The Puffer Forum

Hello, first post, and just looking for some clarification.

So I found a couple GSPs at WalMart (I know, I know) a couple weeks ago, and I'm trying to make a good tank for them. Right now I have them in a 5 Gal. fresh water tank. Started researching them and realized they need more room, they're brackish and so on. Got a good deal on a 45 Gal. tank, and bought some salt and water conditioner, etc. to get the tank set up. We set it up the way I've read on this forum as well as a ton of other sites (1.005-1.015 salinity, 78 degrees-ish). I went to a local pet store today to buy some decor and was talking to the people there about the fish we have. They told me essentially the opposite of everything I've read to care for these guys. Keep them in the tank we have now, and make it brackish very slowly (a tsp per week of salt) in a year or so. Now I don't know exactly what to do. Filling this tank today was a pain in the a**, and now I'm being told to empty it out, clean everything and start over.

Do I need to do what they're telling me, or am I doing OK? I kinda feel like they just want me to spend more money at their store, and if I don't have to I'd rather not. On the other hand, it is a local store and not filled with teenagers who only work there part-time, and I'd like to think they know what they're talking about. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Sorry but they obviously have no idea what they're talking about regarding puffers and you're doing much better than they would.

What you should do is cycle the tank as freshwater and then slowly bring it up to brackish, changing the SG by no more than 0.002 per week. Don't do this until your tank is cycled and the fish are healthy though. Most people keep them in a marine tank as once you get past the cost of a skimmer it's cheaper that way.

Personally, right now I would move them into the 45gal and just deal with all the necessary water changes. It will be very hard to keep the water quality at a suitable level in a 5gal tank. Do you have access to filter media or even gravel from an established healthy tank? If so that will make this process much easier on you and the fish.

So glad you found us to get some proper info on keeping these special fish!
Start reading: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/

Move them into the 45g NOW & then read this:
library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/

Thank you very much! We just added some SafeStart to the 45 Gal. to get the cycle started. The salinity in my 5 Gal. is 1.005, and in the 45 Gal. it is 1.008. Will that be okay? They are only about 1" long right now. How long should I wait until I transfer them to the larger tank? They have been in the 5 Gal. for approx. 2 weeks and they seem happy but I want to get them into the bigger tank as soon as I can.

I wouldn't wait, don't let the store's advice throw you off. Go with the advice given above.

Safestart is only good if you add the fish immediately. Did you pour it into the filter? At that SG, there will be some die off of the bacteria. Do you have test kits for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate?

When you add safestart, the bacteria needs the waste product from the fish in order to sustain itself. Fish excrete most of the ammonia from their gills, continuously, and the bacteria needs that to feed off of.

Oh walmart you did it again. 45g. for 2 may even be small once full grown, but you shouldn't have to worry about that for a while. I have 1 in a 20g. right and he's fine so at least for some time they can be in smallish tanks. I plan on getting a 40g. now, though I'm not positive thats what I want(maybe bigger if I can get a good deal), but from what I heard it should be about 30g. per adult. Like I said 45g. should be just fine for some time.

greenspottedlover wrote:Oh walmart you did it again.

sevenyearnight wrote:

greenspottedlover wrote:Oh walmart you did it again.

I'm starting to think Walmart wants all GSP's to die . In reality they just don't care if people are informed and only care about making a sale.

Thanks everyone. I didn't put the safestart in the filter because the instructions just said to add it to the tank. If I need to I can get more. I put a couple of tetras in there that have been in the same 5 Gal as my puffers for the past couple weeks and added a little of the water from their tank to the larger one. I will move the puffers over tomorrow because I don't have any decor yet and will be picking some up first thing, and I don't want them to be bored.

Again thank you thank you thank you! I was really angry when I left that pet store after they told me to keep them in the 5 Gal. Everything they told me contradicted everything I read online. I really think they just wanted me to spend more money buying more fish than I needed.

I don't think they'll be bored at all, more important that they have more room, more water to dilute their waste, than them being bored or not.
As far as transferring the water from the existing tank, it's unnecessary. The beneficial bacteria adheres to surfaces and is only present in the water column in a negligible amount.
I'd love to see some pics of your little ones when you have everything situated

Well I can't put the puffers in the larger tank tonight. There is something wrong with the water. One of the tetras died shortly after I put him in , so I immediately took the other out and put him back in the 5 Gal. So tomorrow I will take a water sample and get it tested somewhere other than the place I went today, and hopefully can get it fixed soon so I can move the puffers as soon as possible.

Oh and I will get some pictures up once I have everything up and running properly

I could be wrong, but I believe tetras are intolerant to salt. In the wild they live in soft, acidic, freshwater.