The Puffer Forum

Hi - i recently bought 2 Green Spotter puffers (at least i think thats what they are - they have a brighter almost illuminous green patch on there head) - they're about an inch long at the moment.

1/ Firstly - they were both harrassing my Pangasusius catfish so i moved the catfish to a seperate tank. they seem to be co-habiting with the rest of my community fine now (time will tell).

2/ Secondly - do these need to be kept in Brackish water or are they ok in normal water? (they seem fine so far)

3/ Finally - if they start biting chunks out of my other fish i'll need to seperate them further. Do you know any other fish which are suitable to live with these puffers?

1) They generally don't do well with tankmates.
2) They need brackish water(using marine salt, not aquarium salt or other salt). Just a bit when young, but eventually high brackish to full marine.
3) See 1)

They also need huge spaces, 30 gallons each. See all the info on GSP in the "learn" heading.

Please get a photo if possible so we can help you identify it properly.

see attached

Looks like a GSP to me.

Like Nick said, they will be ok in low-end brackish when young (SG=1.005 to 1.008), but as they mature they need to be moved up to high end brackish to full marine (SG=1.018 to 1.025).

GPS's generally don't do well with tankmates so they are usually kept alone. If you do want to try keeping multiple GSP's together, it is recommended that you have a tank large enough so each fish can have 30gal.

thanks Mike. i have 2 in a 50 gallon tank so room wise they should be ok.
in terms of adding salt i should gradually increase the level right??

Your other FW fish will not appreciate the salt at all. You're going to need another tank & it should be at least 60g.

Please read the article on GSPs in our Library.

problems, problems!think i'm gonna be isolating the little buggers for the time being in my smaller tank... making it brackish and then eventually getting a second bigger tank (if the missus doesn't kill me!).
cheers for all the help guys

one more query... my two fish seem to spend a lot of time in the corner of the tank going up and down - bottom to surface and back again. do you think they're unhappy?

Pacing can be a number of things, they could be settling in still and getting used to their surroundings, it can also be a sign of boredom through lack of decor to explore. Give it some time, could be a couple of weeks or you could add some more decor like some tall fake plants to see if that stops them doing it.

I was reaing your story about the puffers pacing. I have had mine for about 2 months now. I noticed they stay in one corner and pace up and down almost on top of each other like yours do. I have a mirror on the opposite wall so that I can see them with my back turned. When I am not watching them they are all over the tank. When I turn to look at them they I see them speed to the same corner and start pacing up and down. They are quite the little beggers.

Pacing up and down is often the sign of some kind of stress. Mine did this until I moved her to a bigger tank. I guess she was bored. If you haven't moved them into a bigger tank, I guess that could be the problem.