Attack Of the killer GSP-How I got a puffer

[gloomy]

A friend of mine has a 10 gal tropical tank with black skirt and neon tetras. Last week, she calls and tells me she just got a puffer from wal mart. I explained that she needed to return it...they get really big...eat worms..need salt...and will eat her fish. That is the extent of my knowledge...Yesterday she brings me a bag. In it she has the puffer in a Tupperware container and two dead tetras with no fins and big chunks missing. She starts crying...he ate my fish....he ate my fish... it was just horrid and funny. Now I have him in a 10 gal by his lonesome..he is about an inch and half long and seems to be in good shape. I have been feeding him blood worms..gonna be adding more variety on payday. How long do you think I have until he needs a bigger tank?? I couldn't take him back to wal mart...that would be cruel.

[Pandora114]

umm you have about....umm negative 24hrs

basicly get a bigger tank ASAP

And make sure it's properly cycled...or bring the little creature back to the Local fish store if you can't swing it right now. GSP's need at least 30 gals to themselves....

We have a 32usgal tank and our puff is the only living thing in it....he's pretty happy.

[Hilly]

Have a read of this, should answer a lot of your GSP questions.
http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/ ... togsp.html
The sooner you can get at least a 30g for him the better.

[Pufferpunk]

I think as long as the 10g is cycled, he will be ok for a while (till ~2") & then you will need to upgrade. If it is not cycled, do your absolute best to hunt down a pac of Bio-Spira (be sure it's refrigerated & do not accept any substitutes!) to instant-cycle the tank. If it is not cycled, then you'll be doing daily 50-80% water changes till it is.

[gloomy]

The tank is cycled...i was using it as a QT tank....I haven't found a lfs that knows anything about puffers...I've asked a couple...I will continue asking around....in the meantime...i will watch the water parameters carefully....weird question....i have a 50 gallon rubbermaid tub....the big thick black one...would it work to set it up as a temporary puffer house??? It would need sterilized and a heater and a filter....

[gloomy]

Oops....I forgot a question...I was reading that if the puffer's belly is concave...it has parasites?? This guy's belly isn't concave but it fades from white to grey/black...is that bad?? Arg! So much to learn....

[Dinsdale]

Darkening skin color is usually a sign of stress/illness. If it's only sometimes, it's probably ok - they change colors with their moods, and he's still settling in.

50 gallon rubbermaid should be fine.

I wouldn't bother trying to find anyone at an LFS that knows puffers.

[gloomy]

I did find a lfs that knows puffers...yay!! and they said they would trade my gsp for a dwarf puffer...Might do that...

[Hilly]

Trade him for 2, 2 would do nicely in your 10g tank.

[The Fisherman]

I think as long as the 10g is cycled, he will be ok for a while (till ~2") & then you will need to upgrade.

I agree. I think the same holds true for F8s, at least from my experiences thus far.

I agree with Hilly too, that 2 dwarves would do nicely in a 10g.

I don't think a concave belly nesecarily means parasites, it can just be from lack of food. By the time they land at the LFS i'm sure they have not been fed properly.

The belly darkening can mean stress, and like DinsDale said, can be from mood changes as well.

Just making sure, you don't have copper in the tank do you?

[/i]

[gloomy]

There shouldn't be any copper in there...I haven't added anything...the darkening on his belly has faded now and is mostly gone now...I will probably see about taking him in and trading him today...Its sad to swap him around like that...but at least he will have a nice big tank...