The Puffer Forum

Well unfortunately this was not told to me before I got my fish. The article, "An Introduction to Green Spotted Puffers" from this site, states that I can start one off in one as small as 10 gallons. Many other articles I have read say that even a 20 gallon is efficient for a full grown puffer. I however, will not be keeping him in the 20 gallon when he is full grown. If there are problems that will occur from keeping a young puffer in this size tank, I wish this would have been brought to my attention.

An active puffer such as a gsp needs at least 30g water in a long not tall tank. That is absolute minimum bigger/longer is better. They produce a ton of mess and need good exercise to thrive, 20g will not dilute the waste of a gsp or allow for suitable exercise. The unfortunate news is that he/she will end up stunted and could face health issues in the future. To cap it all off a marine tank of that size will be incredibly difficult to keep stable with the bio-load produced by such a puffer, you could go high brackish but that would cost you mega money to keep up with water changes etc. I hope it doesn't sound like I am bashing you because I am not, everyone needs to learn. I just hate seeing people setting themselves up for a bumpy ride instead of an enjoyable experience

I appreciate your help. I am stuck with a 20 gallon though for the time being. Could you please explain to me why high brackish water would cost more money than marine? It is just frustrating for me because I have spent a lot of time trying to research this stuff but everybody has a different opinion on what is okay.

Bertie is referring to long-term upkeep cost, which will mostly be buying marine salt. A well established marine tank will require a small (25-30%) water changes only once a month, while a brackish would require a large (50-70%) water change weekly! The cost of salt for the brackish would quickly add up, since GSPs require near-marine S.G (~1.018) compared to full marine. On the other hand, full marine requires more up front cost, i.e. live rock and protein skimmer... but this is offset by longterm easier maintenance and low operating costs.
HTH.

P.S. I actually had a similar problem to yours but my dorm only allows 10g! So I had to give up my gsp =/. Traded him in at a local store for a f8, whom I have atm. Even 10g seems to small for a f8 and since I'm getting an apartment next semester, I plan on upgrading him into a 30. I hope it works out for you, but honestly I think a 20 is far to small for him to live in happily... You're doing much better than most people though, I had one girl in my Bio lab talk about how she kept hers happy in a 2g fishbowl, feeding it fishflakes... the poor thing (puffer obviously). I tried to tell her how to do proper care but I got the "you're way too serious and overboard about this" look and she wouldn't have any of it... It breaks my heart when I see GSPs at the local chain pet store.. I wonder how many met their end at the hands of unknowing children and college students =/.

I want to add--if you go marine, you're definitely going to want to make that a 55g tank, since you will be using up space with the live rock required for this kind of system. Especially, if you want to keep it down to 25-30% WC. You may also be able to add a few marine fish, depending on the aggressiveness of the puffer.

it can all be incredibly confusing at first, i totally understand it doesn't help that a lot of fish store staff are completely off base or uninformed on the fish they sell- we had one supposedly 'knowledgeable' store member tell us a porcupine puff would be okay in a 30 gal(sadly before I found the forum)!
-cue the experienced members howls of rage and heart attacks...it's something i'm rather ashamed of, but we were ignorant and new to puffs-

i've seen f8s and gsps labelled interchangeably, which is a nightmare considering size difference. first forrays into puffer keeping are messy and bound to have some mishaps along the way- no one can fault you for not knowing. we're all here to help, and it's pointedly obvious you've put a lot of time into preparing for and love your little feesh a lot.

depending on how many years you have left at university, i would give it some thought. a 20 gallon isn't optimal, no, but as long as you keep up with water changes, he'll survive, though not thrive for the next few months.. if you have less than a year of school left it might be okay- but as the expert guys say, not optimal. over-filtration is also a huge necessity for puffs that you might want to think about. i have a 50-70 gal filter on Feather's 20 gal...it might help Puffy's chances in the long run.

i'm a sucker for bonding to my pets right away, so i can imagine it would be heart-breaking to trade him in, but if you find you're going to be in a dorm for the next four years you might want to consider exchanging Puffy for a figure 8 puffer, if you can find them. they're very similar to gsp puffs, and stay much smaller. they're also low end brackish.

different opinions are everywhere, but there is something everyone on this site seems to agree on- we want the best for the puffs AND for the people that care for them i've yet to find a more supportive fish community on the web.

Thank you all for your help. I will have a lot of thinking to do but I will be in a place where I can get a larger tank this summer.

@ Brianna13 Thanks! I had started mine out in a 55 brackish tank with 1.005 salinity and converted it to full marine in 6 months. I had started out with two 60 gallon filters and two powerheads on my tank to keep the water pristine and without dead spots in the water. The rules about water changes, tank sizes, and cost for salt is true I am afraid. But I think you will get it figured out. Do not get discouraged.

I started off, as many people did, in a bad situation with my puffers. By taking advice from good sources, considering it and selecting what seemed sensible, I just about got through a fish-in cycle in a undersized tank (NOT RECOMMENDED lol)

If I can lend any advice it is this - Keep calm and think thoroughly before you make any future decisions, even ones as simple as which decor to add. (my advice, btw, is to go for caves and plenty of broad, bushy fake plants)

It's a great hobby. Always with plenty to think about and plenty of room to experiment and improve.

I can't begin to tell you what percent of folks find this forum because of really BAD info given them about their puffer. Especially from Walmart. Most told a 10g uncycled tank is fine for their GSP & yes, they eat flakes!

Yes, although I seemed to be pretty misinformed, there are a lot of people in a much worse situations. I actually did purchase mine from Walmart. I didn't want to support them by buying him from there however I figured I should rescue one. When I went, there was only one of about six that looked only slightly healthy. The rest were brown, shrunk, and close to death. So after the guy at Walmart gave little Puffy to me in his bag, I asked him what type of flake he was eating currently (in case he was actually eating it and I could use it to convert him to other food). The then tells me they don't even eat the flake (obviously) and they just eat freeze dried bloodworms. I think it's insane that they don't even bother to tell the person buying him that he doesn't eat the food that is instructed that he be fed. They don't even give their puffers a chance.

While searching for gsp videos on youtube I came across this lovely lady who purchased hers from Walmart. I don't understand why they even sell them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7yZ60aw8Zc

I'm gonna have nightmares...

Unfortunately,"rescuing" a fish from Walmart just tells them they are good sellers, no matter how they care for them or offer bad advice. Then they just buy more. It's like buying a puppy from a pet shop. You might think you're rescuing it but you are supporting horrific puppy mills.