The Puffer Forum

Well, six months ago i got myself a nicely-coloured GSP. He was really green and was the cutest GSP i've evern seen. Six months on, some of the green has turned into brown? and he really isn't as attractive as before. Anyone knows what is wrong? I've started to notice this as soon as i changed the substrate and moved the tank so that he no longer gets as much sunlight. He still begs for food as usual. It can't be the tank rite? It definitely beats the tank back at the LFS where they haf 20+ GSPs inside a 10 gallon tank.

Is the substrate darker?? Many fish try to blend in with their surroundings.

Do you have some pictures?

How recently did you change out the substrate? Your substrate carries a LOT of bacteria that keeps the tank sustained. Is it possible that switching out your substrate caused a mini-cycle, and his brown/faded colours are just him showing his discomfort?

To be fair, my Ceylons *always* go faded, usually in the mornings. They're better ever since I moved them to my marine tank (they make their colours very vibrant), but when they were in their brackish setup, they were always more pale than they should have been. This paleness made their spots look greyish/brownish, so that could also be a possibility for yours.

He might also be wanting to rise to a higher salinity. What is your tank's current salinity and how big is he?

What is the SG in your tank? I've experienced that the SG affects the colors of brackish puffers.

he is currently about 3.5~4cm, living at a sg of 1.004. Well, before that there wasn't any substrate and he looks perfectly fine. His colours started to darken only after adding of this dark coloured substrate. So i agree with Pufferpunk. Here are some pics: