The Puffer Forum

Hello everyone!

My name is Jesse and I am from the Northern Virginia area. I have had an established tropical community tank up and running for about 2 years and have recently donated my community fish to a local school with an established tank that met my water perimeters perfectly! I was very happy to be able to do that.

- So now I have an empty (but running and established) 29g tank that I would like to be set up to house a single GSP. I have done lots and lots of research but still wanted to ask a few questions and just kind of let everyone know what I have done so far. PLEASE let me know anything else I will need to have/do to keep this guy happy.

- As of this morning I have changed out all previous gravel to aragonite sand to buffer my alkalinity and balance my ph. Previously My PH was at 6.5 and alkalinity was low. Test this morning show 90% cleared water 7.1 ph and ideal alkalinity (of course all other levels of chlorine, ammonia, nitrate and nitrites are in normal ranges).

- I had driftwood and removed it because i heard that it rots? Any validity to this?

- I also planned on saving one of the GSP from my local Walmart (after having a talk with the manager of course!) From what I read Walmart GSP's are kept in freshwater with a bit of aquarium salt. My question is should i start in freshwater I have now, then do a 50% water change in a week or so with some MARINE SALT with 1.0004 SG making my SG 1.0002 as recommended on this site? HOW DO I DO A 15 GALLON WATER CHANGE ALL AT ONCE?

-How often should I stir the sand to release gas? It is 1 inch or less in depth.

- Will this sand completely settle or am I always gonna have to deal with cloudy water when the substrate is disturbed?

- I cant wait to get this crazy, interesting fish but I want things to be as natural as possible for my new little guy. All help is very much appreciated and I hope to be able to contribute to the forum at some point!

Thanks in advance

Hi Poof and welcome to The Puffer Forum. Here is a great article to read concerning converting to brackish water.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19348

Great that you are doing your research before getting your puffer. If the GSP you are getting is in freshwater yes than start with freshwater in your tank. As far as doing a 15 gallon water change at once if I understand the question correctly you don't have to add 15 gallons all at one time but at one water change. I am concerned about how you are keeping your tanks cycled?

trekenk wrote:Hi Poof and welcome to The Puffer Forum. Here is a great article to read concerning converting to brackish water.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19348

Great that you are doing your research before getting your puffer. If the GSP you are getting is in freshwater yes than start with freshwater in your tank. As far as doing a 15 gallon water change at once if I understand the question correctly you don't have to add 15 gallons all at one time but at one water change. I am concerned about how you are keeping your tanks cycled?

Thanks for responding.

I have read that article I was just trying to make sure I understood correctly really. In the article is says to mix the salt with the full amount (15g for a 30g tank) of water you plan to add salt to. I regularly do water changes in a 5 gallon bucket but the only thing I can think of that would hold 15 gallons would be another tank. Can the salt be added directly to the tank if no fish are in it? but what about in the future?

My freshwater tank has been cycled for two years I have just removed and donated the fish. What concerns you about how my tank is being cycled exactly? I figured if it has been cycled for freshwater and I start the GSP in freshwater I should be ok. Then In a week or so I planned on converting the water to low end brackish with a sg of 1.0002 then in increments of .00002 a week until the desired SG for his size is achieved. If I'm off base let me know. I am on the forum to do this the right way!

You tank won't stay cycled for long with no fish. As far as adding salt directly to your tank it needs to be mixed overnight in water with heater and something to circulate the water you can't just add the salt to your tank. Go to your local hardware store and buy a cheap large plastic container for mixing, some used garbage pails. I am not up to date on brackish tanks I am full marine with live rock and protein skimmers. This is something that you might want to consider for the future of your GSP. You are on base with slowly converting it to brackish.

trekenk wrote:You tank won't stay cycled for long with no fish. As far as adding salt directly to your tank it needs to be mixed overnight with heater and something to circulate the water you can't just add the salt to your tank. I am not up to date on brackish tanks I am full marine with live rock and protein skimmers. Something that you might want to consider for the future of your GSP.

Thats what I understood as well which is why I was wondering what people did to mix large amounts of water and salt together without buying a whole new tank!? (edit: just saw you recommended a trash can. THATS PERFECT! Thanks)
I have only had the fish out for about 24 hrs and was hoping to add the small GSP today. That really is my ultimate question. Also I left a ghost shrimp(snack) and a few snails i had in the tank.

I also do plan on going full marine but of course it needs to be done slowly over the life of the puffer.

Again I am interested in why you are worried about how my tank is cycled (because no fish are in there?). I know removing all the gravel removes much of the beneficial bacteria but I have two old active filters running and I thought that would be sufficient.

Because when you remove the fish you remove the ammonia source. The bacteria need this ammonia to survive. Without food the bacteria will die off.

Flutter wrote:Because when you remove the fish you remove the ammonia source. The bacteria need this ammonia to survive. Without food the bacteria will die off.

Thanks for the reply Flutter that makes sense.

I have had the tank empty for about 24 hrs do you think i have lost the bacteria already. Should I immediately add the GSP?

POOF wrote:

Flutter wrote:Because when you remove the fish you remove the ammonia source. The bacteria need this ammonia to survive. Without food the bacteria will die off.

Thanks for the reply Flutter that makes sense.

I have had the tank empty for about 24 hrs do you think i have lost the bacteria already. Should I immediately add the GSP?

Anyone I'm getting a bit worried here. I DO NOT want to start over a re cycle my tank. I figure my tank has to be better than Walmarts so I am gonna wait a bit for some replys and if nothing I guess I will just go get him.

Thanks in advance.

24 hours is a little long.

One question, are you willing to go SW? If you could get all the stuff (skimmer, live rock, etc.) and cycle the live rock with some pure ammonia and or rotting shrimp or whatever, you could sloooowly acclimate him to SW. Just an idea.

If you want to start out FW, you need to get something rotting in there NOW. Wait overnight, and check params. If there is ammonia then it will start a cycle, and if its nitrate, its cycled. (nitrite also means its gonna cycle) Once you get nitrate you need to do a large water change (80+) and then your good to go to get your puff.

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

Lil' Swimz$ wrote:24 hours is a little long.

One question, are you willing to go SW? If you could get all the stuff (skimmer, live rock, etc.) and cycle the live rock with some pure ammonia and or rotting shrimp or whatever, you could sloooowly acclimate him to SW. Just an idea.

If you want to start out FW, you need to get something rotting in there NOW. Wait overnight, and check params. If there is ammonia then it will start a cycle, and if its nitrate, its cycled. (nitrite also means its gonna cycle) Once you get nitrate you need to do a large water change (80+) and then your good to go to get your puff.

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

Ugh thats what I was afraid of. Well I want to go SW soon but budget does not allow right now but my puff well def be in a full marine environment eventually but this is my way of getting into SW.


My test showed very normal params this morning. Nitrates where a bit lower than normal but I did a decent water change when the fish where removed which lead me to think everything was pretty normal.

I will go ahead and add and ammonia source just in case though. Back to the drawing board i guess....

Thank you for your reply.

IMO, 29g is too small for an adult GSP. Imagine a Nerf ball trying to swim in there. Do you plan on upgrading? It would be a perfect tank for a couple of F8s & a few tank mates like mollies, chromides or knight gobies.

Also, if you rescue a puffer from Walmart, you are sending them the message that no matter how they mistreat them, they are still good sellers & will continue to stock more of them.

Pufferpunk wrote:IMO, 29g is too small for an adult GSP. Imagine a Nerf ball trying to swim in there. Do you plan on upgrading? It would be a perfect tank for a couple of F8s & a few tank mates like mollies, chromides or knight gobies.

Also, if you rescue a puffer from Walmart, you are sending them the message that no matter how they mistreat them, they are still good sellers & will continue to stock more of them.

Hello PufferPunk I hoped you would chime in.

I do plan on upgrading to a 55g for my GSP's permanent home.

And as far as getting the puff from Walmart I fully planned on speaking to the manager first and letting him know that the only reason I was getting one was to save it, and that they were keeping them in the wrong conditions and not labeling them correctly ect ect.... I totally get that and do not want them to keep selling them but I fell in love with this fish at a Walmart and really want to save one from that horrible tank.

As far as everything else in the OP I would appreciate any additional comments you might have!

Believe me, the salesperson couldn't care less & corporation weill never hear about it.

Hey Jesse - welcome to the forum!

Did you use well rinsed aragonite sand? Personally, when I changed from gravel to sand, I used very fine filter floss in the filters & changed it daily to ensure sparkly water. Stirring to prevent toxic gases is not such an issue with a relatively shallow bed - just vacuum it thoroughly when you do the weekly water change.
With regards to water testing, its far more important that we know the exact figures for ammonia/nitrite & nitrate, than pH & hardness etc. Keep the tanks' bacteria "fed" with ammonia or some source of ammonia to keep it cycled until you get the fish. I would keep it as FW until he is settled in, then start the transition to BW by adding marine salt at each water change - remember, there is no rush to do this (& better it is done slowly, than crashing the whole system). Lots of people mix the water the day before & keep it heated/aerated overnight for use the following day - personally, I don't think that it is so important to do that with a BW tank as it is with Marine. I mix up a big bucket at a time (about 12 gallons) & test with a refractometer (you will need to get one of those!).

Hope that helps a little - although my advice is only from personal experience of what works for me!

Pufferpunk wrote:Believe me, the salesperson couldn't care less & corporation weill never hear about it.

I figured that but I thought If i talked to the person in charge of actually ordering the fish it may make a a bigger impact than just not buying one. But really i'm sure your right. The only other way I could get one would be online but I guess I will be going that route after all.