The Puffer Forum

Very cute...I'd hate to see them suffer because they are being kept in less than optimal conditions.

Well considering optimal conditions would be the ocean, maybe we should all throw in the towel on aquariums all together. Actually, now that the oceans are polluted, let us kill all fish to keep them from suffering further.


The demiboss man said that if I needed to return him, that of course they'd put him in saltwater. And I said, "well what if we get a shipment in in freshwater and customers ask questions" and he goes, "we'll just tell them how they can switch from fresh to salt."

Well considering optimal conditions would be the ocean, maybe we should all throw in the towel on aquariums all together.

OK, calm down, now you sound like PETA.

Aww, I sometimes like PETA. Although I'm not hijaking the thread with that can-o-worms.

Liz, I'm not sure why you're being defensive (I see you edited a large portion of your post out). You asked what we though, knowing the response, and I think you got a very kind one. We disagree, but we're not going to hate you for it.

We all have to live with the choices we make and hopefully don't hurt anyone or anything with those choices. Although I'm very conscientious about trying to teach people the proper stocking of tanks, I have a tendency to overstock myself. That doesn't mean that I'll recommend it to someone else though, especially someone who is new to fish. I know I'm fanatical about water changes and caring for them so I know my fish are okay - I don't know that someone else would be the same.

Then again, I'm not going to post a message saying don't kill me but I just got an arowana for my 10 gallon tank. (BTW, that's just an example, there's no way I'd do that!) I just don't advertise the choices I make when I know others won't approve.

I do sometimes tell on myself here but if I do something I might get jumped on, I may hesitate or at least see if it has worked for a while. Especially since I own the place & folks have emmulated my mistakes & said: "see, PP did it!"

I'll never live down keeping 2 adult GSPs & a Ceylon for so long in a 55g tank.

Sorry, yesterday was a pretty rough day and the Dinsdale post came off as really rude/"smart" to me. It's not an excuse, but yeah.

I think personally I struggle with it because I feel guilty about owning aquariums at all. And then you have people putting a lot more in their tanks than I do... I guess I am sort of dabbling between the two extremes. We'll see how it goes, though. Aside from aggression and bioload/parameters, is there anything else that could be bad for the fish? Would it really stunt them since they each have 50 gallons swimming space?

Your tank is 50 gallons, or 100 gallons?

50 gallons, sorry. But they each have 50 gallons swimming space, the way I think about it....

Not like they each have their OWN 50 gallons of swimming space but they each have 36x18x18 area in which to swim, although they share it with another fish. IMO it seems 2 in a 50 gallon isn't as bad as each in a seperate 25 gallon (aggression aside), since there is a greater swimming space. I don't see how, if one fish in a 50 gallon is fine, two in a 50 gallon would be stunted because fish A has 50 gallons to explore as does fish B. Am I making sense? I could be totally wrong.

I understand & agree that it would be better than 1 in a 25g. I don't really think they will be stunted, just not as happy as they would be in a larger tank. Lots of water changes in the future too, to keep the parameters good.

We usually recommend one in a 30g and two in a 55g, allowing for the shared swimming area. Having had two GSPs in a 55g though, I truly feel that they need just a bit more room. 75G seems to be about right. I reserve the right to change my mind if they keep growing though!

yeah, I am setting up my 55g for a singal GSP.

I have 2 in a 75.