The Puffer Forum

The following statements and suggestions are purely intended to help; I am not judging or claiming to stand a higher moral ground. You can take the advice or leave it, but I will not argue back and forth with you.

*As stated, a common pleco reaches ginormous sizes, it is not appropriate for any tank less than 24" width. They are also a soft, freshwater fish, they would not thrive in even low end brackish, let alone the hard brackish to marine a Green Spotted Puffer needs. If you are looking for algae control, I would suggest olive nerites that have been acclimated to the current salinity.

*Green Spotted Puffers either reach about 4" or some up to 7". Since there is no way to tell which size it will grow to become, it's best to prepare for 7". It is suggested to have a tank, at bare minimum, a length 4-6X the max adult size, and a width 2-3X the max adult size. That is for one puffer, and just the bare minimum. Yes, technically, you can keep a puffer in a 10 gallon tank, just like technically you could live in a closet with a friend for the rest of your life is someone dropped food in for you and cleaned out your doodies, ect., but it wouldn't be the same kind of life you would have in a one bedroom apartment.

*To treat for IP's, soak the food in a marinade of the medication you have, the API General Cure, add a small amount of the powder in a small container with a small bit of tank water, with some crushed garlic clove, or garlic extract. Soak for about an hour. Feed them this food for 3-7 days. The amounts are not exact, you'll have to estimate. The more medication you use the less apt they are to eat the food, you may have to do some experimenting.

get some jungle fizz tabs , only do at half the dosage due to puffers having skin and not scales . Puffers can get grumpy if something is upsetting them and can refuse to eat . Have you changed anything in the tank of late ???.....is it being bullied by the other puffer ??

Nothing else in the tank has changed, except for the addition of a diyc02 injector. We thought that this puffer was getting taunted by the other, but I always make sure they both got to eat, and they seem to leave each other alone. @Seven, you do realize, that my fish are dwarf puffers? I have never heard that they get 4-7inches long. That is some peculiar information. My little guy is gone now. I will continue to treat the other puffer for parasites, even though I am no closer now to knowing what was wrong with my fish. Thanks for everyone's help.

LoL.. I find this post rather amusing.. In your op, u said they are GSPs and would be converting to brackish.. Now u are saying that they are dwarfs.. I think u are quite confused yourself... Proper advise are given here to treat for ip and everyone suggest it could be also stress due to the small tank. And u cant see that because yes, u are being defensive. Puffer care can be very different from any other fishes that U may have kept before.

I assumed that when I mentioned gsp's, then dwarf would be assumed. I did not know that puffers other than dwarfs could even survive in fw

It also seems that when a gsp is searched for on the internet, the only option is the dwarf green spotted puffer. Being in a puffer forum, I would figure that is common knowledge, and did not know why I was getting ridiculed for my 4 inches of fish in a 10g, especially when the dwarf puffers that i have are as long as they are going to get.

Dwarf puffer is a freshwater fish native to India. viewtopic.php?f=38&t=28629
Green Spotted Puffer is a brackish-marine fish native to asia. viewtopic.php?f=38&t=28649
There is no such thing as a Green Spotted Dwarf Puffer. If you have what is commonly referred to as a Green Spotted Puffer, you have T. nigroviridis. If you have a Dwarf Puffer, then you have Carinotetraodon travancoricus, and you will kill them if you try to convert them to brackish.

Ok. If they are dwarfs, 10g is pretty alright. U mentioned that U are using diy co2 but there's only "few live plants". Low dissolved oxygen in the water perhaps? There should be other signs for ip. ie. Sunken bellies, white poops etc. Honestly the symtoms u described so far does not sound like ip. But doesn't hurt to treat either.

At least u dun insist they are dead spo%%£& Congo...

Yes, there is a large possibility your fish have IPs. They are wild-caught. Any amount of stress on the fish can make parasite attacks worse or give a myriad of other diseases opportunity to take over what could have been an otherwise, healthy fish.

The folks here are the best long-term pufferkeepers you will find on the net. That article I linked you to has been published all over the world.

No judgement here--you can either choose to listen to folks have kept their puffers stunted & who at most, 5 years in a 10g or folks who have kept them into their late teens, grown to the size of Nerf footballs, like the ones pictured in my article, if properly housed.

I just read that U are injecting co2 and using a o2 bubble wand.. Wouldn't them contradict each other?

I am confused. Could you please clarify which puffer you have. The dwarf green spotted puffer commonly referred to is a mythical creature. If they are dwarves a 10 g can make a good house for them, if gsp 30g each. For ip's soak the food in the meds

Green Spotted Puffers either reach about 4" or some up to 7". Since there is no way to tell which size it will grow to become, it's best to prepare for 7"

6" is the normal size for an adult GSP. There is absolutely no reason (other then previously stunted), for a GSP not to achieve this size, if housed, fed & kept in proper water conditions. The fact that the sites the OP has been getting his info on doesn't share this fact, just states my case for this site.