The Puffer Forum

Hi all! I am pretty new to the puffer world. It all started when I saw the cutest little green spotted fish at the lfs. I found out that s/he was a brackish fish and was disappointed, I have never done a brackish tank before. Then they got in some dwarf puffers and the rest is history. I think that I am finally ready to start a brackish tank and get that little guy that opened the door to puffers to me. My question is I know that they need a minimum of 30 gal to be happy, but if I start s/he in a 10 gal how fast do they grow ? I have a 29 gal that I will have available within the next month or two. I talked to the guy at the lfs, they don't stock the gsp on a regular basis so I have to order one which will take up to two weeks to get in or so. When they come in they are in fw. The 10 gal I have empty had my dp's in when I moved them I took out the substrate but left the filter, so recycling the tank should not take to long. I plan on starting it fw then taking the gsp to brackish. Is there anything special that I have to keep in mind ? Does anyone have any input or help for a soon to be gsp mommy ? I haven't ordered the gsp yet.

There is a great GSP article in the library. The bacteria in that filter would have died within 24 hours, so you'll have to recycle the tank. I suggest waiting on the puffer until you have the 29 gallon up and cycled.

It will take longer than 24 hours to kill the nitrification colonies by starvation, but it certainly is not indefinite. You can do an ammoia challenge to test the competance of the filter by adding 2-3 ppm ammonia and monitoring for 24-48 hours.

I do agree that it is better to start puffers in their final or at least long-term tank than to need to move them. You will have many fewer water issues and no danger of stunting the fish that way.