The Puffer Forum

I have 2 questions about GSP's. I have had my GSP for almost a year now it's in a 53gal tank alone. temps are usually around 74 degree's to 78 degree's never drops below 72 though.

1. is it natural for GSP's/puffers in general to grow so slow? had my puffer for months now and it has grown only about an inch. I am just wondering if this is natural. Never owned a brackish water puffer before nor any big varieties. It just seems an awfully slow growth rate that is all. last i checked salinity was at 1.004-1.006 using a cheap plastic hydrometer going to convert it to 1.008 this weekend

2. How do i keep my GSP's colors bright. the green spot is extremely bright on the head but the rest of the body is dull green. been trying to feed it a variety of foods. currently feeding 2 types mussles and shrimp all froozen but raw. going to incorporate live snails as well. Is their anything else i can do to try and keep it's colors bright? i do weekly maintenances biweekly if it is raining extremely hard.

The "cap" is always brighter than the rest of the body. That is characteristic of that species. That color distribution cannot be changed.

GSPs are not slow growing in high water quality brackish to marine conditions. Growth will be slow (stunted?) in FW or in low quality water conditions.

Young fish can and should grow rapidly and show good colors while awake and active. Colors are much dimmed when napping or sleeping, or when ill, or in poor water conditions.

HTH

Are you supplementing his food with vitamins? You can gut-load ghost shrimp with algae wafers, soak F-D foods or live worms in Vita-Chem & Selcon.

Raise salinity slowly, no more than 0.002 per week. I would purchase a better tool for measuring sg before raising it further, you don't want to crash your tank

bertie 83 wrote:Raise salinity slowly, no more than 0.002 per week. I would purchase a better tool for measuring sg before raising it further, you don't want to crash your tank

Yea but his current tool will suffice. Ive used one of those and it was very accurate if you manage to have no bubbles on the lever.

I think your buddy will have a growth spurt soon and suprise you.

It is possible that you have gsps like mine. The spots are more irregular than a typical gsp and mine does have a bright cap, and he does have bright colors, but when compared to a typical gsp he "seems" dull.

Here is a pic of one of mine, mine playing in the bubbles from the bubble wand


And here are pics of typical gsps with rounder spots and brighter coloration
ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Nigroviridis/

I agree with what RTR said about young fish growing fast, provided good housing, but I wanted to add they probably grow slower than some of the common fish one finds at a pet store. People see Oscars grow an inch a month, and then they get a gsp and wonder why it seems not to grow that fast. Also, I think some gsps just grow faster than others, although there is no scientific proof of that opinion.

I, like others, believe there are different subspecies of GSP dependent upon it's inhabited region. This can result in different size spots, different shaped spots, different amount of spots, shape of the fish, overall size of the fish, color, and possibly growth rate, behavior, and aggressiveness.

HTH

As they mature, they lose the all-over yellow & look more like PC's above. Here are my adults:

i don't think it is stunted i had it since a baby it was healthy and slowly converted the salinity as the months passed by. the food i am only limited too. their are LOTS of animals and plant species illegal here in Hawaii that cannot be imported or exported. Been feeding 3 types of food lately shrimp, mussles, snails. snails are gut loaded with algae.

I used to house my GSP in a 10gal at first alone when it was a baby for about a month or 2 then got the 53gal tank so i wouldn't assume it was stunted. I have been meaning to check up on how to soak fish food in vitamins but i lack the money to buy the vitamins their usually expensive here due to shipping costs.

thanks for all the replies i will take them into consideration. I am used to fast growing aquatic animals that is all and my puffer always turns extremely dull at night just didn't know if that was natural or not.