Ideas Please

[nikia43]

I guess I am one of the lucky ones on here as my husband is also fond of fish and puffers too now!

We currently have a 75 UK Gallon freshwater tank that has been running for 8 years. Currently it has about half a dozen ghost shrimp and a small (2") plec a delta I think but not sure. Anyway we are thinking of restocking from scratch and I was wondering what puffers would be happy in a tank that size?

We have considered going marine, I have always been concerned that it is a lot of work but after reading on here it appears that that may just be a myth.

I am interested in getting ideas at the moment and seeing what other people have in tanks of that size so we can look into it further.

[Pufferpunk]

That would be an ideal tank for a couple of Green Spotted Puffers. I felt the same way as you about marine but starting these puffers as juvies, gives you the opportunity to ease into SW slowly & gather up all the supplies needed for their transition..

[Srkoe]

Remember to switch to SW slowly so you won't kill off all your bacteria!!!

I'm a lucky gal too, my husband loves puffers!!!

[c333davis]

That would be an ideal tank for a couple of Green Spotted Puffers. I felt the same way as you about marine but starting these puffers as juvies, gives you the opportunity to ease into SW slowly & gather up all the supplies needed for their transition..

+1

[RTR]

If you are into planted tanks, that would be wonderful with a school/group of SAPs (and if you don't mind rearing lots of snails).

Or if you are not into plants, I'd second PP's two GSPs.

[puffermichigan]

I have two GSPs in a 75 gallon tank and they are wonderful! They are inquisitive, active, amazing fish. I enjoy watching them speed around the tank, slow down and "hunt" for things in the sand, look out and watch me while I'm watching them, pick out hiding place for an afternoon nap under a log--they each have really unique personalities. It is good to get them when they are small so that they grow up together, and even if the tank might seem "too big" (compared to unfortunately overstocked fishtanks that I've seen a lot) for two inch-long fish, it isn't!! They are extremely active, grow quickly, and, as I've learned on the forum here, get quite big! (6 inches or so). Mine have roughly doubled in size in the 4 months that I have had them. So I give a wholehearted +1 to the 2 GSP suggestion . I show people pics of my GSPs the way some people pull out pics of their kids, lol, that is how much I love these fish.

[nikia43]

Thanks guys my hubby is now VERY excited at getting a couple of GSP's

I have tried looking around on here but having trouble locating a thread or topic. To convert our tank to marine what exactly will we need? If we have a list now we can start saving and buying bits at a time.

Thanks again

[puffermichigan]

Hi Nikia,

You should definitely check out the great info about GSPs in the library.

library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/

I have been slowly raising the salinity of my aquarium with my GSPs according to the information in the following post (it provides very specific information on how to go about raising the salinity of your water if you want to progress from freshwater to marine in an already established tank).

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19348

It has been working very well, and eventually I will have my little ones in full marine. Because I cycled my tank with freshwater, I have been raising it only very gradually each week (no more than .002 per week) so as not to harm the bacteria that are already present and doing such great work!

It is also nice, because as my tank is progressing gradually I am able to save up some $$$ for the live rock and skimmer that I'll have to get once I go full marine. (I'm a student, so any investment takes a bit of time for me to save up for.) Of course, you can also start out your GSPs in full marine, if you prefer, and I believe from reading the following thread that many have had great success with that.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15647

I don't personally have experience setting up a marine tank, though, so you'll probably want to get some advice from someone a bit more experienced with marine set-ups or search the forums for advice about that.

[RTR]

Excellent refs, thanks puffermichigan!