The Puffer Forum

Hi I need some help, I have a green spotted puffer fish that I got from walmart. I asked alot about there care before I left and they told me that this fish is a fresh water fish and that a ten gallon tank would be good for him, but after a internet search I found that they need brackish and that they need a 30 gal to themselves? How can such a little fish need that much space and will he be ok in a 10 gal? I really can't afford a bigger tank right now so he's going to have to be in there for a while at least until I can get some money to buy one. But I am doing several water changes a week and have added a little of salt to his tank. I really want this little guy to be ok and happy so any info on him would be great as i'm really confused on his care because on some sites they say they can live in freash water, others say brackish and some say full salt water. Also I heard they need snails to eat, but I can't find them anywhere, so where can I get snails for him? I tried a few pet stores and have asked about tank size for him and they say the rule is one inch of fish to one gallon so I don't understand why he needs a 30 gal tank. Are puffers just really drity fish?
Also I have been using AmQuel Plus every time I do a water change, is this what I should be doing?
I really love this fish and I want to give him a good home so please help me out and answer my questions, Thank you.

Welcome to the Puffer Forum. unfortunately Walmart isn't good at giving proper information on fish hence alot of people end up here looking for information. The good new is you did come to the right place the bad new is your really going to have to upgrade that tank sooner than later. Puffer are very messy fish and even doing a couple water changes a week isn''t going to cut it but as far as tank size it is more than just being messy fish. Adding salt to the tank does not make it brackish or marine but don't worry about that just yet. How did you cycle your tank? Here is a good place to start reading.

library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/

Good luck with him/her.

Is your tank cycled? If not, do not add salt until it is.

What kind of salt are you adding?

LOL!! Purple cuts right to the chase doesn't she?

Welcome to the forum!!!

An active fish the size of an adult fist needs a little more space than 10 gals. Keep that in mind

I'm pretty sure the tank is cycled because I used water from my sisters tank and her used filter media when I set up the tank. I'm going to try to get a 20 gal tank tomorrow. I have noticed that my little puffer has black line's on both of his sides, which i'm guessing is bad? The lines do get lighter and then darker again, but he has a white belly. Could this be bad water quality? thanks everyone for helping me out and happy thanksgiving!

Those are stress lines. Can't know if you have bad water quality unless you test for it. Get a liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate. Do a 50% WC just in case.

feed clams with shell intact instead of snails?

Feed as many of a variety of foods as you can:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... ?t=1938583

Ok I have him in a 20 gal tank now, but his stress lines have not gone away. Do puffers get stressed when they have a lould filter? Because I bought the 20 gal used with the filter and it's a bit lould.

Pufferpunk wrote:Those are stress lines. Can't know if you have bad water quality unless you test for it. Get a liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate. Do a 50% WC just in case.

I have test strips to test for those, but it's kinda hard to read. Aren't liquid test kits exspenive? I've heard they are better to use but cost more. So I'm going to have to wait for a liquid test kit because I just spent all my money on the new tank. For now I guess I'll just have to go to petsmart to get it tested for free.

Frozz wrote:feed clams with shell intact instead of snails?

Thats a good idea I'll have to look for those. thanks

Aren't liquid test kits exspenive?

Not really: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2754034

I guess I'll just have to go to petsmart to get it tested for free.

Good idea!

Wow liquid test kits are alot less than I thought they were! Would the fresh water one work with brackish water?

I thought so too. I figured more like $12-15. Yes, you can use them for both.