The Puffer Forum

So my girlfriend and bought a 1" GSP and put it in a freshwater tank. It immediately attacked a Bala Shark and frog..So we got it out quick and put it in a one gallon tank and I did some research. I'm the type that researches everything in advance but it's her tank, she just upgraded to a larger one so got a couple new fish, so I just went along. Now I'm fully aware of what a GSP needs, but we don't have a 30 gallon tank to put it in by itself, and would rather not make that investment for the one fish right now. So does Walmart take fish back? I think it would be cool to keep it and there is a 10 gallon tank we could use for it short term, then in a month or so get a larger tank for it. Since upgrading the tank and looking at fish, researching, etc. I'm interested in the hobby and want to do my own tank since the other is hers when it comes to the fish, decor, etc. I think it would be cool to base it around the GSP and do a full marine tank but can't afford to get a 30+ gallon tank for a month or two. So should I return it if they take live fish back? Would a 10 gallon tank be Ok for a month or two? If I keep it I don't want to stunt it's growth or make it sick. We got the fish Saturday and it's obviously not happy in the small tank.. After half a day the water was cloudy and the little guy/gal wasn't looking too good, have since changed the water every day so far and it seems OK. Walmart shouldn't be selling them..Not without properly informing people of their needs/characteristics.

If you take it to walmart, they will flush him.
Try local fish store.

For some reason there's no longer a fish store where I live. There was not that long ago and it was closed when we drove by the other day. Two Walmarts, a PetCo, and a PetSmart..that's it.

Petco might take him,.give them a call

Ok I just found out the fish store moved, called them and said they are saltwater only, but PetCo should take it..

tell the lfs to let it drip acclimate over a few hours to saltwater and they got themselves their own SW puppy

jus85411 wrote:tell the lfs to let it drip acclimate over a few hours to saltwater and they got themselves their own SW puppy

Should have thought to tell them they could get it to live in full SW. Why does WalMart just flush them, and are we sure they will? GF wants her money back if she's taking it anywhere.

Maybe she should have done some research on this fish 1st then. Tell her to swallow the $6 & do right by this living creature.

Pufferpunk wrote:Maybe she should have done some research on this fish 1st then. Tell her to swallow the $6 & do right by this living creature.

Yeah. Told her they flush them, so it won't be going back to WalMart. If we didn't care if it lived we would have flushed it already.

You can set up a 10g for it & use filter media from her other tank but you'd have to upgrade to a 30g within the next few months.

Pufferpunk wrote:You can set up a 10g for it & use filter media from her other tank but you'd have to upgrade to a 30g within the next few months.

and once the 10G has settled some, and has a nice colony of bacteria, then start slowly raising the SG by .002 per week.

Not sure what I want to do yet, but I have been thinking of a saltwater tank anyway. Now that I know there's a saltwater fish store in town, I'm going to go tomorrow and talk with the guy and get options, may keep the GSP in the 10 if we don't return it save up some and in a few months set up a big tank. I know I wouldn't want just one GSP and nothing else so maybe upgrade by then to a much larger tank than 30 gallons and give him a couple buddies. Will see if he has fish that would go well with the GSP. Want to end up with a big FOWLR tank.

Whatever you decide, if you leave the puffer in the 1g, it'll be dead very soon. Get it out of there today!

It will be in the 10g this evening.

Be sure to use filter media from the established tank for it.