The Puffer Forum

Don't forget to post pictures of your new tanks and such!

This is exciting, you're doing a great job

Flutter wrote:This is exciting, you're doing a great job

+1 !!

I will post pics when i get them. ( do you supose that Yoshi my GSP will be ok in his 10 gallon tank for about another 2 weeks i had to make a car payment with this check so i will get him a tank with my next one paycheck and cycle it! first (ofcourse) and some decorations for him!!) and i cant post a puffer care, or do handouts, (my store and department manager wont let me.) but i am determined to tell everyone everything they need to know. and when people ask about tank size and i say 30 gallons for 1-2 GSP they say "uh no thanks i want an easy to take of fish" and i say " i dont think there such a fish. but if you wanted something that would be comfortable in your 3 gallon tank, guppies are the only thing we sell that would that would be ok in a 3 gallon tank. but i have informed every single one of my customers that say they are intersted in puffers and then i ask them to go home and do research and come back the next day if they think they are ready to handle the responsibility. they are very thankful that i inform them and i have had 1 actually come back (on thursday) saying he is ready and determined to take care of a puffer. (i also gave him the address to our puffer forum and said if he needed any help or had questions u guys were wonderful and eager to help out a new puffer owner, and before i bagged one up for him i asked if he had a cycled tank. he said he did but needed a heater and a better filtration system, so i told him to come back sunday and i figured 48 hours would be a good time to let the heater steady a 33 gallon water temp right?) so i cant wait to see if he comes back and gets his puffer!

side note. i got muscles for yoshi and i am gonna give him one tomorrow and see how he likes it. i made the mistake when i first got him to get him a feeder fish from our tanks at walmart. i am actually surprised he seems to like the company over eating it. i think i will have to name it soon. he has only nipped the fins a little but other that that the feeder is perfectly fine. hope he likes the muscles more. got a live plant for his tank hope he likes it. well changed 50% of the water again today. yay! for water changes. heh i got a "gravel vacume" and have made changing my water 50% easier! i can change the water and get his waste its a win win! talk to you all tomorrow.

Everything sounds awesome, except when you get the new tank, just transfer some or all the gravel, and the filter, or at least the filter media, and move him over asap. This will transfer any bacteria that has stared to propagate, assuming you are part way through the cycle.

The extra amount of water will effectively dilute his waste much better than a ten gallon.

Also, it's suggested 30 gallons per puff, they get 6" and are round, so 2 would be a 60 gallon minimum, but it's more often than not that they tend to not get along long term, ideally they are kept as singletons. And, they are more interactive with their care takers that way too.

Don't forget with your 10 gallon to keep up on frequent water changes. Sounds like your heading in the right direction with your little guy. Good luck.
Remeber to mention to the potential puffer owners that these aren't freshwater fish but need to be moved up from brackish to possibly full marine conditions.

P.S. That is Walmart for you, not letting the proper imformation be handed out, your doing a great job in trying to educate people.

trekenk wrote: your doing a great job in trying to educate people.

TY! i do my best to relay information you guys tell me.

Ty! and i do inform people that they are juvenile meaning brackish is fine for now but in about 6-9 monthes they will need full SW (that also discourages some as well) i dont mean to discourage but i dont wanna see anymore poor puffers brought back to me dead and they want a new one not knowing why it died. i would rather not sell them to misinformed people then sell them just to see them go. well bed time. then when i get home from work tomorow time for another tank change!!

It's nice to know there are some fish people working at Wal-Mart who actually care about the fish! I wish they'd all just stop selling them.

When you ask someone if they have a cycled tank, most will say yes because they think setting up a tank & running it a few days is cycling it. You must explain the cycling process to them.

Pufferpunk wrote:When you ask someone if they have a cycled tank, most will say yes because they think setting up a tank & running it a few days is cycling it. You must explain the cycling process to them.

well i guess i never thought of that. i usually asked them if they knew what cycling a tank was and i get some yeses and some no's i should more throughly explain it. ty!! i will remember to do so. yea i care about my fish at my Wal-Mart. i care for them the best i can. and i inform people a whole ton more!

Minahara wrote:

trekenk wrote: your doing a great job in trying to educate people.

TY! i do my best to relay information you guys tell me.

Ty! and i do inform people that they are juvenile meaning brackish is fine for now but in about 6-9 monthes they will need full SW (that also discourages some as well)

Actual GSP can live in high end brackish their whole lives, we just encourage people to go full marine with them as adult as it is much cheaper in terms of water changes and salt. That is with the proper saltwalter filteration of live rock and skimmer. With this type of filteration on marine tanks you can get away with less water changes meaning less salt you have to buy.

OK guys so against my better judgement i went and got My GSP a 27 gallon tank. (least thats what the tag said... i thought it would be bigger but hey the tag said 27 gallon tank $99.) i am starting cycling it right now. i left my GSP in his smaller tank fer now because i need to get a bigger filter system first and tank heater. but i am sure he will enjoy it! will get pics up when i get finished decorating and cycling!

Sweet!

alrighty got yoshi moved to his new tank 2 days ago. it is decorated and the filter is running smoothly. (i live in a basement and its still pretty chilly where i live and my roommate/landlord keeps the house only at 65 degrees F and i had only 1 15-30 heater and it was barely keeping the tank at 71. so i put my spare little 2-15 heater on the other side of the tank and it keeps it now at a cozy 76 degrees. i cant seem to get yoshi to eat freeze-dried blood worms but i cant get him snails or crabs right now.( i only have 40 in my bank account and thats my gas money to get to and from work) he barely nibbles at shrimp pellets. i am a little worried i tested his water with an api saltwater test kit. i will test again and give u guys the numbers and all.

Cheap food ideas:
Go to a grocery store and buy mussels, shrimp shell on, clam, etc, whatever they may have, but just buy one or two of each, or just one. I do this and my total is as low as .88, never more than a couple of bucks. I just explain that it's for my puffer fish, no one so far has been a "surlaW" (as our word censor would say) about.
Also, if you're sure the area is not sprayed with pesticides, he'll love rolly pollies, I think they are also called potato bugs, and earthworms.