The Puffer Forum

Hi all,

I have a GSP "Puff Daddy" in a 55 gal. tank, it lives with about 7 cichlids and a pleco, he is the sweetest puffer, gets along with everyone and even eats their pellots aside from his krill and snails. I have had him for over 8 months and he is about 2 1/2 inches long and has a nice full belly. After doing some research I came to find that they are brackish water fish and maybe even full marine, I am pretty new to fish keeping and don't know jack about marine tanks.
I do however want to transfer him into a 29 gal. tank with brackish water, any tips on how to do this? If the tank is currently running (fresh water) would I be able to just add marine salt to it?
This site http://badmanstropicalfish.com/brackish/brackish.html states to add about 2-5 tablespoons of salt per gallon, does that sound okay?
I would probably start by adding the 2 tablespoons per gallon and introducing him to the tank (or should I do even less at first?) and then eventually increasing the amount.. ?

Thank you for all your feedback!

Learning is always good

I currently have my two GSPs in full marine salinity with a tomato clown and a tuxedo damsel. They're all really active; my salinity is at 1.023. Transfering your pal to brackish is tricky since most pet stores don't cary filter media within brackish salinity.

If you want to move him to brackish in a 29 gallon, I would recommend one of two options: cycle the 29 gallon at brackish or marine salinity using either ammonia or raw shrimp (before introducing the puffer) or buy a bottle of Bio-Spira/Dr. Tim's bacteria (do not, absolutely under any condition, trust any other brands other than these two) and introduce your puffer to the 29 gallon at either brackish or full marine immediately.

Make sure you acclimate him or her accordingly.

I personally found it easier to care for my puffers in full marine than brackish. Brackish water changes are annoying --;

Oh, and buy a refractometer. It'll make your life a lot easier in the long run.

Jivenjune is right - you should get something to measure the salinity. Actually, it's an absolute must.

How big is he? A 29g tank holds only 25g of water (stupid, I know) and 30g is the absolute minimum for a full-size GSP. It would be better to upgrade him; in anything below their minimum, they will be stunted, never reach their full size, and not live as long.

Jivenjune wrote: introduce your puffer to the 29 gallon at either brackish or full marine immediately.

I thought it was bad to transfer fish from FW-BW that quick? Thought you were suppost to only raise by .002? Guess this is to keep from killing the bacteria in the tank if you were converting an already established FW tank...??????

It's to keep the bacteria from dying. The fish can take a relatively big change just fine, provided that you use a drip acclimation or other very slow technique.

busybones wrote:

Jivenjune wrote: introduce your puffer to the 29 gallon at either brackish or full marine immediately.

I thought it was bad to transfer fish from FW-BW that quick? Thought you were suppost to only raise by .002? Guess this is to keep from killing the bacteria in the tank if you were converting an already established FW tank...??????

To clarify, I meant once Dr. Tim's or Bio-Spira is used, you would need to add the fish immediately. In this instance, the bacteria wouldn't be a concern.

Brackish puffers can be drip acclimated fairly easily, though.

I'm glad to hear you're doing the right thing for your puffer! I personally would not drip a FW fish to SW in a single day. What I suggest is to cycle the new tank as FW & then slowly raise the salinity to higher SG in time. More info on GSPs & cycling in our Library. Also a good article stickied here on raising the SG.

What SG are you planning on, by the way? I didn't think it was full SW.

thank you all for your comments, I have a 29gal and a 55 gal tank that I could house him in. I am moving at the end of the month so I got a few weeks to figure out which one to go with as I would have to rehome some fishies. I am not familiar with SG but I have been reading about it and prob. start with 1.005 and increase it, I've read that they usually can go up to 1.020..

Starting at 1.005, you can easily drip it from FW. But unless you have filter media or other bacteria source coming from a tank that's at 1.003-1.007, then you have to do what PP mentioned - cycle at FW and go up to BW slowly.

Pufferpunk wrote:
I'm glad to hear you're doing the right thing for your puffer! I personally would not drip a FW fish to SW in a single day. What I suggest is to cycle the new tank as FW & then slowly raise the salinity to higher SG in time. More info on GSPs & cycling in our Library. Also a good article stickied here on raising the SG.

I agree 100% with this. It's easier to cycle a tank at FW and then raise it.

Sorry to go off-topic, but - Dad, get on AIM! You haven't been online in forever and I have to talk to you about my computer!

I beg everyone's pardon. Carry on.

He'd be much happier in the 55g.