The Puffer Forum

Here is a recent video I took of my GSP Aquarium. The darker GSP is my Profile Pic.
They apparently still hate the little P&S camera. I wonder how they will react to the big DSLR camera that I will be getting in the future. lol


There were a couple things I wanted to ask,

1. The tank seems to have a infestation of a bunch of white, fleshy, rice grain sized pellets, are they possibly polyps? (seen at 1:09 in the power head filter sponge in the video)
2. Can anyone identify all that stuff that is growing on the live rock at 3:02? (possibly connected to Q1 above?)
3. Feather Duster Colony at 2:28?

In regards to your first question, look up pineapple sponges. If that doesn't seem to look like your things, maybe Copepods and/or Amphipods.

Yep image results got that as a positive ID. And the description of where they reside (high flow areas) fits what I see as they are residing within the intake sponges of the powerheads and skimmer and inside of the stripped down HOB filter chamber. They are also littered throughout my Chaetomorpha Algae clusters. There is maybe a couple hundred of them. I shined a flashlight into the tank tonight and seen a couple bristleworms and a few amphibipods run for cover.

Very nice music . Have they just been fed or are they just a little obese ? Fat puffers always look cuter . Really like the tank.

Thanks! The music was an addon via YouTube. They have been eating halfshell mussels or beefheart every 2 days. I may need to space that out more or switch food.

Figured that's what they were.

You may wanna start offering more variety, too. Vitamin deficiency is really bad. Also, you can feed smaller portions, too.

Oh I do feed them live earthworms, crabs, shrimp, and crayfish from time to time. They even eat peas! As for the frozen food I supplement Vitachem with it.

I love your rock setup!!!! You got good decoration skills. Those little guys are cool lookin. I like their big bellies and the spotting on top. I have only seen juvenile ones at l.f.s. Never grown. looked like they were curious then were like i am outta here!!! Not normal!!! Lol

how are they on personality?

Hey thanks! These guys are still not full grown. (2.5-3.5 inches) They can be moody at times but I have not seen any significant problems or injuries inflicted amongst themselves.
I wanna get a 125 or 150 gallon tank for them eventually.

sgtmyers88 wrote:Hey thanks! These guys are still not full grown. (2.5-3.5 inches) They can be moody at times but I have not seen any significant problems or injuries inflicted amongst themselves.
I wanna get a 125 or 150 gallon tank for them eventually.

Have they grown much since you got them?

They were all roughly 1 inch when I got them. Had a big growth spurt during the summer when they went full Marine but have now slowed a bit.

sgtmyers88 wrote:They were all roughly 1 inch when I got them. Had a big growth spurt during the summer when they went full Marine but have now slowed a bit.

Sounds about right. I'm wondering are they gonna reach the full 6 inches. It seems so rare you hear about a full grown GSP these days. I think that's due to the fact most people don't keep them very long, though.

It is my goal that they see their full size. I have heard it takes 2-3 years for them to get there. I hope I did not make a mistake to leave them in the 55 gallon for so long.

sgtmyers88 wrote:It is my goal that they see their full size. I have heard it takes 2-3 years for them to get there. I hope I did not make a mistake to leave them in the 55 gallon for so long.

I don't think at that size that they would be stunted, provided they had a good diet, clean water and so forth.

I think you have just got some slow growers, they are growing their bellies first and then their length...look like golf balls with tails. Just my opinion however, not a proven fact. However, once upon a time I did have a gap that seemed to never grow, looked like a pygmy gsp. But I don't think he was stunted, just his genetics.

Got my new DSLR Camera and here are some new pics taken with it!
Its weird that during the time I took these pictures their colors had changed.