I Want To Get Some Figure Eights

[Salmon]

So, for those of you who say such things as, "avoid MTS" and "keep your GSP at brackish conditions, at most", then avoid MTS and never bring your GSP up to full marine salinity.

You said this in your earlier post and I've never seen anyone, at least on the puffer forum, say to keep GSPs at brackish conditions. Everything I have seen says that eventually GSPs should be kept in full marine conditions.

[fvbump82]

So, for those of you who say such things as, "avoid MTS" and "keep your GSP at brackish conditions, at most", then avoid MTS and never bring your GSP up to full marine salinity.

You said this in your earlier post and I've never seen anyone, at least on the puffer forum, say to keep GSPs at brackish conditions. Everything I have seen says that eventually GSPs should be kept in full marine conditions.

The point of my post is that the best information is gathered by doing thorough research using a number of reliable sources and then supplemented with carefully made observations, adjusting conditions as you go. There is much good information on the Puffer Forum, or I would not be wasing my time reading it. But, there are posts which, unfortunately in my opinion, only repeat what some have heard others say without substantiating the post with experience. I am NOT an expert in GSPs. I have only about 2-3 years of GSP experience - much less than many who post on this site. When I first got GSPs I read the previous experienced posts and have used much of the knowledge they present so as to be successful with my fish. But blogs, whether they be on puffers or on approaches to treat cancer, contain much misinformation and the blog reader needs to be careful not to take everyones opinion as "fact", including mine. I know wht works for me and I present that experience in case anyone is interested. If the time should come that my puffer ends up woth "cracked" plates because of my feeding it 2-3 MTS per day, I will let the Forum know that I was wrong in doing so. Regarding the quote about brackish conditions, I apologize if I misquoted someone. I was doing a very "deep search" in the forum when I read that comment and now I can't recover the post or I would share its source.

[Salmon]

I see your point. Well said sir.

[J-P]

High end brackish conditions for GSPs are perfectly fine and acceptable. Full marine is suggested because of the greatly reduced overall costs involved with doing water changes.

[goldielocke76]

What an interesting read that was....

LoL @Burnt, did you ever get your f8s?

[RTR]

As I was recently 'surlaW', I would love to know what I really said, but if it was obscene I am quite glad that it did not appear on the forum.

Our suggestions in the Pufferpedia and the Library do not carry the force of law or even regulation. They are suggestions based on the experiences of hobbyists who have had years of experience with these fish. Folks ignore then all the time. But if they are ignored and the tank goes south, you very likely will be reminded of that fact. Local suggestions here can and do work. Ignoring them increases the risk factor.

Most folks in this hobby keep stunted, stressed fish in poor water conditions. If you think that such techniques are good enough for captive fish, that is your prerogative. But such handling will be pointed out as unwise if you post a question on problems in the tank. Stunted fish may live relatively long lives despite that problem, but not as long as they would if they were full sized. Stress - from tankmates and/or poor water management does shorten lives significantly, as well as affecting behavior and appearance. Obesity also shorten lives. The advice here is aimed at maximizing health, activity and lifespan - 'quality of life' if you will - and the locally suggested practices have been shown to work. This does not mean that you are required to keep your fish in the suggested ways. There are no laws concerning the care of captive fish in this country that I am aware of, other than certain fish being banned in some states, and release of any into the wild is forbidden. Captive care is whatever each individual chooses to provide. Individual freedom of choice does apply.

Puffers are highly specialized fish. As a rule, they can be quite hardy and long-lived, tend to be high-personality critters, and most can live captive lifespans which are very high multiples of the average wild fish's lifespan. But they do also have specialized requirements. We are here to help those wanting and willing to provide these for the puffers and to update or own information by sharing among ourselves. Our current suggestions are not carved in stone. They are updated constantly as we learn more. We can do pretty well with and for a number of puffers commonest in the trade on keeping them healthy for years. Less common puffers may still be an issue even on needed basic maintenance. Breeding is only possible with a very few. We still have a lot to learn. And we are still trying to do just that. But don't casually dismiss what is offered here without supporting data. We have learned what we offer the hard way, Experience can be a painful teacher, We have been there and done that.

Off soap box and return to regular programming.

[RTR]

Back on topic - IMHO & IME, singleton puffers are the most likely to be highly interactive with their care-givers. The hunter-predators tend to be the most interactive. IME, F-8s and GSP are the most interactive of the common captives. (T. mbu is their equal or superior, but that is a huge fish needing customized tanks and equipment. It is really not suited to be a hobby ish in the general sense of the word) They also are likely to have the longest captive lives, and singletons do strongly tend to out-live the inhabitants of mixed or multiples of the same species tanks, excepting SAPs, which seem to need the presence of con-specifics for security and longer life.

Set-up and opearting cost are easiest and heapest for F-8s, but significant weekly water partials are a lifetime need for them. GSPs require a much more expensive initial set-up, but the long-term operating needs are less relatively speaking than for F-8s, as we have the more sophisticated full SW techniques available for their tank operation. Their lifespan has not been experimentally determined, but the 15year average for F-8s can very likely be bested anyway by the knowledge gained since that work was done, and both fish are likely to have 15+ years with the best known levels of care.

HTH