The Puffer Forum

first day here.

First tank besides son's 5g goldfish tank. We really enjoy watching his litte goldfish tank and i did some research and decided i want to get a puffer or two. I bought a 29g long tank w/ stand, power filter, heater, and gravel. I'm gonna start cycle when i wake up and bring in a sample of my tap water to local fish store. I plan on buying either a gsp or f8.

If i wanted to, would i be able to buy both and try raising them together?

What kinds on decor is best?

When is it safe to start feeding them ghost shrimps or other live foods?

Are they poisionous by touch or just if you each fugu. Concern because my son is only 18 months and he has a habit of putting his hand in the goldfish tank.

Also should i put bubble stone? thanks in advance, i hope you guys will help me out.

Welcome to the site


Raising a F8 and GSP together would only work for a very short while as F8's stay low end brackish and GSP's go a lot higher.

As you're going brackish, steer clear of bogwood as it will rot, some nice rockwork and fake plants. You can use grave as a substrate or aragonite sand or crushed coral.

Depends how big the live food is, you dont want it to be wasted, it really needs to be quarantined for a few weeks to make sure they're not gonna get anything bad passed on.

It's best not to touch them if you can avoid it, i've moved some of mine with a gentle nudge, I suppose the risk is very minimal but dont take the risk if you dont have to, a good fitting lid to keep your sons hands out might be a good idea, just in case a puffer decides to go for a nibble.

Bubble stone is your personal preference.

You could just get 1 GSP or 2 F8's providing they get along.

thanks for your input hilly!

also when doing the cycle, should i put conditioner and salt?

when i buy the fish, should i bring some of my tank water so that the store workers can put it in with my water or is that bad, because that means that they would have to be transfer through air?

also what are things i should look for in buying my fish. i know the gsp are in a tank with other fish and the f8 are solo is little cubicals.

so do i have a good enough size tank because i dont want to stain the stand and end up not needin g it because tank is too small.

thanks in advance. i have no knowledge about what i'm trying to do.

Welcome to the site!

Also make sure to use marine salt, not aquarium salt.
And puffers are only poisonous when eaten, not to the touch, but they might nip at your sons fingers.

as newbie i should start with live plants.

sorry if i'm asking simple questions.

am i thinking too hard about this. i want my son to grow up with the whole fish experience so that he will be more involve in something as he grows up.

First thing i'd check is whether they keep em in brackish or freshwater, its a good bet they'll be in fresh. Then just cycle accordingly. There's an article on fishless cycling in the library.

You can ask them to try and bag the fish underwater, every puffer i've bought has been exposed to air when they bag em but I always have a good check once they're in the bag to make sure they can swim properly and havent become air filled.

Look for the healthiest specimens you can, avoid the skinny ones, go for an active one with the least amount of damage to fins and the least bite marks. That'll give you the best chance of a good one.

When you're going brackish, plants become a little more difficult, do a forum search for brackish plnats there's been a few threads on this subject. They do need acclimating slower than fish. It's entirely up to you but you can get some pretty realistic fake plants these days.

Welcome. Ugh, please get that goldfish out of the 5g tank. Common goldfish, properly cared for and housed, will grow to 2 feet long and belong in a pond.

Lets get the puffers sorted first before we jump on the new guy for his goldfish. They are obviously here to learn and do best for the intended puffers.

Boxermom wrote:Welcome. Ugh, please get that goldfish out of the 5g tank. Common goldfish, properly cared for and housed, will grow to 2 feet long and belong in a pond.

When I was a kid, my first tank was that size, 1 goldfish, lived for 18 years. Even with all the ponds i've built ranging from 1000 to 3500 gallon pond I have never seen a goldfish reach more than 14-15" in length.

Must slightly negative comments like these continue to come up on newbie posts, without reading on forums and books how are people supposed to learn. We all know what fish shops are like and the large amounts of mis-information that are given and people trust their advice. It may not be an ideal situation for a goldfish but everyone starts somewhere and that's where i did.

I understand that I have to get that goldfish out of such limited home. Is there a way to donate or trade trades with the lfs. Im planning to use that 5g for just ghost shrimp.

You guy are gonna be mad when i tell you this but beside that little goldfish...








I also gave 2 dojo louches, small catfish bottom feeder, black moore, panda, and 1 white cloud. Oh yeah and some ghost shrimp.


That why im having so much trouble with just having 2 or just 1 fish in a 29g.

And now that i read on lots of theard on this forum i understand how much stress im putting on those poor fish. Would i be able to return them before its too late without a receipt?

LFS will either give you cash or store credit, sound them out first with what you've got and see if they're interested in any. If they're not try a few more. Generally they will get taken.... eventually.

It can take some getting used to having very few specimens of fish in a tank, in your head you start to think what a waste of a tank surely it can take more fish than that. I know I have many times.

The only problem I ever have had with putting small fish in a big tank, is waiting for them to grow. It seems like such a waste, but with fast growing fish it's really not a problem. You'll get used to it soon and you won't regret it.

I keep 2 F8 puffers, a couple of molies & gobies in my 29g. A nice lil BW community!

Hilly wrote:Must slightly negative comments like these continue to come up on newbie posts, without reading on forums and books how are people supposed to learn. We all know what fish shops are like and the large amounts of mis-information that are given and people trust their advice. It may not be an ideal situation for a goldfish but everyone starts somewhere and that's where i did.

And how, pray tell, are they supposed to learn if they aren't told? I don't think my comment was negative at all, not even "slightly." Are we now supposed to just ignore when someone is doing something wrong just because they didn't specifically ask about it?