The Puffer Forum

A guy i know from work told me today that his son just got a small gsp on a whim. He's got it in a fw community tank. I've given him as much info as i know about these puffers, which really isn't a lot since i don't have one, and directed him to this site. I really hope he listened and will try and do the right thing by his new fish.

This could potentially mean that if he doesn't return it i could end up with a new little gsp of my very own

Just in case he does keep it and asks for help, when should a small gsp be moved from fw to brackish? Also i'm a little unsure about how the cycle is affected when changing from fw to brackish so could someone help me understand?

Thanks

Increasing the salinity incrementally is important when going from FW to brackish. Otherwise, you'll end up with massive bacteria die-off and an uncycled tank. I think the recommended increase amount is SG of .002 per week.

If you have a fully cycled fw tank, you can begin adding salt. But only increase it by .002 a week. If you do any more, then you risk killing the bacteria you worked so hard to establish. Picture it like a form of tolerance. Then, after your first week into your second week, do a wc, and add a little more salt. Get a hydrometer, round 10-15$ to ensure accuracy.

Also, not all fish can tolerate brackish, so his community needs to go for a) incoming salt and b) the gsp doesmt view them as mates but swimming meat.


Search the forum for bw conversion for the technical formula, or someone might provide it too. I, diddnt follow it to well. I had a 20g and from fw to bw .002 was 6tbsp of salt. But dont do what I did. Do the formula and get a hydromter to mesure the specific gravity(sg)

Thanks. If he does decide to keep it he'll need to move it into a new tank which hopefully he'll know to cycle first. I'll let him know about moving it from fw to brackish slowly.

He doesn't want to get rid of the community since he just set it up, i'm assuming if he keeps the puffer he'll get it another tank. That or return it to the store. He's never done marine but will ask me for help if he decides to go that route because he knows i have a reef tank; so i figured i'd get as much info as i can to try and help him.

Phoenix91 wrote:Thanks. If he does decide to keep it he'll need to move it into a new tank which hopefully he'll know to cycle first. I'll let him know about moving it from fw to brackish slowly.

Cool, you or he, when fully mature needs 30g of water volume. I started in a 20g. so plan on upgrading eventually if it its not there already. No rush imo.The water increase is needed to support the bio load, and for play.

library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19348

Thanks.

He has it in a 55g right now and it's only an inch and already nipping the other fishes fins.

I sent him the link to that article PP, thanks!

Read the 1st paragraph of my article!

I awoke to find the rest of the fish cowering in one half of my aquarium, missing fins and tails. The little “sweetheart” was happily buzzing around the other side of the tank, belly full of fins. I realized this was definitely not a fish for my community tank and sadly returned him.

I remember reading that article a long time ago. This paragraph should be recited and remembered again and again to anyone who is considering a puffer for an existing tank full of fish.

I read it this afternoon and i also told him that he would need a separate tank if he wanted to keep the puffer. He won't like his other fish getting nipped so i hope he'll do something about the situation soon.