The Puffer Forum

hope someone can help its been at least a week now and my three spotted puffers are trying to settle in..have been eating well so cant be too bad. The thing is that using the sand substrate is driving me crazy and to be honest i rarely see the puffers lying down on it. Can i change it over to a smooth small type of gravel and should i fill the tank with plants and stacks of hiding places...........I had stuff in for them and im not sure wither they were happy or not with loads of stuff in the tank.its an 210ltr tank.......... the waste these guys are giving off is truly incredible and with gravel being in place to be honest the gravel cleaner i have is truly fantastic and sucks like hell... on the other hand with sand being there its having the opposite effect and i am having to sieve the tank nightly

Its taking the fun out of having the guys.............water levels are fine with PH ect salt levels are what was advised to start that being 1.004 on the hydro roughly maybe slightly above. Following advice on here hoping to increase that gradually.

Is it just plain pool sand? You could try aragonite sand, it's heavier. Other folks use crushed coral but I've heard of algae problems with that.

Green Spotted puffers aren't the type to bury into the sand, so you really don't need the sand for that purpose. If you want to put gravel in, I'd say that's up to you. I would suggest putting in places for them to hide, little caves (half coconut shells are nice), and plants, as puffers like to feel sheltered, and most will sleep in plants too. Although I'm confused because on one hand it seems you are asking if you should "fill the tank with plants and stacks of hiding places ..."
And then you say you had stuff for them and wasn't sure if they were happy with it. Well no puffer likes to feel vulnerable, so that's why I always provide some sort of shelter for my puffers, whether it be a terracotta pot, plants, or coconut-shell caves.

I can't see them hating lots & lots of decor for them to hang out in & investigate, keeping from a life of boredom. Here's my 55g GSP tank:

hi there no its aragonite sand it cost me a fortune they are getting the best of everything. I have a tank you see which is massive in depth in height if im making sense here more than anything rather than width which i was advised would be better for them. The thing is due to the fact i have been having to clean the tank daily and it being sand the waste is everywhere and so i have to take all the silk plants and rocks ect and caves out as there is waste lying under them so its triple the work. Hence why i was wondering wither gravel would be better and easier to clean as its a riot trying to stop the sand from getting sucked out as such haha

So its a case of put plent of items in for them to hide, i just thought maybe it was too much i have added a pic of the tank in case i have messed up and someone can advise me sorry about the pic not sure resizing for the web haha

That decor looks perfect! Do they bite at that cuttlebone at all?

Pufferpunk wrote:That decor looks perfect! Do they bite at that cuttlebone at all?

Would that be a bad thing PP?

No, a good thing.

you know that the stuff at the back is a background on the glass of the tank............and yes they do chew at it at times not a lot but they had done.........was advised to put it in as that can help with the teeth thing as well if i could change the sand to smooth gravel that would make life so much easier to me............just worried, also my puffers seemed happier with tank temps at 28 degrees is that too warm? when i lowered it to 27 and 26 they seemed unsettled and colour was off, im sure tge shop they came from being small tanks and high temps maybe is what they are used too?

I would suspect that the tank is overstocked, even if the puffers are still small. That is not exactly a massive tank, it is a miodsized tank. It is very close to a US 55 gallon in capacity, just different in dimensions/proportions. That is not nearly big enough for 3 GSPs. Double that would be better, but a tad tight.

Whether or not changing to coarser material would help is iffy. You would lose the alkalinity assistance from the aragonite, and still be doing massive water partials. How deep is the aragonite?

oh not got me seriously worried now!! i spent over £500 on the tank alone as in the marine store they said it would be fine for the 4 spotted puffers......panicking like hell now as you have said i am overstocked i do not have two tanks and cant afford another one to be honest.............Do i have to do the sad thing and get rid of my puffers?

The tank dimensions are 180litres and the aquarium is 80 x 40 x 70cm is this too small and was i advised badly..............Hope someone can help i went out also today to try and do right by them and put some smooth round gravel on top of the sand and put more nice silk flowers in for them and spent another 100 quid........

Have i done wrong and should i go back to tropical...........hope someone can advise me that last post scared the life out of me and if i am overstocked as said please be honest and tell me .....

Yeah, sorry to say, another LFS misinforming their customers. Your tank is barely large enough for 2 adult, 6" GSPs. Especially with it being cube shaped.

totally gutted here wondering now wither to take them back to a shop that sells them tomorrow and the small tank they have them in is totally brutal but thats fish shops for ya ................i want to keep them but i do not want to cause any suffering and would rather rehome then do you agree? i take it two would still be too much as you say? think one would find it strange as he has been with the other 3 now for 3 weeks............

Why not keep 2?

would my tank not be to small for that option as well dont want to be cruel in any way? by the way i bought more silk flowers today for hiding spaces for them looks cramped but better in a way i think...............i do apologise but i did research and did what i could but was given as you said damn bad advice.................they dont have full green colour bright spot on the top just behind they eyes on the head, underbelly white but they can pace a bit at times not sure if they are happy or not but they are eatin so may be a good sign i spose..........by the way thank you for your help you have no idea how much i assists me here