Hello
To June Im going to get a 250 l aquarium, and was thinking about getting af GPs. Will it fit in a 250 l aqurium, and is it difficult to get the right water conditions? I only had freeshwater fish now, colomesus asellus, so im new to brackish water. And how big will the GP be as an adult?
Hope someone can help me:)
Sarah
Green puffer
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J-P
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Re: Green puffer
if you follow me, you avoid stepping in the crap that I just did...
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZR55G ... pqlgec1A2Q
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZR55G ... pqlgec1A2Q
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pufferpuggirl
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Green puffer
I never get why folks link to the PP profile, when we have a whole article on GSPs in our Library! 
library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
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marksrush
- Fahaka Puffer
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Re: Green puffer
First of all, welcome to the forum! You're way ahead of most people who get GSPs in that you're at this site so I bet you will do fine and your puffer will be happy.
That size tanks is adequate for a GSP, definitely. Decorate it heavily, with plenty of hiding holes or caves and lots of tall plants or pieces of African root. You will want to use crushed coral or aragonite, or that mixed with regular gravel, if you want it to be easier to keep a high pH. Critically important is that you need to make sure this tank is completely cycled before you put your GSP (or any puffer or other fish) into it! Lots of people have thought they could get away with putting a puffer in an uncycled tank, and then very quickly they end up coming to this site all panicked because their puffer is dying.
You need to decide if you're going to start it out in freshwater, brackish water, or saltwater. The advantage to starting it out in freshwater is that, most likely, that's what he'll have been in at the store, and that might have been what he was in when he was collected. You can then slowly up the salinity to where you want it. The disadvantage is that it wastes a lot of time because upping the salinity by only .002 each week takes a few weeks, and since you can drip acclimate a puffer from fresh to salt in about 6 hours, it doesn't make much sense to me. However, if he's tiny tiny tiny, starting him in freshwater may be the better choice for him.
The advantage to starting him out in brackish water is that, from what we seem to know, these fish spend a good deal of their time when young in brackish water, so you'll be replicating what he'd have in the wild. You'll have to drip acclimate him when you get him home, since it's likely that he'll be in freshwater at the store unless they are a good fish store, but that's really no big deal. Cycling a brackish water tank to get it ready for him is where it gets a little more difficult, since you're shut out from using either something like Tetra SafeStart for freshwater or live rock for saltwater. You could start out in full marine with live rock, then very slowly drop the specific gravity down to 1.017 so as to preserve the beneficial bacteria on the live rock. He'd have absolutely no problem living at that specific gravity. Of course the converse is that you could start out with freshwater, cycle the tank with SafeStart or Dr. Tim's One and Only, put him in the tank, then start the slow climb to higher salinities.
If your new GSP is not really small, then you might want to consider starting him out in full marine conditions. The major advantage to going this route is that you can get up and running very quickly, since you can use live rock and skip the cycle process. According to many people's experience, young GSPs do quite well in full marine conditions, and even thrive. Mine started out in freshwater, and at first her color was dull olive green all the time. As the water got saltier, her color brightened considerably and she positively glows now that she's in saltwater. It's quite easy to keep your water parameters in check if you have plenty of live rock and do regular water changes - a lot of people think it's overly complicated or too involved for them, when really, if they can keep a good freshwater tank, they can keep a good saltwater tank. Just get a good hydrometer (one that starts out at 1.000), a test kit such as the ones by API, and you're set.
That size tanks is adequate for a GSP, definitely. Decorate it heavily, with plenty of hiding holes or caves and lots of tall plants or pieces of African root. You will want to use crushed coral or aragonite, or that mixed with regular gravel, if you want it to be easier to keep a high pH. Critically important is that you need to make sure this tank is completely cycled before you put your GSP (or any puffer or other fish) into it! Lots of people have thought they could get away with putting a puffer in an uncycled tank, and then very quickly they end up coming to this site all panicked because their puffer is dying.
You need to decide if you're going to start it out in freshwater, brackish water, or saltwater. The advantage to starting it out in freshwater is that, most likely, that's what he'll have been in at the store, and that might have been what he was in when he was collected. You can then slowly up the salinity to where you want it. The disadvantage is that it wastes a lot of time because upping the salinity by only .002 each week takes a few weeks, and since you can drip acclimate a puffer from fresh to salt in about 6 hours, it doesn't make much sense to me. However, if he's tiny tiny tiny, starting him in freshwater may be the better choice for him.
The advantage to starting him out in brackish water is that, from what we seem to know, these fish spend a good deal of their time when young in brackish water, so you'll be replicating what he'd have in the wild. You'll have to drip acclimate him when you get him home, since it's likely that he'll be in freshwater at the store unless they are a good fish store, but that's really no big deal. Cycling a brackish water tank to get it ready for him is where it gets a little more difficult, since you're shut out from using either something like Tetra SafeStart for freshwater or live rock for saltwater. You could start out in full marine with live rock, then very slowly drop the specific gravity down to 1.017 so as to preserve the beneficial bacteria on the live rock. He'd have absolutely no problem living at that specific gravity. Of course the converse is that you could start out with freshwater, cycle the tank with SafeStart or Dr. Tim's One and Only, put him in the tank, then start the slow climb to higher salinities.
If your new GSP is not really small, then you might want to consider starting him out in full marine conditions. The major advantage to going this route is that you can get up and running very quickly, since you can use live rock and skip the cycle process. According to many people's experience, young GSPs do quite well in full marine conditions, and even thrive. Mine started out in freshwater, and at first her color was dull olive green all the time. As the water got saltier, her color brightened considerably and she positively glows now that she's in saltwater. It's quite easy to keep your water parameters in check if you have plenty of live rock and do regular water changes - a lot of people think it's overly complicated or too involved for them, when really, if they can keep a good freshwater tank, they can keep a good saltwater tank. Just get a good hydrometer (one that starts out at 1.000), a test kit such as the ones by API, and you're set.
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zombiefetus
- Fahaka Puffer
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Re: Green puffer
Welcome to the forum!
Is the tank already cycled?
Is the tank already cycled?
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Sarah89
- Puffer Fry
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Re: Green puffer
Thank you for the good answers 
No its not cycled. I first get the aquarium to June, and then buy the puffer in the start of august
No its not cycled. I first get the aquarium to June, and then buy the puffer in the start of august