The Puffer Forum

So, This is my first post so please excuse any errors in "forum etiquette". ha :/ but I have gotten myself a fabulous little green spotted puffer about a week and a half ago. He/She seems to be about 2 inches long (maybe a bit more) and was very emaciated when i received him. At first the shy puffer would hide in the back of the tank but quickly took a liking to me as i had given him food haha my question(s) is/are:
1) When should the marine salt be added to his aquarium?
2) He has been very thin for a while now, Though i feed him... shall i say abundantly. haha those eyes are hard to resist! mainly blood worms and a or 2 MTS every other day or so. when should he thicken?
3) He seems to do this cough and im worried he may be sick. is this the case?

Welcome to the forum!

For the marine salt question we need to know if the tank is cycled, how long has it been cycled, what size is the tank, and are there any tank mates?

With good feeding it takes about a month to look normal...UNLESS, he has internal parasites, so you should treat for IPs just in case.

Here is a feeding article. He needs a varied diet
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/

Here is an article on treating for IPs
library/hospital/internal-parasites-pre ... treatment/

And unless he is a smoker, I don't think coughing should be a problem.

library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/

Hi and welcome, in addition to the above info mts can sometimes be too hard and break puffers teeth, it's rare but worth considering the risk involved

Wow this site is fantastic. haha thanks for the speedy answers guys!

but tank params are
10gal, cycled for 2 weeks prior to fish entry, He is alone because of the size of the tank, 76 degrees and stable, ammonia-0 nitrAte-0 NitrIte-0, and the little guys name is George saint Pierre. haha

but ok awesome. I just want this little guy to be happy, the first day he got stuck in the filter so i thought he would never trust anyone but he seemed to have gotten over it quite quickly. Ive had quite a few pets but this is by far one of the most interesting and friendly ive ever had. about a week and a half into this and i already love him to death haha

Also thank you for that link! its very informational.
but i have not heard that bertie. O.o i was thinking about breeding snails for feeding purposes. would ramshorn be a better choice? also, are ramshorn asexual as the mts are?

I would hold off on going brackish for two reasons.
1. The tank is too small, you need at least a 30 gallon
2. Your tank does not appear to be cycled. You should not have all 0s...you should have at least some nitrates (unless your tank is heavily planted with live plants). How did you cycle it?

Ramshorns are a better choice...here is an article
library/feeding/basic-snail-breeding/

A huge plus 1 to purplecandle

I just put everything in and let it run as if there was a fish in it for 2 weeks. is that wrong? DD: but yes i know the tank is a bit small. I am at my apartment until the beginning of July. then ill be going back home where he has a 40 gal set up also, do you know of anywhere that I could buy ramshorn snails? they dont seem to be a common for pet stores in my area :/

You need a bacteria source and an ammonia source to begin your cycle. Read this...
library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/

Until your tank is cycled you will have to do daily water changes to keep your puffer alive.

Ramshorns are pest snail so stores don't sell them, you can buy them on aquabid.com or ebay

Forgot to add you can do an emergency cycle by using tetra safe start, I highly recommend you go purchase some asap

You need to buy a bottle of tetra safe start and add it directly to your filter. Your tank will have some good bacteria but not enough to avoid poisoning your new friend, are you using dip strips to test your water?

+1 to the Tetra Safe Start. And water changes, water changes, water changes.

Regarding to the ramshorns, just go to a pet store and ask them for some "pest snails." A lot of places will give you some for free. Just be sure not to ask them if they're busy.

Treat him/her for IPs.

Do not do a WC for 48 hours after adding Safestart to your filter.

Great sellers of ramshorns on eBay. I got enough there to start my own little snail colony.

Your GSP is ADORABLE!

I actually did the tetra safe algea growth stuff. Your supposed to add it so much per gallon and its like white syrup stuff right?
But Im definitely going to look into the snails on ebay or something. I didnt know you could buy live animals on ebay lol
Also, thank you pufftastic! haha he thanks you