The Puffer Forum

Hello all!! Brand new to the board and hobby as well. I am very eager to learn and have done a ton of research for the past 2 days on brackish puffers. I just aquired a 28 gallon tank as a Xmas present and am very excited to get started.

A friend helped me cycle the tank, so I cannot comment on exactly what steps were taken. I DO know that he used a water conditioner in a bottle to neutralize the chlorine, and threw in a bunch of feeders for about 24 hours.

There are several plastic plants and rocks, and am using some sort of crushed rock that I believe came with the tank package

I'm planning to get a couple of GSPs in there.

After 24 hours, I used one of those 5 in 1 tank tester with the results as followed:

Nitrate - 20
Nitrite - .05
Hardness - 425
Alkalinity - 65
ph - 6.6
Ammonia - 0.50
Salinity - 1.002


Couple of questions:

• 1. I know that GSPs prefer a ph of around 8...so will getting crushed coral raise the ph?

• 2. According to the test, the hardness of the water is high, how can I correct this?

• 3. How do the other items on the test results look?

Thanks for all your help..this is a great board!!

When did you start the cycle and how long did it take?

Sounds like your tank has started cycling. You might want to read our excellent article on Fishless Cycling (started on our Home page) in it's entirety in our Library. Your tank really isn't large enough to support an adult GSP (30g minimum). Might I suggest a couple of figure 8s instead?

I think figure 8's are a great suggestion, Pufferpunk. Soopayfly, after you read the article on cycling in the library, read the one on figure eights too, and do consider some Bio-Spira for instant cycling.

Yeah, if you've only had those feeders in for 24 hours your tank is JUST starting... without Bio-Spira it will take over a week to cycle it properly. I cycle mine for about 3 weeks before adding fish to them.

I'd go for the Figures 8s too. I think they're prettier but basically they're also less work in the long run and will fit into the size of tank you have already.

I have a single juvenile GSP in a 30 long - and I consider that to be temporary housing. Eventually, he'll go into something with a 48" length (~55).

Agree with PP and LL about F8's - great fish, especially for your first puff. The library is a wonderful resource!