The Puffer Forum

I GOT A BABY GSP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!

And I got him from a great store! I swear he's so precious! What a difference from those babies that came from the bad store. He's been here 3 1/2 days and he looks great. Minus the tail he "might" be an inch. Never dreamed I'd get such a small one. I lose him all the time! He's got one litle bite on his tail fin and I can't decide if I should treat it or see if it will heal on it's own. I'd hate for that to turn into something bad.

Can you all believe he was in a brackish tank at the store? I was so surprised! They had him in .004 and I slow dripped because mine is .008 and I know that's best anyway. They had no problem getting their hydrometer and showing me the SG. The store was so clean that if I'd seen candy on the floor I would've picked it up and
ate it.

I think they had maybe 10 baby GSP's and some Mono's in there. And it was not a puny 10gal tank either. Out of all the GSP's he was the one that was so curious about us. He would swim off and join his friends and within a few seconds he was back by himself hovering and looking at the big heads.

The tank is doing great so far. I checked it on Wed.

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates low 20/ did a water change yesterday and will check water again today.
pH a steady 8.2

He has 2 caves and one broken pot to hide in. I also went plant shopping yesterday. He doesn't spend an awful lot of time going up and down the sides like the F8's did.

You should've seen his reaction when he saw the Catahoula dog yesterday. Boy was he unhappy for hours! Everytime I'd go in the room he'd curl his tail and swim away from me. He finally got over it late last night.
I'm in awe of how you can actually see emotions in these guys body language. And man am I glad he's alone.
That poor ghost shrimp won't get in his face anymore. His tummy was fat when I brought him home. It looked like he'd been eating peas. But that shrimp pushed and pushed, kept getting in his face. Of course my husband just loved that.

I'm not afraid to go look at the tank when I get up like I was with the F8's. I know the GSP could die but he came from such a better place and he looks so healthy.

Hugs, Extatic Beth

Congrats! Sounds like you've got a great little healthy guy. Have you named him yet?

I usually just let my fishes fins heal on their own if its just a little bite. It doesn't really take too long if its just a little chip out of it, not even a week. At least thats what my experience has been.

Hey Shannon! I swear I am beside myself. I watch him for hrs. everytime I can. Actually, I've neglected so many things around here ever since I got on this puffer mania.

I was going to ask you to help name him but once again my youngest was getting pretty emotional about it. Oh boy, he insisted on Rainbow! So I said how about Bo. NOOOO Rainbow! Yesterday he decided Rainy. Can you believe I have a friend named Rainly? Mom and dad were hippies.

I call him my little baby, my little man fish...I have all of these mushy names for him and yes, I talk to him as though he can hear me. My husband thinks I'm nuts.

I'm still wrestling with using the Eheim or doing like you've done and getting another penguin or something.
Paul gave excellent instructions on the Eheim. I'm trying to do what will keep the tank the cleanest for the times that I'm sick and might not be able to work on it for a bit.

Hugs, Hugs, Beth

SpockthePuffer wrote:Congrats! Sounds like you've got a great little healthy guy. Have you named him yet?

I usually just let my fishes fins heal on their own if its just a little bite. It doesn't really take too long if its just a little chip out of it, not even a week. At least thats what my experience has been.

well done!

Glad you found a new friend, from a better place.


Hope it works out well for you.

LoL, Don't worry, I talk to my Milton all of the time. My boyfriend thinks I'm nuts but who cares what he thinks! Milton enjoys the attention and I can't help but talk to him and call him my little Miltypoo!

Congrats on your new puffer.
Be careful with live plants in brackish water as they have to be acclimated very slowly, otherwise you are going to have slop as plants.
(I learned that lesson)

aww little rainy

glad he's doing well

If you can't be bothered acclimatising plants, java fern does well in brackish, and from experience you can just throw it straight in, getting some moss balls this weekend and some java moss, I've been told java moss does well in brackish so will have to let you know how it goes with mine, again I'll just be throwing it straight in

CONGRATS! I'm glad you found a good store. they sure are hard to come by! hope Rainy does well.

Sounds like a very nice store!
Good luck with your puff! Any pics yet?

My little boy suddenly changed his name to Harry.

I'm sorry I didn't say that the plants are plastic. I have a mixture of silk and plastic. I love the silk plants. Guess what that stinker did within about the first 2hrs of being in his new home? He started ripping the leaves off of the silks! I wonder if "time out" means anything to him? Soooo, so much for replacing the plastic with silk. Geeze, in a few days one of the silks has strings hanging from the leaves. It's looking pretty bad. I hope I can save some of it by trimming it down to a smaller plant. Of course he will probably eat that too.

But thanks to Jay I'm going to try some Java ferns as soon as I can find some. I called 3 stores and no one had any. I know the bad store does but who knows what disease I'd bring home.

Guess what else he's doing? I was working in the dinning room and I look up from my papers and that bugger is in the corner of the tank trying to rip the sealant off! He's just like a dog jerking his head back and forth.
That's when I decided to let my little boy feed him. Who knows how old that tank is. I'm the 2nd owner and I've had it about 10yrs. Except for the hood and light it looks brand new. It even looks like original sealant on it or someone did an excellent job. I will freak out if he doesn't stop doing that. I don't want to walk into a flooded room and a dead puffer. I swear he's like a dog that lives in water. No wonder Puffer Punk called them a puppy in her article.

Gosh what will it be like when he gets big and has big teeth?

Hugs...

Jay.B. wrote:aww little rainy

glad he's doing well

If you can't be bothered acclimatising plants, java fern does well in brackish, and from experience you can just throw it straight in, getting some moss balls this weekend and some java moss, I've been told java moss does well in brackish so will have to let you know how it goes with mine, again I'll just be throwing it straight in

There you are. I was wondering where you were.

I swear i hope you don't take this the wrong way , but I have a wish to get one more Rottweiler before I'm too physically weak to handle one and I've decided I want to name it Jase. I always pick my Rott's names out months or years before I get one. My Rotts are my heart and soul so to name one Jase is really not an insult. At least I don't think it is.

Hugs To Ya...

Jase wrote:CONGRATS! I'm glad you found a good store. they sure are hard to come by! hope Rainy does well.

Thank you. I knew you guys would be happy that I didn't break and get one from that other place. I'll NEVER forget all of those diseased little eyes begging at the glass.

I think it was you that asked about the ph spike theory. If I'm wrong correct me.

Anyway, you are right. I was using RO and tap. I know I went heavier on the tap one day and that did it. I feel like such an idiot. I'll NEVER EVER forgive myself. I keep calling Harry Pete. I'll never do RO again. I'll just stick with tap so hopefully that will never happen to any of my babies. You have no idea how bad I've beat myself up. No idea.

Thank you for the support in this journey.

Hugs...

t1gerbee wrote:well done!

Glad you found a new friend, from a better place.


Hope it works out well for you.

I'd say about half the tail is bit but not near being gone. I was watching him earlier before he got all mad and I think the tail might be looking better. I'm watching close. Now I'm fretting with whether or not I should worm him just in case. After Nemo I'm so afraid of IP's. I feed him in the evening so I don't know exactly how long it takes for his tummy to go down. I know it took Nemo's about 5hrs. But ya know Nemo's tummy looked like someone pinched it together and it didn't puff back out. As best as I know I believe Harry looks fine when I see him in the morn. He's been a little dark since we brought him home but he turns bright yellow when he eats. Right now he glows on his head and that's about it. I think he'll be ok. He'd better be or you all will have to send the padded wagon.

Maybe I'll feed him early tomorrow.

SpockthePuffer wrote:Congrats! Sounds like you've got a great little healthy guy. Have you named him yet?

I usually just let my fishes fins heal on their own if its just a little bite. It doesn't really take too long if its just a little chip out of it, not even a week. At least thats what my experience has been.

LizB wrote:There you are. I was wondering where you were.

I swear i hope you don't take this the wrong way , but I have a wish to get one more Rottweiler before I'm too physically weak to handle one and I've decided I want to name it Jase. I always pick my Rott's names out months or years before I get one. My Rotts are my heart and soul so to name one Jase is really not an insult. At least I don't think it is.

Hugs To Ya...

Jase wrote:CONGRATS! I'm glad you found a good store. they sure are hard to come by! hope Rainy does well.

Thank You?
... just don't go telling people Jase is your heart and soul.

Congrats on your new puffer! And maybe I should welcome you to the puffaholic club too?
Good luck with your new friend!