The Puffer Forum

I got 3 of these guys yesterday and put them in my 20 long. They are the only fish in it. They seemed to acclimate right away and are very active with healthy appetites. The only problem is, the biggest one with the healthiest appetite keeps chasing the other two around the tank and nipping at them. Will this stop once they've settled in? I was planing on getting 2 more next weekend, should I do it sooner?

Hi & welcome to the forum. I think you really need to consider taking 2 of these little guys back I'm afraid - & even then, the tank will need to be upgraded soon. Have you read the articles here on Green Spotted Puffers? Loads & loads of fab information, but ask any questions you might have.

Thanks for answering. I couldn't find anything on this site about mini puffers, but I found plenty of other articles that said they needed 3-4 gallons each. So I thought 5 in a 20 gallon would be fine. What do you think the problem is?

could you post a picture of the puffers? do they look like any of these? im afraid you probably were mis-informed by your LFS or wherever you got them. there arent a such thing as a mini GSP.
ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/C_Travancoricus/
ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/C_Asellus/
ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Biocellatus/
ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Nigroviridis/

puffers get such a high recommendation of tank size because they are very messy fish and very inquisitive fish, they explore every inch of the aquarium for food and shelter. a too small of an enclosure will stress them out and they will be very bored. they produce a very high bioload so every gallon of water counts for dilution. also puffers can be very aggressive as you can tell from the one you have. if you would even like some sort of success keeping more than one in there you would need a very complex tank with broken lines of sight so they would get distracted or just not see the other puffer very much. any questions there are many many people willing to answer. some answers are going to come off a little strong but its just the passion a lot of people have and the knowledge they have obtained about their loved hobby

I really appreciate the answers.

They look just like Tetraodon nigroviridis. I don't have a picture, but they are about 1" long. I was told they were mini GSPs and would not get much bigger than they are now.

Now that you've told me they don't exist, I went back to look at the articles I read and see they are for Dwarf Puffers. I didn't realize they were different species, I though they just referred to all mini puffers. What a bummer! I've only had them 1 day, but I really like them...

nah, all puffs are different. some require freshwater, some brackish, and some marine. GSP's are one of the ones that need marine as they get bigger. the only way we can properly help you along the way is if you can upload a picture of your little guys

I have their pics in an album. Please take a look and tell me what you think.

That is really awful that they lied to you, I'm sorry that happened. I have 2 GSPs, and right now they are in a 37 but I'm upgrading them to a 65 gallon soon, working on another tank upgrade at the moment. I was going to re home one, but decided to upgrade the tank.

Those are most certainly GSP's and will get much bigger, you need to get them in a bigger tank. Other option is to re-home all but one and work on getting a larger tank for the remaining one.. They are aggressive fish that need to be kept as singles or as multiples in a large tank. I have my single GSP in a 55 gallon brackish tank with SG 1.015 and he/she's about 4 inches and the sizer of a small Nerf football.They are beautiful fish and very inquisitive. They are very messy fish that carry a high bioload from their messy eating habits and the amount of waste they produce. With puffer fish of any kind you will find that they are very sensitive to their water conditions and need a well cycled tank and heavy filtration.

How was this tank cycled? Can you return all but one?

Dad

may not have been lied to, just simply the employees dont know better themselves. sometimes stores just guess what stock they have if they arent 100% sure. its sad but it happens, and they will pretty much act like they know what they are talking about to make a sale. those are definitely green spotted puffers, they will get approx 6 inches full grown and require full marine to thrive. they are awesome fish!

Yeah you REALLY need to bring two of those back unless you have a 100 gallon tank to house them in. They are going to get more aggressive with age and you're going to end up with 1 Puffer left. Even with only one you need a bigger tank. Sorry they misinformed you. This is sad but it's actually very common. There's no such thing as a mini GSP

You've come to the right place and people have given you good information. I just want to say welcome and good luck in fixing your problem Puffers are wonderful fish

Getting a bugger tank is not really an option, so I guess they're going back. It makes me mad to think that they will just be sold to someone else who has a small tank. The guy at the store also told me they were freshwater and didn't need any food besides flakes. I won't go back there.

Thanks to everyone for the input.

Print this out for the store: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/

Go search our some dwarf puffers for your tank but before you do, read the article about fishless cycling.

That's too bad. Sometimes being responsible sucks DPs would do well in a 20gal tank, hopefully you can get some Kudos to you for avoiding that store in the future.