The Puffer Forum

Ok here is the situation. history:

This little guy came from a cichlids tank. He was in water that I would consider fresh. As all my friend had in there was 1 tsp aquarium salt per gallon. He is a little over 2 inches long and has been living on a diet of cichlid pellets for the last 6 months. The poor little guy is SKINNY, his tail fins are nipped and shredded.

I took him home and put him in my 16 gallon biorb for now. I have a 30 gallon I am going to start fishless cycling for him, but for now this will have to do. qUESTIONS, I KNOW THE gspS NEED brackish water to thrive, at what rate do you suggest I raise the salinity. Right now, not wanting to shock him, I only added 1 tsp per gallon to match his previous home. I will be picking up marine salt and a salinty monitor (sorry the name floated out of my brain) tomorow. I have some pest snails in my planted tank and I dropped a few in there (3 to be exact) he chomped them like candy! I also have some dried and frozen blood worms, and baby shrimp. I'm not sure how much to feed him or how often. Any tips will be appreciated. I would like to get this guy healthy and happy. I will get a pic in a bit

Feed him lightly, just enough to round out his belly. If it empties out quickly(over a few hours) and especially if it comes out in white strings, he'll need treatment for IPs. Skip the freeze dried foods for now, frozen bloodworms are a good diet, what kind of baby shrimp are they? Hopefully he's just skinny because pellet foods are not optimal for puffers and he was only eating them rather than starve. Some melafix in the water will help any wounds he has, just make sure you only dose what they say, overdose is bad. You can probably use about 1/2 cup of instant ocean total in a 16 gallon without hurting the bacteria, add it by doing a water change and dissolving it completely in a pitcher and adding that water last. Hydrometers are a good tool, but often inaccurate below about sg 1.004, so knowing a safe measurement for the first addition can be helpful. Good luck with him!

So should I skip the hydrometer? I have some melafix on hand, I wanted to ask before adding it as i know these guys are sensative. He is being really shy, I have a ton of plants in the birob so he can hide. here he is. this the best pic I could get he is way shy. The shrimp are just some baby glass shrimp. I am kinda overrun with them, so I feed them to my crays, and the cichlids will eat them too . I read puffers will eat them too. oh and that is a little tetra i had in there to keep the tank cycled. i actually had 4 in there , I managed to catch the other three and get them out. I'm still chasing the last one! its so hard to catch those boogers!

Those shrimp are good puffer food, chasing them around should give him some entertainment. He looks quite skinny, so keep a close eye out for signs of IP. I'd get the hydrometer, as you will eventually want to run the tank at about SG 1.006-1.008 at this size, and from 1.004 on they are a good measure.

Thank you I appreciate the help. I will keep his progress posted.

I'd feed those shrimp something healthy, before feeding them to your puffer.

Good article on GSPs in our Library.

I just read it, thank you. Some very good info there, and very well put together.

Thanks!