The Puffer Forum

This is an old post, please do not reply to it. I no longer monitor it.
He turned out to be a GSP, just had a different pattern then normal.

I have a GSP named Puff



But, I also have this Lil guy named Spike ...
He was mixed in with GSPs at my LFS. He looked different from the others and came up to the glass nibling at my finger. Tooo Cute! Must Have Him!
So, now his name is Spike and was housed with Puff for a few months in Light BW (1.008) . I know Puff is a GSP (t. nigroviridis) ... there is no doubt.
She looks just like the picture above. I got a some help from http://puffernet.tripod.com/confusion.html. But, I'm still a bit confused.

But, I'm not sure which species this lil guy is.
His spots are much smaller and he has a lot more then the GSP.
He was sold to me as a F8 ... obviously not though.
I have moved Spike to my DP tank this week because Puff always kept Spike behind the filter. He ate just fine though.
The DPs are in basically FW (1.002). I took 4 hours aclimating Spike to their water. He seems a lot brighter now.
Spike & Puff were about the same size when I got them. Puff doubled in Size, but Spike hasn't really grown.
Spike is very shy and has not shown any agression towards any tankmates.
He has 5 DPs, some black neons, & ghost shrimp in his tank.
In Puff's tank has also lived with mollies and giant danios.
Since I separated him from Puff and the bigger fish, spike is actually swimming around exploring. He never used to at all.

I'm thinking he could be a green puffer (t. fluviatilis).
Small chance he might be a spotted congo puffer (T. schoutedeni).
Below are some pix and I have a couple videos in my TPF gallery.













The glass is a lil dirty on the outside. I just did a water change ans spilled a lil on the glass.
Didn't even see it until the Flash showed it to me. His water is perfect on the inside
Also he has just eaten. He had a big belly, but i waited until he poo'd to take these pictures. Hopefully, less confusion this way.

Please help me ID this lil guy. I mainly need to know if he needs BW or FW and if I can keep him with the DPs.
If he is a Congo ... I probably can, but not sure if I can is he is a green. Even if he is kept in FW, he will always have some marine salt.
I know everyone says DPs are FW ... But I am hoping to breed them. So, I plan to keep the level at about 1.005 when they get a lil bigger.
Right now my DPs are sooooooo tiny. Some like to follow Spike and he seems to like the company.
They swim right in his face and he just looks away with one eye and stares at them with the other. Then, slowly swims around them.

I joined this forum tonight. I've been reading it off and on for the last year or so. I did my homework before I got into puffers.

Thanks,
CyberBob

I am not an expert but I believe you have a green puffer.

Neither T. fluviatilis, nor T. schoutedeni. These look totally different.

The site you linked to above is wrong in many instances.

Today it would likely be classified as T. nigroviridis (GSP). GSPs come from various locations, represent regional variations and possibly even subspecies or even true species (T. kretamensis and T. sabahensis have been defined in the past but are hardly identified from living aquarium specimens). However, it is unclear how to tell them apart, yet. Also their characteristics (in terms of size etc.) are not known. Therefore, I'd recommend to treat your puffer as a standard GSP and document its growth and color changes.

That website is the absolutely WORST place to go on the net for iD. It should have been shut down 10 years ago.

I had a little green spotted puffer that I rehomed a couple months ago that looked just like your little guy, Except that he had spots on his tail too.

Update: I forgot to mention that he also has a Bristlenose Pleco and a few Otos in his tank.

So, it sounds like everyone thinks he is a GSP ...
So, he just has a different pattern then I'm used to seeing?
I wonder if he might be from a slightly different region or something. Maybe even likes FW?
But, most likely this lil guy will need BW at 1.010-1.015 or even SW?
What about the DPs? Think they are safe with him?
I was really hoping he might be a congo

Thanks Again,
Bob

yeah i agree hes a green spotted as well. cool looking though, seems like he has a ton of spots compared the usual that i see. DP's cannot handle salt in the water, same with the pleco and the otos. the GSP will thrive at full marine. browse through our puffer pedia, all those are correctly identified. GSP are under the brackish section but many here have kept and had them thrive in full marine. also congos are not something you want to keep with other fish you care about lol. they are lurkers and will pick off their food one by one

ug.php/v/PufferPedia/

Ok, I've accepted that he is a GSP and will need more salt.
I know DPs can't handle that much salt also. The pleco and otos actually do just fine in low BW. (very low)
I do plan to keep the DPs at 1.002 - 1.005 (max). they will breed at this level and they actually like a lil salt.

I will probably have to find a new home for one of my GSPs since they don't get along very well.

For the time being, I will have to keep Spike with the DPs.
Should I be worried about Spike attacking the DPs? He has shown no signs of aggression at all so far.

I read some have has success keeping DPs in a community tank.
Anyone here successfully kept them in a community tank?
My angel would be the one to worry about in the community tank.

Plecos/otos do not do well in any kind of salty water. You need 2 tanks.
Please read the links given you above & also : library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/

puffers should be kept in species/only fish tanks. If you mix puffers with other fish, they will pick on them till they die

CyberBob wrote:I will probably have to find a new home for one of my GSPs since they don't get along very well.

For the time being, I will have to keep Spike with the DPs.
Should I be worried about Spike attacking the DPs? He has shown no signs of aggression at all so far

so who is being aggressive to who? and no DP's do not take marine salt, neither do plecos or otos, you might have misunderstood someone mentioning tank salt which is completely different than marine salt. i think its said not to keep puffers with slow moving, long finned fish because thats just asking for them to pick on them. but really its up to your puffer and what it likes

jus85411 wrote: and no DP's do not take marine salt, neither do plecos or otos, you might have misunderstood someone mentioning tank salt which is completely different than marine salt.

Plecos or Otos are sensitive to any kind of salt, just like any other suckermouth catfish and cories, and probably a whole lot of other South American fish.

Update: I'll be taking Spike to the LFS tomorrow and exchanging him for a DP. I will have 6 DPs in a 29g tank with just a pleco, some neons and a couple otos. I wish I could keep spike, but it isn't fair to him to keep him in FW. If I could move the DPs to my community tank, I would. But, they would almost definetly get my Angel.

I was debating ways I could keep both the DPs and Spike. Assuming Spike doesn't eat the DPs when he grows up, I could keep the water at 1.005. That would be at the very low end for Spike and the very high end for the DPs. I doubt any of them would be truly happy though. If I move my Angel into a 10g by herself, I could possibly add the DPs to the community tank. I wonder how happy my Angel would be in a 10g after being in a 40g for about a year. These are just some thoughts ... Please feel free to share any ideas you may have. I would love to keep all my fish. Here is my setup and fish count.

10g Hospital Tank (3 Corys, clown pleco, & apple snail)
10g Betta Tank (betta, bristlenose pleco, 3 Mollies, & apple snail)
29g Puffer Tank (GSP, 5 DPs, Bristlenose Pleco, 10 Neons, 2 Otos)
38g Community Tank (Angel, Gourami, 6 Neons, 5 giant danios, red tail shark, bristlenose pleco, lots of Mollies, & apple snail)

All tanks are FW at the moment and they all have trumpet and ramshorn snails as well as Ghost Shrimp.
If you can figure out how to re-arrange the tanks so everyone gets along and is happy ...
Please Please let me know. I'm not too worried about the plecos, neons & otos

Thanks,
Bob

I agree--you need to house him elsewhere.