Advice on ideal number of GSP's in tank please

[AZL]

Hi, I hope the experienced puffer people on here can help. A juvenile GSP of about 1" is being re-homed with me when the tank I've set up for him has cycled and been stable for awhile. The current owner is giving him up as while his larger tank mates (a few 4"+ GSP's) are not attacking him he's not getting his share of food or feeling confident to be out at the front of the tank despite being outgoing by nature. I'm sure I'll be annoying everyone with loads of questions once he comes home but have two major ones I need to clear up before he does.

I planned to introduce another GSP at the same time from the same batch as the little guy being re-homed with me. 50% of people say 2 is ideal as if you have 3 one gets teamed up on. 50% of people say 3 is better as if you have 2 one gets bullied or at least less food. What do you lot feel is correct based on your experience?

The current tank is 130 litres with a long footprint (3 feet or 91 cm), I will be upgrading to the largest I can accommodate, 260 litres, long before the GSP's outgrow this one. I know that is more than required for 2 but if the consensus is a group of 3 being better to avoid politics is this a comfortable size for that many? I believe strongly in giving fish the maximum space (I keep my freshwater tanks under 60%) and realise with GSP's this is particularly important.

Many thanks!

[Pufferpunk]

A good rule of thumb is 10g/1" of fish.

[AZL]

A good rule of thumb is 10g/1" of fish.

Thank you! So 60 gallons for each GSP when they reach their full size of 6" i.e. 180 g for 2 and 240 g for 3? I've heard 30 g for a GSP then an additional 15 g for each additional one meaning 70 g for 2 is very generous and still over minimum for 3. LFS would have me believe the 35 g starter tank they're going in won't need upgrading for ages if at all which I know is walrus lol. What are your thought on a pair of GSP's as opposed to a group of 3 and what size tank would you recommend for 2 or for 3 at full size? 70 g or so is the largest I can fit in here so I need to ensure that I don't take on more GSP's than I can house for life.

[Pufferpunk]

That's more for a singleton, like a 55g for 1. Where the issues come in is that if you want to go SW (highly suggested), then you'll need 1 1/2-2lbs live rock per gallon, which can take up a lot of swimming room but works GREAT for filtration.

[AZL]

That's more for a singleton, like a 55g for 1. Where the issues come in is that if you want to go SW (highly suggested), then you'll need 1 1/2-2lbs live rock per gallon, which can take up a lot of swimming room but works GREAT for filtration.

Once again, thank you! Yes, I've already arrived at 70 gallons not being anywhere near enough for 3 with a good amount of live rock for 3 full grown puffers. I'm going to stick with 2 and have worked out if I custom build their upgrade I can get at least 80 g into the space I have available. As they are currently 1" I have at least a little time to sort that out before they start struggling for space. I'm going full SW, the one being re-homed is in 1.026 where he is currently and the other from the same batch at the LFS is in 1.010 - any tips for acclimatising that one? I'll be putting the one from the LFS in a floating breeder while I go to get the one being re-homed so they go in the main tank in tandem to avoid conflict - just a matter of timing it right as one will need to adjust to full SW. The tank just finished cycling so all being well with water perimeters the GSP's will be coming home a week from Saturday. The live rock is already developing coralline algae growth and I'm running two mechanical filter with space to add a skimmer if need be. I'm planting with macro algae now so it has a head start before the puffers are in and have a snail breeding tank up and running already. Does that sound ok?

[Pufferpunk]

Drip-acclimate from your tank into its bucket at 1 drop/second. You will have to remove water from the bucket as it fills.

[AZL]

Thank you, I'll get him from the LFS early enough to complete that process before getting the re-homed one, I'd imagine it take a while.

[hadla]

I have my two in a 225, olive is older (close to 5 years now) and a bit bigger but spot is slowly catching up. At the beginning, spot wanted to follow olive and it freaked olive out I’m getting a Ceylon who is a bit bigger than olive to join them but he’s in fresh so he will have a quickish conversion to saltwater over the weekend. They’re being downsized to a 120 with their tank mates, 2 snowflake morays and a hawk fish in a few weeks so I can start another freshwater tank with the 225

[AZL]

Ah cool, is that 225 litres? I like the idea of an awkward little hanger-on lol. Also I've a real soft spot for morays, didn't really think of them for an aquarium due to their size. Just looked them up and the recommended tank size is really small in relation to their size - I suppose as they are ambush predators?

[hadla]

225 gallons and 120 gallons lol the snowflake morays don’t get very big so they’re suitable as long as your tank is covered

[AZL]

Lol I wish I could fit in a tank that large, 60 or 70 g for a pair of puffers along with the 50 g freshwater community is the limit here. My tanks have to have to be covered, as well as having fish known to jump I have 6 cats

[hadla]

We have two and they don’t really care about the tanks luckily

[AZL]

Hahahahaha ours do like watching the fish but the fish like watching back. I'm looking forward to seeing what the cats and the puffers make of each other