The Puffer Forum

Hello, I just bought a GSP yesterday. The tank they had him in was a full freshwater so that is what I have him in at the moment. I do not know how old it is, but he is about 4inches long and fat! I have him in a 10 gallon tank by himself. I am in the process of buying a 75 gallon tank for him this weekend but I know I have to cycle the tank first, so he will be in the lil tank for at least another week! I am wondering if when I set up the new tank can I set it up as brackish water and then just put him in there when it is ready? Or should I keep it as a freshwater until he is in there and then slowly make it brackish? And for whichever one it is how do I do this? Any information would be great! Thanks in advanced!

Is the little tank cycled? How? Even if it is, you'll need to do 50% water changes every other day as it is way too small to handle the bioload of a 4" puffer. As soon as you get the larger tank, put the puffer in there. That much water volume will dilute the puffer's waste & hopefully, if you keep a close eye on the parameters, doing WC as necessary (as soon as you see any ammonia/nitrite), he should be fine in there.
Even better yet--follow our e=Emergency Cycling instructions, here: library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/

Big +1 to PP's comment. Put him in the 75 right away and cycle it as freshwater; FW cycles much faster than SW. Just keep up with the water changes and once the tank is cycled than you can worry about raising the salinity.

Pufferpunk wrote:
Is the little tank cycled? How? Even if it is, you'll need to do 50% water changes every other day as it is way too small to handle the bioload of a 4" puffer. As soon as you get the larger tank, put the puffer in there. That much water volume will dilute the puffer's waste & hopefully, if you keep a close eye on the parameters, doing WC as necessary (as soon as you see any ammonia/nitrite), he should be fine in there.
Even better yet--follow our e=Emergency Cycling instructions, here: library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/

Okay so as soon as I get the 75 gallon tank and put faucet water in there I am supposed to just throw the puffer in there????

Welcome!
+1
Definitely put him on the new tank as soon as you get it. I'd say set it up as freshwater, since you'll have to do frequent water changes until it cycles, it's a waste of money and salt to put it in during that time.
What's this fat puffer's name?

Omg no! Set it up and dechlorinate the water with prime.

I.Puff.Too wrote:Big +1 to PP's comment. Put him in the 75 right away and cycle it as freshwater; FW cycles much faster than SW. Just keep up with the water changes and once the tank is cycled than you can worry about raising the salinity.

I disagree with this statement. SW cycles almost instantaneously with the proper amount of live rock. But due to initial cost, I'd say set it up as FW.

sevenyearnight wrote:Welcome!
+1
Definitely put him on the new tank as soon as you get it. I'd say set it up as freshwater, since you'll have to do frequent water changes until it cycles, it's a waste of money and salt to put it in during that time.
What's this fat puffer's name?

We have not named him yet....

sevenyearnight wrote:

I.Puff.Too wrote:Big +1 to PP's comment. Put him in the 75 right away and cycle it as freshwater; FW cycles much faster than SW. Just keep up with the water changes and once the tank is cycled than you can worry about raising the salinity.

I disagree with this statement. SW cycles almost instantaneously with the proper amount of live rock. But due to initial cost, I'd say set it up as FW.

That's correct, but the OP mentioned BW. Even if the OP wanted SW, I was assuming they wouldn't have LR.

No LR heard