The Puffer Forum

Hello, I have some questions regarding on my two puffers. I just started housing two puffers last week because someone was giving them away. I bought an old tank that has been running for the last two years with five platies. I started putting aquarium salt into the tank. My puffers are 2.5 inch long and the other is 2". They have been living together since last week. Anyway they are very friendly to the 5 platy fish in the same tank. The platies seem to be doing great. They are always eating and chasing eachother. Not the puffer though unfortunately. Hopefully you guys can answer my questions.

1.) Both the puffers are always swimming very fast going up and down on the sides of the tank. I have a lot of plastic plant, two hiding places and a rock decor for them to explore. But they seem like they dont like hanging out in the middle of the tank. Just swimming up and down like crazy against mostly on the left side on the tank glass. Both of them.

2.) My 2.5" puffer is always puffed up with a big stomach. I dunno if that is normal because the other one is not like that. Also he is black/brownish color half the time because he is stressed out maybe. And he can change to a white stomach right away. The other puffer would stay healthy and normal all the time.

I want my puffers to be happy, not swimming up and down suffering and I don't know what I am doing wrong. I have a filter, heater and the tank is brackish.

ok, i'm confused here...

the two puffers are GSP's yes?

and they were owned by someone else.. but now you are now keeping them...

gsp's need medium to high brackish water at 2 inches ... and that needs to be made up of marine salt, not aquarium salt...


So... unless platies are/can be brackish fish (?) then these fish are incompatible.

If platies can be brackish then you need to start using MARINE salt, not aquarium salt.

How much salt did you put in? If it was more than 0.002 SG then you may have killed all your good bacteria and your puffers may be suffering from ammonia poisoning, causing stressed behaviour.

Can you give us some some parameters.. ammonia. nitrite, nitrate etc...

I'd do a large water change immediately whilst testing the water ... then come back to us.

Pacing can be just what puffers do whilst tehy settle in, but it may be a sign of stress, as can the black belly....

You need a hydrometer to check salinity and there is difference between aquarium salt and marine salt.

Any news on these fish?