The Puffer Forum

i dont own a gsp but ive read loads and loads of articles on gsp and they have all said that they will grow up to be six inches and to put one fish in a thirty gallon tank. So i decided to go to a fish store that is owned by an experienced guy thats owned it for many years. he told me quite the opposite, that generally gsp will only get to be around three inches and that i could keep three in a thirty gallon with weekly water changes. he said the biggest gsp he had ever seen were currently in his shop. i saw them and they looked aroung five inches. another fish store said something similar. now im really confused, who should i believe?

How well do you know the LFS owner? If he selling you fish or providing "sales" advice, or is he genuinely interested in keeping your fish safe and sound?

Just playing devil's advocate.

Several of us here have GSP's that are quite large. Mine outgrew a 55g tank with his previous owner and is now comfortable in a 90 with me. They were quite sad about having to give him up but simply didn't have the space for a larger tank.
I've heard theories that there are several subspecies of gsp, possibly from different areas. Unfortunately, when you get a baby, you just don't know, and having more water volume is absolutely ALWAYS better than not enough.
Also, some people say that singletons are more bonded to their owners. I only have singletons so can't confirm this, but my 3 puffs are definitely tank-puppies
So fwiw, I vote for 1 only in a 30...

Having a boyfriend that owned a pet shop for many many years I can tell you that it is very hard for pet shop owners to know the requirements of all the fish species. Your LFS owner might think he is right with the information he is giving you but alot of the information that they go by is what the supplier tells them which believe me can be false. I myself had to education my boyfriend on proper puffer care, and like mentioned before he had been in the trade for many many years. I can guarantee you they do grow to 6" plus. Great job on doing your research before hand.

thank you all(:
you were very helpful and reasuring

I don't get it... The guy said they don't get larger than 3" but he had 5" ones there? Please don't listen to him! Go look at my article linked to you above, to see pics of my 6" GSPs. 1 would have easily been happy to have a 55g to itself, which is why I re-homed them, since they needed a bigger tank than the 55g I had for the 2 of them.

I think maybe what this LFS owner means is that he's probably not seen many above the 3" mark (heck, with the exception of my GSP's, I've never seen any bigger than that at any LFS's either) .... although that doesn't account for the fact that he's got one that's 5" in his own tank -- But I think if I didn't know anything about GSP's and I just went by what I have seen at most LFS's, I would think that they didn't get any bigger than 3" because that seems to be the biggest you ever see at an LFS.

Just thought I'd put that point of view across for the heck of it.

How often do we EVER see a full-sized, adult fish at a LFS?

I consider my LFS people to be very well educated about MOST of the fish they carry; they kind of specialize in Cichlids though... When I was looking into my Fahaka, before and then even questioning after purchase (days later) Their stories went from, "great for a 10gallon tank" to "I've never seen one over 6 inches" to "you'll never need over 90 gallons" so.... I'll keep to my research, let them feed me their lines - and do ALL my research before I buy at ANY LFS again

They also say Liquid test kits are pointless (they will charge me $2 to bring in a water sample to test though - with a liquid test kit... makin that money!)

And they say vitamin soaking their food is pointless (buying some online as we speak)...

I am so grateful for TPF, I have a lot of respect for everyone here - as they do what they do because they really CARE about the fish, not for profit - or to make a sale. <33 Who knows what shape my poor puff would be in if it weren't for these wonderful people!!!!!!!

Well humans can be upto 6 or 7 feet tall, but I'm only 5 feet. Could be the same with gsps, just because SOME can be that big, doesn't mean all will be.

You can't assume they won't reach their 'potential' and doom them to being smaller due to stunting... I think that may be an unfair justification.

There is no reason an adult fish shouldn't reach their size in the wild or even larger.

I just had a nice "discussion" with a LFS employee this week...went in for FW fish vitamins and was told they are all the same, as he led me to the SW section... "Nobody makes vitamins for freshwater". I briefly disagreed but then realized it was pointless cuz he was so obviously right and I was wrong, so why waste the energy

Ohyouknow wrote: And they say vitamin soaking their food is pointless (buying some online as we speak)...

Yea, I've decided not to argue - It's just pointless. I argued a few times about things concerning my fahaka - lo and behold, the next time I come in - they are all a little more 'educated' about it and suggest the same thing to me (you know, what I said in the FIRST place...) Such as them needing a 120gal tank, large water changes (should NEVER go over 10%, maybe 25% every TWO weeks.... I can't imagine!)

And it's not just fish - whether it's a dog, cat, rabbit - they all take research to make them happy.

My GSP is about 4" at 10 months... got him at less than an inch.

* YES...he'd surely be dead by now if not for TPF!!! Thanks everyone! *