The Puffer Forum

hello. I believe, after some research, that i have a green spotted puffer, but i am not sure. here are links to pictures of him(?)...
http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo19 ... uffer2.jpg
http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo19 ... uffer1.jpg

also.. he is living in freshwater, i believe the cause for the black belly, in a 10 gallon tank. (i'm trying to convince my mom into letting me get a bigger one) I bought some instant ocean and a hydrometer but i don't know how to go about converting my freshwater tank to brackish water with the puffer in it, or how much salinity there should be. any help is greatly appreciated.

Hi. Welcome! yes, you have a green spotted puffer. You're right that he needs salt and that his tank is too small- hence why he's black on his belly.

Eventually, a gsp will need much bigger tank, and when full grown, it will need to be full-marine salinity. That means a protein skimmer plus live rock for filtration.

When you go to brackish, add no more than .002 SG of marine salt per week. You should be doing water changes of 50% at least once a week. With this small tank, though, you should probably be doing them more often. Someone will come post the specifics.

If it turns out you can't move him up to a bigger tank, you might think about getting a dwarf puffer or two. They'd do GREAT in a 10 gallon. And they don't need salt.

Welcome to the forum!

How long have you had this puffer? Did you cycle the tank, and how?

Lots of great reading in our Library, check it out!
If you & your mom do decide you can upgrade to the proper sized tank for this growing puffer, there is an article in this forum on how to raise the salinity of your tank.

Also keep in mind that Green Spotted puffers don't do well with tank mates either. But they are very rewarding puffers to own, at least I think so. You shouldn't keep him in that 10-gallon tank for too long though, it's not very kind to him -- maybe explaining this to your Mom will help get you a bigger tank.

Good luck!