The Puffer Forum

I have a couple questions before i set up a thirty gallon tank for a gsp.
1. can i use childrens play sand in the bottom of the tank or do i need aquarium sand?

2. do i need to use marine salt? (if yes is there a recomended brand?) or can i use ordinary sea salt that can be found at a local grocery store?

3. how should i go about adding salt to my tank?

0. Just be aware he may outgrow a 30g.
1. Aquarium sand would be better.
2. Instant Ocean Marine Salt is recommended.
3. Mix it the night before you do a water change in a 20g or so tote or something other with a powerhead and heater. Then put it in the tank after the WC.
4. Be aware this fish can take your finger off as an adult
5. Also be aware when it gets larger it requires full saltwater,not brackish.
6. Good luck!

I have play sand in most of my tanks. The only time I spent the extra money on an aquarium brand of sand is for my miurus puffers, because they like to bury themselves and play sand can be a bit "heavy", otherwise I have no problems with play sand.

As PufferPunk will tell you, for brackish water, use whichever brand is cheapest and that's what I do, although I've been using Tetra marine salt for the past couple months and just bought another 20kg tub of it.

I believe that Aquarist has had some bad experiences with his GSP ... but I have never had ANY issues with my GSP's being aggressive and trying to bite me. In fact, the only ones that have bitten me are my lurkers and the one Ceylon (I hadn't had him long when he bit me) ... so please don't think that every puffer is going to attack you.

If you plan to go full marine with live rock, argonite sand is best, as it will take on biofilter properties from the rock. It also helps keep your carbonates up at lower SG brackish levels.

Make sure to wash the heck out of the play sand if you go that route. It literally took me hours to wash enough sand for my gsp's 30g.

Go with Nick's suggestion of aragonite sand. It will buffer the hardness & pH to keep it stable.

if i go with play sand how should i clean it?

Put it in a bucket with a hose at the bottom. Stir & pour off the top cloudy water. Keep doing it until it becomes clear. There will still be some residual cloudiness when you put it in the tank, so you'll have to run cotton floss in your filter for a few days, until it clears up.

okay thanks(:
oh! for changing fresh water to brackish ive read that your supposed to raise the sg by .002 a week. and i read that 1 cup of salt/5 gallons raises the sg .oo5. so im thinking a little around half a cup/five gallons would be the appropriate amount to raise the sg .002 a week? also, do i pour all of the salt in at one time? (and do i put it through the filter or straight in with the fish? ive heard both)
and do i disolve it in water first?

This will help: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19348

Copy cat!

I'm a minute behind you.

LOL JK, great minds think alike.

thank you(:
only one more questionf for tonight. i promise xD
petco has a brand of marine salt that is cheaper than any other i have seen. does it seem like a quality buy?
http://www.petco.com/product/101391/PET ... SiteSearch