The Puffer Forum

I originally put this in meet and greet but I think this area is more where i need it at.. I hope

Hello all, Its great to have found a place to answer some of my question i have now and I know more will come as she/he grows.. I acquired my green spotted puffer from my daughter who could not let the store flush him as he was a return and they cant put him back in the tanks. So here she comes home with him and we dont have a tank up.... Knew he would die if i did not get it cleaned and up so I scrubbed it in hot water and got it going.. minus the filter.. we seem to have lost parts in our recent move.. Cant get a new one till monday or tuesday soooo I figured just keeping the water cycled out for fresh would help more then leaving him swim in it till i get the filter.. Did the first partial water change today but It seems to have stressed him.. Is this usual for a puffers first change in his home?? Only other fish I ever keep were goldfish, angels, mollies, tetras ect (freshwater).. so this is all new...I only have a 2 gal right now but he is only 1inch long so Im hoping I have a little bit of time to get a 20 gal, prefer a 30 to 40gal if I can swing it. But anyway the reason I decided to do the partial water change today was because there some bits and pieces of brine shrimp still in there and he did not touch the one i gave him yesterday morning.. which also brings up a question... how often should I feed him the brine shrimp?? should I get some plankton and bloodworms on monday or tuesday and mix it up?? give him diff stuff each day??
Thanks all and I think i will be here a lot with tons of questions lol

Update- He did gobble down one small brine shrimp and a few nibbles off some tilapia I thawed for my dinner today..but ended up scooping that out after he stopped showing it interest.. He started being very active for a few but still has the black stress looking marks and seems to be miffed at me tonight.. will only glance at me and then turn tail to me over and over.. His behavior is resembling what everyone is calling boredom behavior. could that be all it is??

It will likely be stress reducing his appetite, brine shrimp is great for stimulating appetite but is not generally very nutritious. Try soaking other foods in a little crushed garlic. A 20g tank will not suffice for very long so you are better off with a 30-40 g which will also help make the tank cycle less stressful for him as you have a larger water volume to help dilute poisonous waste products. Add a filter ASAP and put a bottle of tetra safe start in the filter before turning it on ( do not buy any other instant cycle product most are useless)

If he's only in a 2g, unfiltered, uncycled tank, I suggest daily 90% WC on him. Be sure to match temp & use Prime to condition the water (1 drop/g). Can you at least set up an airstone in there for O2 exchange? I'd hate for you to save him from a flushing death, only to suffer a horrible ammonia/nitritate poisoning death.

Yes he has one right now (adding a second after I get the bigger pump and the filter) and he seems to love the bubbles so when I get the bigger tank.. hes getting a curtain.. I feel so bad that its all I have right now.. I was told that well water was great for tanks.. is it? Or should I go with filtered?? I have two water gal that I have been refilling and letting set over night to come to room temp so I know its the same temp as what im taking out. He ate a half of shrimp today so far and he did come about midtank today when I was talking to him.. I think he likes music. I did a minute recording before my camera was so full I could not get any more and the kids were watching pitch perfect.. lol it was cute.
When Im buying everything for the bigger tank.. I really wanted to get the filter/air equipment for a larger tank..
As for the soaking other food in crushed garlic... do you have a post somewhere already up that I can check out, if not do you mean like booldworms ect to soak?? and what is the benefit of the garlic??

Hmm Not sure but I thought I posted a reply earlier but it may not have been approved yet lol.. anyway.. I have a 10 gal coming tomorrow.. Given to me by a friend. its been in storage for several years.. is there anything besides hot water you would suggest to clean it with?? Not sure what all is with it, i will see when my husband gets home tomorrow night.
If I did not reply... what i was wondering was what do you mean by soaking the food in crushed garlic? Like fresh cloves crushed or the jar type you can buy?? What are the benefits?? do you have a post about it in one of the other areas?? He does have an air stone and seems to really like the bubbles. a bubble curtain is a must for all future tanks for him.. I did post a video on my facebook if your interested....http://www.facebook.com/TimberDrake/med ... 079&type=2

Timber wrote:Hmm Not sure but I thought I posted a reply earlier but it may not have been approved yet lol.. anyway.. I have a 10 gal coming tomorrow.. Given to me by a friend. its been in storage for several years.. is there anything besides hot water you would suggest to clean it with?? Not sure what all is with it, i will see when my husband gets home tomorrow night.
If I did not reply... what i was wondering was what do you mean by soaking the food in crushed garlic? Like fresh cloves crushed or the jar type you can buy?? What are the benefits?? do you have a post about it in one of the other areas?? He does have an air stone and seems to really like the bubbles. a bubble curtain is a must for all future tanks for him.. I did post a video on my facebook if your interested....http://www.facebook.com/TimberDrake/med ... 079&type=2

I'd wash it out with very hot water and white vinegar. Rinse very well and dry. You really need a bigger tank. Cute little guy Poor thing, all he's been through. His belly is white, which is a good sign. What substrate are you using? You should look at argonite (spelling?) sand to keep your ph up in a range of 8.0-8.3. Do you have a test kit to keep an eye on ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? This can be come a big financial comitment getting started. You can use a garlic clove that is crushed, and soak with food in water for a bit. I think you should go to a petstore and see if they'll give you some of their pest snails. Stay away from the malaysian trumpet snail (pointed/hard shell). GSP's love snails, and they are vital for their diet to keep their teeth trimmed down. Garlic is used to entice appetite. They also sell product you can use to soak food in, like Zoe, which has vitamins etc and other products that specifically have garlic.

I have nothing right now test wise.. I planned on getting some tuesday along with some diff foods.. Right now i have gravel and some flat rocks set up on they short ends so he has places to go hide behind.. can I set the 10 gal up with gravel and argonite sand? I am so worried about him.. he is very cute. I just want to do right and keep him healthy.. I have a few lines out looking at some used 55g tanks...

Timber wrote:I have nothing right now test wise.. I planned on getting some tuesday along with some diff foods.. Right now i have gravel and some flat rocks set up on they short ends so he has places to go hide behind.. can I set the 10 gal up with gravel and argonite sand? I am so worried about him.. he is very cute. I just want to do right and keep him healthy.. I have a few lines out looking at some used 55g tanks...

Right now the least of your worries is the substrate. You may be better with no gravel, just to keep any waste from getting down in the gravel and causing ammonia spike. Wow, a 2 gal is so small. PP is right - do a 90% water change daily! Even if you get a 55gal you've still got to get it cycled. Try to get some filter media from someone who has an existing tank.

Good luck

Have you looked on Craigslist?

PufferMe! wrote:

Timber wrote:I have nothing right now test wise.. I planned on getting some tuesday along with some diff foods.. Right now i have gravel and some flat rocks set up on they short ends so he has places to go hide behind.. can I set the 10 gal up with gravel and argonite sand? I am so worried about him.. he is very cute. I just want to do right and keep him healthy.. I have a few lines out looking at some used 55g tanks...

Right now the least of your worries is the substrate. You may be better with no gravel, just to keep any waste from getting down in the gravel and causing ammonia spike. Wow, a 2 gal is so small. PP is right - do a 90% water change daily! Even if you get a 55gal you've still got to get it cycled. Try to get some filter media from someone who has an existing tank.

Good luck

To the op...if you can get anything bigger, put the puffer in that even if it is not cycled. The increased water volume will greatly improve your chances of survival.

I have the tank and am cleaning it right now.. tank is 12X10X16 inches .. .. I still need the filter system.. is the marineland penguin biowheel from petco going to work?? i was thinking the 30 gal one.. I was also wondering.. the arganite sand.. can I use a under gravel filtration with that?? The tank has most the pieces for the undergravel with it.. just not the filter set that hangs on it.. I figured I would get it up and get the O2 running with two stones and the curtain that came with it. Switch him and then clean the 2 gal get it set back up with a stone still so I can use it when I get everything to temp hold him while i get the filter and substrates in.

I dislike under gravel filters, a decent canister or hob will be much better. I know nothing about the filter you asked about. Put everything substrate and all from his old tank in with him

He is in and seems to be liking it so far.. His black stress color as subsiding.. I have a lead on a 55 gal that I may be able to get cheap or with payments as the owner is a nephew. The sooner I can get the the better. thank you all and yes I still need help. hehe Such a bad fish for a novice to have.

Get a Aquaclear 110. You're gonna need it!
http://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-110-Aqu ... +aquaclear

Or try Ebay.

Once you have a stable tank, and have plenty of research under your belt puffers are not as hard as you think so long as you do good tank maintenance. Hope that tank comes your way.