisconsin
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
It's kind of a toss up as to which one. With GSP's being high end brackish fish that should eventually end up in marine conditions, personally I'd go with sand. It's a little more up keep but once you go to full marine, even a high brackish, you can add live rock and live sand to be the bio filter. If you already have the sand in the tank all you should have to do is add the live rock. Live rock will seed the sand eventually. Also, I think it looks cooler 
You'll need more filtration than the live rock and sand (skimmer, sump, refugium) but cross that bridge when you come to it. Putting in a sand substrate now will let you slowly bring your SG up to marine without having to change later. My 2 cents worth.
You'll need more filtration than the live rock and sand (skimmer, sump, refugium) but cross that bridge when you come to it. Putting in a sand substrate now will let you slowly bring your SG up to marine without having to change later. My 2 cents worth."Darwin swings...annnnnnd a miss. Boy Jim, Chuck's suffered at the plate tonight. He's 0 for 3 and I'm not sure he's recovered from that shoulder pull a few weeks ago. I'll bet the front office is re-thinking that contract."
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
Its really going to be difficult since I live in a town of 800 people in the middle of Wyoming!!! lol
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Dadof4
- Tech Team
- Posts: 2862
- Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:50 am
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 1 GSP (Microfiche) RIP, 1 Monotrete Turgidus (Leon) in a 30gal. 1 Monotrete suvattii in a 40 gal FW. 120 gallon BW with 3 juvenile Dragon Gobies (so cool). 55 gal with a 2" GSP named Hank. 180 gallon being set up for a Fahaka in the next few months!
- Location (country): United States
- Location: North Wisconsin
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
I live in a very rural town in Wisconsin, only reason it's here is someone stuck a major medical center here. I have to drive nearly an hour if I want certain things.cphipps70 wrote:Its really going to be difficult since I live in a town of 800 people in the middle of Wyoming!!! lol
"Darwin swings...annnnnnd a miss. Boy Jim, Chuck's suffered at the plate tonight. He's 0 for 3 and I'm not sure he's recovered from that shoulder pull a few weeks ago. I'll bet the front office is re-thinking that contract."
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
exact same situation here! 
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julianchan
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 709
- Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:25 am
- My Puffers: 1 GSP Elevator.....Lord Vator to everyone else...
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
So do I.....but its because of the retarded traffic...Dadof4 wrote: I have to drive nearly an hour if I want certain things.
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Dadof4
- Tech Team
- Posts: 2862
- Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:50 am
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 1 GSP (Microfiche) RIP, 1 Monotrete Turgidus (Leon) in a 30gal. 1 Monotrete suvattii in a 40 gal FW. 120 gallon BW with 3 juvenile Dragon Gobies (so cool). 55 gal with a 2" GSP named Hank. 180 gallon being set up for a Fahaka in the next few months!
- Location (country): United States
- Location: North Wisconsin
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
Mine is because of cows.
"Darwin swings...annnnnnd a miss. Boy Jim, Chuck's suffered at the plate tonight. He's 0 for 3 and I'm not sure he's recovered from that shoulder pull a few weeks ago. I'll bet the front office is re-thinking that contract."
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edmlfc1
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 2011
- Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:03 pm
- My Puffers: Elvis (Stars & Stripes) R.I.P. 9/11/11
125G:Fahaka (Annabelle) - Location (country): U.S.A.
- Location: Texas
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
If your changing tanks I would go with argonite sand, this will buffer your ph where it needs to be once you raise your sg. And if you put rock in there now then go to full marine you will probably have to change it to sand. So IMO I would start with sand in the new tank. 
Need to know what kind of puffer you have? Click on Puffer ID.....Puffer ID: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/
What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
Feeding: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
GSP Article: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
Feeding: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
GSP Article: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
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Agnate
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1203
- Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:44 pm
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1 Abei Puffer [Monotrete Abei]
(Captain Abe) - Location: Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
If you're good at plumbing, you could plumb in a few giant water barrels and have an extra 50-100 gallons of water without having the change the tank for a while. I guess you'd need overflows and such for that, though.
^_^
^_^
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- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
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40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
Have you read the GSP article yet? All your answers are in there.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
where do I find the GSP article?
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Christemo
- Suspended
- Posts: 401
- Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 2:33 pm
- My Puffers: 1 GSP (RIP Puffy... we tried everything we could. :( )
2 Figure 8s (Cupcake and Sprinkles) - Location: Marlton, NJ//Emmitsburg, MD
- Contact:
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
Two F8's, two tiny fantails and a pleco call me mommy.
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Dadof4
- Tech Team
- Posts: 2862
- Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:50 am
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 1 GSP (Microfiche) RIP, 1 Monotrete Turgidus (Leon) in a 30gal. 1 Monotrete suvattii in a 40 gal FW. 120 gallon BW with 3 juvenile Dragon Gobies (so cool). 55 gal with a 2" GSP named Hank. 180 gallon being set up for a Fahaka in the next few months!
- Location (country): United States
- Location: North Wisconsin
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
The articles are kept under the learn tab, Puffer Library, great place for info. Here's a direct link to one of the articles library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
"Darwin swings...annnnnnd a miss. Boy Jim, Chuck's suffered at the plate tonight. He's 0 for 3 and I'm not sure he's recovered from that shoulder pull a few weeks ago. I'll bet the front office is re-thinking that contract."
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32980
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
The GSP article is not in the Pufferpedia!
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
Christemo
- Suspended
- Posts: 401
- Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 2:33 pm
- My Puffers: 1 GSP (RIP Puffy... we tried everything we could. :( )
2 Figure 8s (Cupcake and Sprinkles) - Location: Marlton, NJ//Emmitsburg, MD
- Contact:
Re: #2 Dark Color and #1 loosing weight. Help!
I think he needs all the information he can get, PP.
Two F8's, two tiny fantails and a pleco call me mommy.