The Puffer Forum

I went to the LFS with a specific plan. Knew what I wanted, and got it. But..... I also got a puffer that was not on my list. Along with a couple of chiclids. I don't know what made me do that. But anyway. I need to know if I can keep this puffer or not. It is supposed to be freshwater, but I have my doubts. It is also supposed to be able to live with a convict, parrot, and firemouth chiclid as well as ottos. I know I should have researched this before, but I did not. From browsing online it looks to me like a spotted puffer. Can anyone confirm what it is.







My LFS said a little aquarium salt in the water and he will be happy. I have always gotten good advice from them in the past, so I trusted this. So what do I have, and if we keep it what care does it need. How large will it get? Can it have any tankmates or should he be alone? Thank you for your experience and feedback.

Im a newbie myself and dont know much but looks like a gsp ( green spotted puffer ) I had one it was ok for a while then ate a scat and others as well.. They are or can be aggressive in my experience anyway.... Keep in Brackish and in species specific tank 20gallon min per gsp....Good luck

Start here, lots of good advice http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... d-puffers/

Hi welcome,
All the info you need is here in the link:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug. ... roviridis/

Looks just like my GSP. Hard to resist aren't they? I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding every thing you need to know on here. They helped me tremendously.

lol Just letting you know, be VERY prepared to get a 30 gallon tank and work on setting up a high-end brackish to full marine setup.

Another thing, with brackish water, DO NOT just use aquarium salt, you need real marine salt mixed to (i could be very wrong) a SG of 1.006-1.007


Just adding, I got 2 of these guys on an impulse buy and had themin a 10 gallon tank with very bad conditions, because my LFS didn't tell me one thing about about that I was supposed to know. They handed me the fish and said (have a great day) I think they were just happy to con me out of money. Sadley, they would have gotten more if they told me I needed a bigger tank with aquarium salt, lots of plants, and DO NOT in ANY case use copper based medicines.

I think I may be returning him. If he will eventually need all salt then I do not think I will keep him. I have avoided saltwater set ups so far, and if I did go with that I don't think the puffer would be my top choice. Ahhh I know I should not impulse buy, but I did it anyway. Have to figure soemthing out by tomorrow morning. Thanks

It's okay, GSP are just quite a handful if you don't know what your getting into.

Not a good fish to buy on impulse, but they'll snare you... my thought is its' in their eyes, they cast a spell on you if you watch them too long...

12 years ago, I stood at the pet store for 2 hours before buying my first puffer (a GSP) just watching them move around the tank. Of course the conditions at the pet shop were HORRIBLE. They just captivated me so much so today I have 11 90-gallon aquariums solely dedicated to GSPs (18 individuals).

Wow, now that's impressive! Do they all have names?

jbryandavis wrote:Not a good fish to buy on impulse, but they'll snare you... my thought is its' in their eyes, they cast a spell on you if you watch them too long...

12 years ago, I stood at the pet store for 2 hours before buying my first puffer (a GSP) just watching them move around the tank. Of course the conditions at the pet shop were HORRIBLE. They just captivated me so much so today I have 11 90-gallon aquariums solely dedicated to GSPs (18 individuals).

WOW! Please, more info. And pictures too

Thats pretty awesome.

Pufferpunk wrote:Wow, now that's impressive! Do they all have names?

Absolutely! Of course some of them I had to give numbers as well (e.g. Spot 1, Spot 2 -- Gizmo is my original one, He passed 2 years ago, was about 6 1/2" when I got him so my belief is He was around 2 years old.), I keep documenting their behavior and various information (diet, likes, dislikes, tank mates that won't get killed, etc.) as well as all of my other puffers. I designed a room specifically for my fish with nice custom made cabinetry stained with Cherry (I love darker wood), and hard-wood floors (that was a bad idea - wood doesn't do so well wet). It looks like an expensive pet shop/fish store! Of course expensive pet shop crossed with a science lab...

I've been trying for awhile to get the different puffers to breed and have only been successful with a few types. The GSP's still just have me fumbling for definitions, because they all have a separate personality and different behavior, and everything I've read (just about every book you can buy, or get from the library) has no real definition of how to sex them so knowing whether or not I have a pair that will mate is difficult, its' been trial and error for over 3 years now with no success. Of course I have learned a lot.

I'll try to get some photos up, I've got to scan them in since most of the pictures were taken awhile ago with a disposable camera during and after construction of the fish room. I've been working on a website that is like an encyclopedia with all my documentation, and photos but its' taking me awhile... I'd said I'm 60% done with it.

Cool project. Have you tried varying the SG to simulate the "wet season"/breeding season?

this sounds great, I would love to see the pics