The Puffer Forum

i have a happy full marine GSP and ive had him for alomst a year now. he has grown a little bit but is still only about 2" and nice and round. he is healthy and gets fed gut loaded brine shrimp that has his veggies in it. he also eats his snails but i have to crush them for him to eat it.. my main question is how long does it take for them to get larger? i have a 66 gal tank that im going to switch him out to once i have it set up.. but i know these guys can live for up to 15 years and get about 6" in total length but ive never seen anyones get that big is there a reason that is?

You may see growth after you move him, always best to upgrade ASAP as opposed to waiting for growth that will likely be much better in a larger tank.

does anyone on here have a large or full grown GSP? i just havent seen any even when i google for large gsp i just find it odd

2 of them:

are those about 4"? ill have to post a pic of mine when i get home for you guys to see.. i just love these little guys

They are 6". Bought them at 2", that was 2 years later.

Nitrate can cause growth stunting in fish, so one of the things you can do is keep nitrates under control. Your GSP should start growing faster in the 66 gallon tank.

It is not just nitrate. We use nitrate titer because it is the only major pollutant which we can measure easily. Poor water quality suppresses growth, as does insufficient current and tank size. Good food, clean water, visually complex decor with areas of current and somewhat sheltered areas for rest are all important for getting puffers to full size. Fish grow throughout their lives, but to make full adult size they do need to grow as fast as possible prior to sexual maturity. Growth slows markedly after that.

HTH

here is my GSP, he died after ingesting air(i think). while doing tank maintenance he freaked out and splashed at the surface, it went downhill from there even after a small air bubble came out trying to "burp" him. he obviously is in the middle of turning in the picture. he got rather excited when i approached the tank, especially if i was doing something above the tank. he always assumed he was getting fed. so here he is slightly turning so you cant see end to end vs the tape measurer. he was such a pain to get this picture taken because he would always face straight at me so i couldnt see him long ways. but he was roughly 5 inches when this picture was taken. he was more 5 1/2 when he died

Is it just me or do the fish in the 2 pictures in this thread of large mature GSPs look different than juvenile GSPs? The colors seem duller, the spots small and high in number, and the mouths shaped differently.

Is this a change that occurs when reaching maturity or just a slight difference in genetics? I wonder because I've had 2 GSPs for about a year and a half now and they're probably only at 2 1/2 and 3 inches. I'm wondering if they're still just not mature or if they're probably just never going to get to 5'' let alone 6''. I had thought most growth occurs in the first 2 years.

Elem7777 wrote:Is it just me or do the fish in the 2 pictures in this thread of large mature GSPs look different than juvenile GSPs? The colors seem duller, the spots small and high in number, and the mouths shaped differently.

Is this a change that occurs when reaching maturity or just a slight difference in genetics? I wonder because I've had 2 GSPs for about a year and a half now and they're probably only at 2 1/2 and 3 inches. I'm wondering if they're still just not mature or if they're probably just never going to get to 5'' let alone 6''. I had thought most growth occurs in the first 2 years.

Colors fade in most animals as they mature.

My 2 looked exactly the same as every other juvie GSP you see in stores, when they were young.

Pufferpunk wrote:My 2 looked exactly the same as every other juvie GSP you see in stores, when they were young.

So then if a GSP doesn't appear to have dulled out and slightly changed in shape it's probably not mature and probably still has time to show some decent growth?

A good diet and vitamins is also very helpful when it comes to growing.

Pufferpunk wrote:2 of them:

OMG they are so beautiful! Congrats!