The Puffer Forum

Hello everyone, I have to thank you all for this beautiful oasis of puffer knowledge! I've learned a ton from this site.

I have a few questions and because I expect I will be around here a while I'll give you a little intro about how I'm a new puffer addict.

It began when my I went with my wife to the new local Walmart on Thursday to find a goldfish for her lone black moor. Her theory was that the new Walmart would be cleaner and take better care of the fish. When we arrived we found that to be the exact opposite of the truth. It was the worst conditions for fish I have ever seen. There were multiple dead or dying fish in every tank and half of them were being eaten.

Anyway, we noticed they had some GSP's there and I found them very intriguing. My wife liked their unique look as well. The only problem was I could see they were being mistreated even before I knew anything about them. They had multiple GSP's in a single tank. Second they had them with other fish. Many of the fish were dead due to their gills and fins being eaten away, it was a horrible sight. The worst of all there was a GSP that had his little tail fin ripped up and he had his nose stuck in the corner and wasn't moving. I just knew he was going to die. So my wife and I decided to save him. Not fully knowing what that entailed (My wife wanted to put him in with her Black moor ) After me and my wife raised a big stink, and got the fish tanks cleaned we bought a ten gallon tank and everything we thought we would need (how wrong we were).

Thats how I got here. I knew I needed to research the little guy before putting him in with other fish and Im so happy I did or my wife might have killed him if anything happened to her Black moor(She has a nice fancy GF that we bought at Petco in with the Moor now.

Since then I've bought all the equipment needed for a brackish tank and have him in his new home which he is very happy with I must say. Im also looking at a 50 gallon tank online, hopefully I get it for a nice reasonable price. We also decided to name him GSP, we found it hilarious considering both me and my wife are UFC fans and there is a welter weight fighter named George Saint Pierre nicknamed GSP. LOL.

My question are many but here are the ones that come to my head immediately:
1. Can I put shells my wife found in the ocean years ago in the tank? She wants to put them in and I'm not sure.

2. I used a product called "Cycle" to instantly cycle my water, its for fresh or salt water and so far my little guy has shown no ill effects. After reading much of the forums I haven't seen anyone talk about instant cycling and I wanted to know what you all think of it?

3. My little guy has his tail fin and some of his rear dorsal bitten off, will it grow back and if so is there anything I can get to help it along?

4. Lastly, his little belly is white with a little white spot on his bottom side. Is that normal? Or did he get injured there as well?

Thanks for all your answers and time.

Hi and welcome to the forum.
1- Yes, Make sure to give them a good rinse with some water first and maybe even a scrub before putting them in. It will also help raise the PH in your tank. Make sure to monitor your parameters.
2-No. I personally do not recommend any instant cycle products because of their habit of not working all the time. There is an excellent article about fishless cycling in the library here that is safe and 100% effective.
3-It will heal in time. You can add some Melafix or Primafix to your tank to help aid in the regrowth.
4-White bellies are a great sign. It is possible that he was bit if he was in a Walmart tank too. The above chemicals can help with that too.
Remember to keep with the water changes because puffers put off a great deal of bio-load.

Welcome! Yunachin knows her stuff. those are all great answers.

do you have test kits? Unless your Cycle stuff was good (not likely) the tank is still uncycled, so for your little guy to survive you will need to do lots of water changes. if you don't have test kits, I'd recommend getting them. (liquid kinds, not the strips) good luck!

Cycle is never a good product to use--it is made of dead bacteria & only adds more waste to your tank.

Please don't think I am picking on you but I never get when folks see fish in deplorable conditions & then give a shop their $$$ for treating their fish that way. All you are doing is telling them it's OK to keep their fish like that, because they still sell--then they buy more. If I were you, after you saw those cute fish, go home, do lots of research on them & then out to find a nice, clean, store that stock healthy ones & support that store. Rescuing sick, mistreated fish, usually just ends in heartache & klots of $$$ trying to save them.

I know that's right PP, but it's sooooo difficult.

I don't do it now, but definitely have done in the past....

I know it doesn't help long run, and encourages the bad treatment, but when there's a little puff being battered.... it takes some serious grit to walk away...


Good luck with your new friend!

Pufferpunk wrote:Cycle is never a good product to use--it is made of dead bacteria & only adds more waste to your tank.

Please don't think I am picking on you but I never get when folks see fish in deplorable conditions & then give a shop their $$$ for treating their fish that way. All you are doing is telling them it's OK to keep their fish like that, because they still sell--then they buy more. If I were you, after you saw those cute fish, go home, do lots of research on them & then out to find a nice, clean, store that stock healthy ones & support that store. Rescuing sick, mistreated fish, usually just ends in heartache & klots of $$$ trying to save them.

No offence taken.

I only used the cycle because I didnt have a cycled tank to use and well he needed a bigger home than the less than a gallon hospital tank that I had to put him in. I geuss I was just thinking of him and I must have been right because he absolutley LOVES his new tank, he swims around and is quite active. I will for sure use the fishless cycling found in the article on the site from now on, but I had to choose the lesser of the two evils.

I bought the guy because if I didnt he would have died. I will not buy any more fish products from Walmart and me and my wife are Petsmart (No Petco here yet) converts even if it does cost a bit more. I get what your saying about supporting Walmarts selling of the GSPs but I highly doubt my 5.99 is going to make a dent in walmarts gigantic purse, but the 5.99 did make a huge difference in the life of a poor mistreated puffer. I think the trade worked out.

Thanks for the answers everyone I'm sure to be lurking and taking in the puffer knowledge for my little guy. Today Im going to Petsmart to get some liquid test kits and maybe a pack of frozen blood worm snacks for the little guy.

Welcome to TPF, there are some great puffer articles in our library.

1.These shells should be fine, just make sure you rinse them out before putting them in the tank.

2. Cycle is junk, the only "instant" cycle product I would use is Bio-spira (it's kept refrigerated), and even then, if the bacteria is dead you're doing more harm than good.

3. If cared for properly the fins should grow back. You'll need to make sure that he has excellent water quality while he's healing (in a tank that small you're looking at daily water changes). Watch for fungus or infection and make sure you treat him appropriately if he gets sick.

4. Their bellies are usually pure white (when healthy and not stressed). It could be an injury, I would just keep an eye on it.

If you already have a cycled filter in another tank, there is a way to speed up the cycle in the new one: Sqeeze some of the stuff on the cycled filter onto the uncycled one. Then you are transferring some of the bacteria you want.

Troender wrote:If you already have a cycled filter in another tank, there is a way to speed up the cycle in the new one: Sqeeze some of the stuff on the cycled filter onto the uncycled one. Then you are transferring some of the bacteria you want.

Or just use the same cartridge, and put it in the new tank. Put a new cartridge in the old tank. I did this with my 20G, and put a new one in my 100G (which uses 4 filter cartridges). IMO, it almost halves the time it takes to cycle, and works better than all the cycle products you can possibly buy.

Pufferpunk wrote:Cycle is never a good product to use--it is made of dead bacteria & only adds more waste to your tank.

Please don't think I am picking on you but I never get when folks see fish in deplorable conditions & then give a shop their $$$ for treating their fish that way. All you are doing is telling them it's OK to keep their fish like that, because they still sell--then they buy more. If I were you, after you saw those cute fish, go home, do lots of research on them & then out to find a nice, clean, store that stock healthy ones & support that store. Rescuing sick, mistreated fish, usually just ends in heartache & klots of $$$ trying to save them.

And I (surprisingly ) agree with PufferPunk. "Saving" a fish is never a good idea. You just give the money to the store who let that fish get into that condition in the first place. I never save fish unless I know that it's a trusted store that knows their stuff and/or it was a returnee who need a home belonging to someone with a special type of fish AND I know how to take care of that fish. Good luck with the GSP, it's not a good beginner fish though...

I only used the cycle because I didnt have a cycled tank to use

But what you don't understand is Cycle does nothing to cycle a tank, it just hurts the cycle you are trying to create. Their advertising is totally false & the product is bunk.

Your $5.99 won't make or break the store but it will tell them that no matter how they treat their GSPs they are still good sellers. Better to support a mom & pop store that takes really good care of their fish.

I'm glad you are here now & can learn more about keeping your puffer.

Well I agree with you on not buying fish from a bad store, but I would have never been turned on to these amazing fish otherwise and our LFS is actually a little worse than walmart. At least Walmart doesnt try to pretend its a pet store...

No matter what Im happy I bought the guy as he has already brought alot of happiness to my family (I have a 3 month old who loves to watch him swim) and I obviously made him feel better.

I just checked my tank with my newly purchased test kit and the PH is at a 7.8-8.0, the nitrate is at 10ppm. nitrites at 0 and ammonia at 0.

Somehow it looks like the tank got cycled with the cycle. Maybe I got lucky or maybe Im a natural who knows.

Anywho, I apreciate the answers.

My GSP loves his nuisance snails, but doesnt like plankton (He eats them and spits them out), he will eat krill but only if its in small enough pieces. Will he eat muscles and clams while hes still only 1.5 inches? Should I get them at the grocery market or is there somewhere special to get them?

BTW is anyone seeling a refractometer or even a hydrometer? My local Petsmart doesnt have a Hydrometer for low end brackish. theirs starts at approx 1.010.


Thanks for all the help!

You can pick up mussels and clams from the grocery store. Just defrost them in tank water. My GSP is about the same size at yours, I only allow him to have a few bites since that fills him up. Then I save the rest for the next day.

I bought a hydrometer that went all the way to zero on drs foster and smith website but if you're willing to spend the money a refractometer is a good purchase as they are more accurate.

SpockthePuffer wrote:You can pick up mussels and clams from the grocery store. Just defrost them in tank water. My GSP is about the same size at yours, I only allow him to have a few bites since that fills him up. Then I save the rest for the next day.

I bought a hydrometer that went all the way to zero on drs foster and smith website but if you're willing to spend the money a refractometer is a good purchase as they are more accurate.

Are clams ok? Or should I stick to muscles? Im going to go check the feeding article, maybe the answer is there.

Clams are good...they are a pain in the butt to open though. I just crush them right in the middle and let the puffers pick out the meat. Good for their teeth.

yunachin wrote:Clams are good...they are a pain in the butt to open though. I just crush them right in the middle and let the puffers pick out the meat. Good for their teeth.

Thanks! I bought one in the hopes the little guy would like it.

Im excited because I'm goign to buy a 50 gallon tank for him today. It has filters and skimmers and what not included for only 100 bucks.