The Puffer Forum

I don't have a problem with pit bulls...I just believe They should be properly trained. I think if there was a law to that affect or perhaps if you had to purchase a license there would be far fewer pit bull incidences.

I would opt for cheaper glass as it will allow you to set up the tank quicker, and make it easier to purchase top quality equipment.

You can put jacks underneath your house to support the weight. You really need a 90 for 3. I have 2 in a 75..and I would not add a 3rd. The bio load, activity level, and need for territory means they need large tanks.

They start off little and cute, but end up as nerf footballs.

Little and cute........




Nerf football with teeth......





Same puffer in all pics.

I'd clean out the Eheim. I bet you'll find a TON of mulm in there. On my FW tanks, I use Aquaclear 110 filters for every 30-50g. Anything over 50g gets an Eheim added. My 125g has 3 AC 110s & an Eheim 2217. My 90g has 2 AC110s & an Eheim 2217. Once you move up to SW, you remove ALL FW filtration, add a protein skimmer, live rock (1 1/2-2lbs/g) & several powerheads to flow around the rocks.

+1 to cleaning out the filter. I have previously had larger tanks than can be supported by the floor and love them. You get a great footprint and only half fill them, this is not to everyone's taste but there is only 1 reinforced bit of floor in the room so hey ho. Also great for plants that grow out of the water lol

That is always a debatable point. FW and BW filtration currently in general absolutely require bacterial nitrification, which SW purists call nitrate factories - which they are. Your tank as set was a special case as it was massively overstocked. I would house those fish in sveral hundred gallons of water divided into multiple tanks. You were doing it in less than 50 gallons. massive ammonia from the fish results in massive nitrate titers. At least you had that. You could easily have killed all of those fish if did not have massive biofiltration.

SW these day uses substantial live rock (which does both bacterial nitrification and bacterial denitrification internally), and also employs skimmer technology to remove dissolved organic, generally as foam but other processes to that end may be employed. If you want go it all the way you add a 24/7 lighted macroalgae refugium which in part converts nitrate (and other dissolved material) into macroalgal plant mass, which is partly harvested and removed periodically. Those refugia are also factories for 'pods of multiple sorts, which a passive return system can add to the show tank for treats to the GSPs. That refugium is primarily a water quality device, but also add O2 during the tank's dark cycle in parallel with giving the vertebrates small prey to seek and capture (nutritious and excellent prey on a small scale). That system is unique to SW. It does such a good job that once stable, routine water changes drop significantly. As SW is expensive, this long-term remarkably more economical

It is possible to emulate such a system with dual veggie/plant filter tanks attached to a FW display tank. One of the veggie filters there would be on the same light cycle as the display tank, the other on an opposite light cycle. The efficiency of such set-ups is fare less that the SW system. I have run such on 55 or 75 gallon display tanks, with two 40-long tanks as veggie filters. Unfortunately, the FW system still requires 50% water partial weekly on the entire volume (55 + 2x40 or 75 +2x40). Not many folks are will to more than double their routine water changes just to avoid filters, not to mention the increased costs of tank and lighting and pumps. The SW technique is markedly reducing organics in the system and the FW system does not.

All of my Eheims are bio-filtration only. The are prefiltered in-tank with prefilter sponges (which are rinsed at least weekly or more frequently). The canisters themselves house only Dupla Minikaskade spheres as the biomedia with no other media present. The canisters are reverse back-flushed with tank water at the first water change of the month. They are opened to check tubing and the impeller housing every 6 -12 months. Most operate for the life of the setup (3 - 20+ years. Additional sponge-only mechanical filtration is rinsed at least weekly, but not in classic Eheims - more user-friendly devices are used for that job. The Dupla material are purchased in Europe, as they are rare in this country.

Thanks for all the help so far, I don't want the fish to suffer so I found all of them happy homes with experienced fishkeepers. I only have the three juvenile GSP's in there now with two thumbnail sized redclaw crabs I put in there for food. I did a 25% wc yesterday and just now finished a 50% wc. I also put the topfin 40 hob filter back to work with a fresh filter. I'll retest the nitrate in the morning I guess so everything levels out, should I keep retesting the nitrite, ph, and ammonia also everyday or just every couple days?
Ok it's morning here and I just tested nitrate and it looks like I may have got it down to 40ppm. I'll do another water change tonight and see if it helps some more.
I tested the tap water for nitrate finally tonight and it looks to be 0ppm or close to it.time for another water change I guess to get this under control.

Here is a quick update , I have been slacking a bit on the water change but I did get two done this last week, one 50% and one 75% today. The nitrate is down to 10ppm and the rest is fine. I also bought one of them battery powered eheim vacuum for daily cleanup when the water is under control since these puffers are efficient little turd makers for their size. At first I was getting a lot of fine sand with the waste, but I am getting a lot better at getting more waste than sand now and I highly recommend it .Also on the ramshorn snails I was wondering if they are the same ones I find in my garden and on the siding of my home eating algae, they look the same?

I obviously bought too many GSP's for my little 40 gallon tank, even after humanely rehoming all the mbuna chiclids to give my little nerfballs a home. I need some advice still to buy my second tank that I want to set up saltwater. I am thinking a 75 gallon full salt with the 40 I have now set up brackish I could rotate the three fish from saltwater to brackish which would replicate real life for them and let me buy and set up a little smaller saltwater tank.

I would think a 75 gallon with lots of live rock and a good skimmer would suffice but if you find a good deal on a 90 or 125 definitely go for it as it would be much better for them in the long run as purplecandle stated.

Dug thru the forum and found this post from last year featuring 3 adult GSP's in a 100 gallon tank to give you some perspective.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=30818

Yeah, 125g would be perfect!

I'd like to thank ya'll for all the kind replies and advise. PP I could get a 135 gallon now with the stand for almost nothing but it would make my old cichlids go onto craigslist. Not to mention I don't believe my house can hold the weight, it's a mobile home and I have termites to make things worst. I plan on building a geosdomehome on my lot here though soon will open up right aboutwhen these puffers need room. If I put two of them in a 75g and kept the third in the current 40 gallon breeder tank wouldn't they be fine?

That's a good plan, they will have enough space that way.

I finally got another tank to rais snails and maybe other puffer food. Got this 10 gallon http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... lInUS%2FNo off craigslist within 2 miles for $10 . I got a Tetra Whisper 10i that seems to fit, should that work for breeding ramshorn snails and maybe some ghost shrimp or something else for them?

Mixed breeders don't tend to work, one species always outbreeds the other. If you want to breed multiple foods you would need multiple tanks I'm afraid. With so many foods available I would just breed snails.