The Puffer Forum

You need to get him out of the pollutants right away and the best way to do this is to do water changes! You won't stress him out by doing this! Do 50% now and 50% every day (twice tomorrow) until you can get him in to a proper sized tank that is cycled. Ammonia chips do work, albeit poorly, and will not save this fish. Follow PufferPunks advice, she knows what she's talking about. Read the F8 article, and the fishless cycling article. Getting it into brackish water isn't your main concern right now, it's important but, in this case it can wait for a short time. The top priority is getting it out of it's own waste products and into a tank of at least 15 gal, then worry raising the SG with marine salt.

Here is a good example of a thread with a puffer in an emergency situation being derailed on a subject not pertinent to the immediate issue & totally confusing the OP.

Sorry! Oswald, feel free to ignore me whenever you want!

Pufferpunk wrote:Please, please, please read my post!

Well i do have a bigger tank that i might move him into, and i will cycle it for a long time. I'm going to our local pet store today to get the things that everyone suggested. Thanks for all the help

Read the article in the puffer library about cycling I'm not completely sure you understand the concept yet. Its not just letting the tank sit. Its establishing a colony of bacteria that break down the fishes toxic waste to less harmful chemicals. Read everyting you can about fishless cycling so you have a better grasp of the topic.

liquid88 wrote:Read the article in the puffer library about cycling I'm not completely sure you understand the concept yet. Its not just letting the tank sit. Its establishing a colony of bacteria that break down the fishes toxic waste to less harmful chemicals. Read everyting you can about fishless cycling so you have a better grasp of the topic.

ok well i have a 15 gallon tank that I'm going to set up soon, and in the meantime im going to change oswalds water completely in his 2.5 tank, adding marine salt. I'll let the 15 gallon tank cycle for ten days or longer if i have to. I'm still a little confused about how you get all the right bacteria to grow... I'm really new to all of this, but i really appreciate the help. I have read the articles, and get most of it, but it's still a little confusing.

Do the 50% water change Oswald. When you change all the water out at one time it slows down the cycle process. Most pet/fish stores will test the water for free if you don't have test kits. Get exact numbers not just "it's OK" so you start learning the water parameters. When you have no ammonia and nitrite and pH: 7.8-8.3 stable with weekly WC's that is when you have the tank cycled. It can take weeks to a month to cycle. Also try to add what you have in the samll tank to the new tank like filter, decor, rocks because all that has the bacteria you want to help the cycle process.

Make sure to add small amounts of salt a week so the fish can adjust.

It is much better for your puffer to be living in a 15g uncycled tank than a 2.5g. Put him in there NOW & read the emergency cycling article. Don't bother with salt at this point, until youre tank is cycled.

ok i will ASAP. I'll get it set up and everything and put him in there as soon as i can. I guess he's not a f8... he's a GSP which i got the two confused, so my bad. But, thanks for all of your help! its appreciated greatly

Then he'll need a 30gal instead of a 15. but the 15 will do till you get a 30. Just get him out of that teeny tiny tank ASAP

Oh, dear. This is a whole 'nother can of worms. A GSP will grow up to 6in, and will require at least 30g.

Don't stress about that right now. Focus on the 15g. You can worry about the 30g once he's in a fully cycled tank. The 15g will hold you for a few months.

There is an article in the PufferPedia (Learn tab at the top of the page) on GSPs, and a species profile, also in the PufferPedia. Both of these will be helpful in the future. GSPs are also brackish, although they prefer a higher salinity that F8s, so a lot of their care will be the same. The main difference is the size.

If you need any more help understanding the cycling process, PM me (just click the PM button under my little profile by this post). I took a while to get the scientific stuff, too, but I've figured out how to put it in a simpler way. I'm not at all scientifically inclined.

LilGreenPuffer wrote:Oh, dear. This is a whole 'nother can of worms. A GSP will grow up to 6in, and will require at least 30g.

Don't stress about that right now. Focus on the 15g. You can worry about the 30g once he's in a fully cycled tank. The 15g will hold you for a few months.

There is an article in the PufferPedia (Learn tab at the top of the page) on GSPs, and a species profile, also in the PufferPedia. Both of these will be helpful in the future. GSPs are also brackish, although they prefer a higher salinity that F8s, so a lot of their care will be the same. The main difference is the size.

If you need any more help understanding the cycling process, PM me (just click the PM button under my little profile by this post). I took a while to get the scientific stuff, too, but I've figured out how to put it in a simpler way. I'm not at all scientifically inclined.

Thanks! Yes, some of it confuses me... but it's getting better. For the time being though....
My GSP is currently in a bowl... but I can explain
I just changed his water in his 2.5 tank- completely. I added 1/8 of a cup of Marine Salt (Instant Ocean) I'm letting it run for half an hour, and then i will check it's salinity with a hydrometer. The man at the pet store (Petco) told me how to use it, and said that the salinity should be between 1.004 and 1.008 (for now). He told me to gradually increase it with each water change, and when I move my GSP to the 15 gallon tank. He also told me that If 1/8 isnt enough, i should add another 1/8 to make a 1/4 of a cup, until it reaches between 1.004 and 1.008. There are also 3 drops of dechlor, and a thermometer, which reads 80 degrees F.
I also purchased an ammonia testing kit. I tested 5 ml of water, and it was yellow for freshwater tanks, which was 0 ( which is good. so it's not ammonia that's making him black. it's just that he needs marine salt) I will be moving him to the 15 gallon tank as soon as i can. Whats weird is that now as he's swimming in a little temporary bowl, he's white and his coloring is brighter than ever, and it's still the water without marine salt....... why could this be?
Thanks for all the help everyone! I really appreciate it

OswaldPuffPuff wrote:

LilGreenPuffer wrote:Oh, dear. This is a whole 'nother can of worms. A GSP will grow up to 6in, and will require at least 30g.

Don't stress about that right now. Focus on the 15g. You can worry about the 30g once he's in a fully cycled tank. The 15g will hold you for a few months.

There is an article in the PufferPedia (Learn tab at the top of the page) on GSPs, and a species profile, also in the PufferPedia. Both of these will be helpful in the future. GSPs are also brackish, although they prefer a higher salinity that F8s, so a lot of their care will be the same. The main difference is the size.

If you need any more help understanding the cycling process, PM me (just click the PM button under my little profile by this post). I took a while to get the scientific stuff, too, but I've figured out how to put it in a simpler way. I'm not at all scientifically inclined.

Thanks! Yes, some of it confuses me... but it's getting better. For the time being though....
My GSP is currently in a bowl... but I can explain
I just changed his water in his 2.5 tank- completely. I added 1/8 of a cup of Marine Salt (Instant Ocean) I'm letting it run for half an hour, and then i will check it's salinity with a hydrometer. The man at the pet store (Petco) told me how to use it, and said that the salinity should be between 1.004 and 1.008 (for now). He told me to gradually increase it with each water change, and when I move my GSP to the 15 gallon tank. He also told me that If 1/8 isnt enough, i should add another 1/8 to make a 1/4 of a cup, until it reaches between 1.004 and 1.008. There are also 3 drops of dechlor, and a thermometer, which reads 80 degrees F.
I also purchased an ammonia testing kit. I tested 5 ml of water, and it was yellow for freshwater tanks, which was 0 ( which is good. so it's not ammonia that's making him black. it's just that he needs marine salt) I will be moving him to the 15 gallon tank as soon as i can. Whats weird is that now as he's swimming in a little temporary bowl, he's white and his coloring is brighter than ever, and it's still the water without marine salt....... why could this be?
Thanks for all the help everyone! I really appreciate it

ok so i just checked the SG and salinity. It was right between 1.004 and 1.008 ( i hope i did it right. I think it did.... you dip the right hand bottom corner in first and fill it up all the way and then put it on a flat surface right?) So I think I will put my GSP (oswald) in now......
he's still swimming around in his bowl, perfectly white....... and bright. I'm still wondering why he could be so happy in that little bowl
Thanks!

ok so now im a little confused. i still havent put my GSP in the tank, and i decided to check the salinity once more just to make sure........ and it was 1.012......? I'm debating on whether I should but him in, because I don't want him to be shocked if there is too much salt..... what should i do?


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I put him in the water and his belly isn't all black still, but around his mouth it is a little. I think he's just adjusting to the new salinity, and the new setup of the tank, including the water temperature and everything else. He's swimming around, but cautiously. I think he's doing okay.

OswaldPuffPuff wrote:ok so now im a little confused. i still havent put my GSP in the tank, and i decided to check the salinity once more just to make sure........ and it was 1.012......? I'm debating on whether I should but him in, because I don't want him to be shocked if there is too much salt..... what should i do?

Ok...lets try to save you some money here and some complications, at least for now. Forget about adding marine salt right now. It's not necessary at the moment, you can do that once your GSP becomes healthier and happier. The reason the SG rose is that the salt water should be mixed at least 24 hours in advance so the salt completely dissolves, so like I said, don't worry about about brackish water right now. Just work on getting him in to the 15 gallon (yes he will need a bigger tank) right now and getting it cycled.


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OswaldPuffPuff wrote:I put him in the water and his belly isn't all black still, but around his mouth it is a little. I think he's just adjusting to the new salinity, and the new setup of the tank, including the water temperature and everything else. He's swimming around, but cautiously. I think he's doing okay.

The reason he was so nice and bright and white is that there was no ammonia or nitrite in the water, he'd only been in the bowl for a short amount of time. Your ammonia test showed you this.