New GSP

[sblakeley]

So I am a bad fish parent (I seem to kill fish off regularly and am trying to reform my ways) and this past week on a whim I decided to get a GSP. Well not entirely on a whim I've been eyeing them since I set up my tank 2 years ago. I nievely brought him home from the fish store and went about my merry way, until later that evening I noticed he wasn't eating the fish pellets. So I googled and googled and then back to the fish store I went. I pick up three varities of plants and rocks for places to hide. They also gave me a bunch of snails (which have already been eaten). I want to make sure at this point that I'm doing what I need to do to keep him happy and healthy. My 2 year old named him Puffydyle and if I kill him I am in deep trouble.

So I did add 1tpbs of aquarium salt per 5 gallons of water to the tank. I have been doing this actually since I set the tank up. I got plants for him to nibble and rocks for him to hide in. The bottom of the tank is large pebbles and I'm not sure if I should get something smaller, by large I mean .5in in diameter. He seems to be okay thus far with his tankmates, but I guess this is a we'll see as time goes thing. My mom is bring me a 5 gallon tank and as many snails as she can fish out of her pond to start a snail tank.

So what is a good feeding schedule for him??

Do you think I've added enough salt??

I've got a high powered filter and it's a little overkill for my tank its Pengiun (I think they have changed brand name to Marine Land) and it takes 'E' filters. I also have been reading to do a 50% water change weekly. Is this all right??

Anything else I should know??

Thanks!

[Pufferfreak42]

Hi and welcome to the forum, you'll learn tons here, I have.
How large is your tank? What kind of plants do you have in there? Most plants don't survive brackish conditions, I use fake.
You said you're using aquarium salt, you need marine salt as aquarium salt is used for healing and helping with a slime coat. I use Instant Ocean.
I'll let the more knowledgeable members chime in as I'd hate to give you incorrect information. They have great information in the library here.

[purplecandle]

Do you have a hydrometer to test how much salt is the water?

What size tank is the GSP in?

And what is the size of your GSP..

Some people believe that salt should be introduced at a certain age..with going full marine or high brackish into adult hood...so, the size could help determine age..

To know the feeding schedule..age/size is needed....juveniles feed 6 days a week..older ones you might feed less..

[purplecandle]

What tankmates is he with?

[purplecandle]

Hi and welcome to the forum, you'll learn tons here, I have.
How large is your tank? What kind of plants do you have in there? Most plants don't survive brackish conditions, I use fake.
You said you're using aquarium salt, you need marine salt as aquarium salt is used for healing and helping with a slime coat. I use Instant Ocean.
I'll let the more knowledgeable members chime in as I'd hate to give you incorrect information. They have great information in the library here.

I love Instant Ocean

[sblakeley]

Hi and welcome to the forum, you'll learn tons here, I have.
How large is your tank? What kind of plants do you have in there? Most plants don't survive brackish conditions, I use fake.
You said you're using aquarium salt, you need marine salt as aquarium salt is used for healing and helping with a slime coat. I use Instant Ocean.
I'll let the more knowledgeable members chime in as I'd hate to give you incorrect information. They have great information in the library here.

The tank is 50 gallons. I have no ide what type of plants I have. One is tall with long leaves (think like a lilly), one is got all the short leaves (think pine tree) and the last is short with broad leaves (think hosta). I can get instant ocean no problem!

Lets see Puffydyle is pretty small including tail I'd say 1.5 inches. in lenght.

Also in the tank is the spotted catfish with long whiskers aka "Harry" (known to kill off all clams placed in the tank). "Smooches" the kissing gourami, "Nemo" the orange molly and "Dollar" the silver dollar fish.

I don't have a thing to check the salt contecnt of the water, the fish store is going to check my water for me later this week, they said most kits won't detect the amount of salt in brackish water.

[purplecandle]

Excellent size tank for a GSP!

I do not know about the specific fish you mentioned, but if they have fins you probably should not keep them with GSP..

If I were you I would run as far as you can from your local fish store...

If they did not tell you that you need a hydrometer to test the salt in salt water...then they have no idea what they are doing ..and I would not rust their ability to test my water for anything LOL

[sblakeley]

They are all shorter fined fish. I am thinking about doing a beta but in a ecosystem vase thing. I have a frog/snail/bamboo plant ecosystem. So how much do I feed him and how often?

[Brandon8521]

I would say the first thing to do is bye your own test kit API is the brand i use. Your other fish are going to have to be relocated (sooner rather then later would be better they dont tolerate brackish water.) If you cant relocate the other fish then i would suggest trying to get a 30 or 40 gallon for the GSP. The plants wont be able to live with the gsp once you start to raise the sg(salt gravity.) Your on the right track with trying to get a breeding tank for snails though nice job.

Read up on the GSP, in the library there is a nice article written by pufferpunk that will tell you alot of what you need to know about him/her. Also check the pufferpedia for info on the GSP its in the brackish puffer section.

As for a hydrometer i would suggest the instant ocean one since it reads the full sg scale. Or another one that does. Make sure it goes down to 1.000.That will help you when you start raising the sg by 1.002 a week.

This is an amazeing site with everything you will need to know (i have learned tons and still learning.) Dont trust your lfs with any info they will give. Hope all is well and im sure soon you will be hereing from the local experts on here since i beleive this is one of the most common puffers that get the wrong treatment when first baught.

[sblakeley]

So I was talking with Husband tonight and he brought up a good point. We are planning on moving across the country from Phila to Houston in August. Do you think I could make it until then with current set up? I'm afraid moving one tank across the county will be hard and two would be just about impossible.

My moving plan at this point is to lower the water level in the tank slightly, seal the tank with packing tape, and plug the filter into the power port (aka the thing that turns a cigarette lighter into an outlet)...

[Pufferpunk]

That's a great way to crack the glass of your tank, sloshing the water back & forth in it. Go to your LFS & ask them for old salt buckets (with fitted lids) to keep your fish in & drain the tank completely. Keep the filter material & substrate nice & wet for the trip. Also, start doing large water changes, 2x/week, so when you fill up the tank again with tap water, it won't be much different, although who knows what kind of tap water you'll get at the new place.

Personally, I'd find homes for all those fish & start over in TX.

[Brandon8521]

Definitaly wouldn't transport in the tank. I wouldn't say get rid of your fish. It's def possible to do, I moved all my cichlids from ft hood, tx to sc. And stopped over night at a hotel. The hotel provided a good chance to do a water change. Kept them in dark 5 gallon buckets with a small hole in the top and a airstone. I cut up the filter spong and split it between the buckets.

Unless it's absolutely out the question I would still try to retank him asap.

[SammyDee]

I had all those same fish in my FW tank with one baby Gsp in a few weeks all those fish were dead. Then I found TPF help and they got me on the right track. GSP a very aggressive. So is that spotted catfish eventually. I had to move him in to a chiclid tank. Gourami got eaten by him too And my silver dollar just hated him so i Gave him up too. Puffs are totally worth having alone in their tank.

[sblakeley]

Okay so far I've learned I am not a bad fish parent, my spotted catfish "Harry" is what is killing my fish not me. I really wondered if it was me all along as I never found bodies, the fish would just vanish. I'm now not sure what to do when we move about the fish... pretty sure Harry will need a new home before then anyways... Puffydyle will be going with us and the others who knows... a coworker is giving me 75 gallon tank and I'm moving the other fish into it and keeping Puffydyle in the smaller tank. Although I have considered making the 75 gallon bw then sw... So I am off to read about how to properly set up a fish tank.. wile at Super Pets aquirring ghost fish for Puffydyle's dinner, I found out the hydrometer is not the $90 thing they tried to sell me at the fish store (making for happy me). Now I just need to order some supplies and need recomendations for a good online site

[purplecandle]

Okay so far I've learned I am not a bad fish parent, my spotted catfish "Harry" is what is killing my fish not me. I really wondered if it was me all along as I never found bodies, the fish would just vanish. I'm now not sure what to do when we move about the fish... pretty sure Harry will need a new home before then anyways... Puffydyle will be going with us and the others who knows... a coworker is giving me 75 gallon tank and I'm moving the other fish into it and keeping Puffydyle in the smaller tank. Although I have considered making the 75 gallon bw then sw... So I am off to read about how to properly set up a fish tank.. wile at Super Pets aquirring ghost fish for Puffydyle's dinner, I found out the hydrometer is not the $90 thing they tried to sell me at the fish store (making for happy me). Now I just need to order some supplies and need recomendations for a good online site

I like thatfishplace.com

But go to the links section in the forum..their are many nice links listed..