The Puffer Forum

Well, a few weeks back I had bought my GSP(Einstein). The tank had a few cycling issues and I got chewed out for not cycling my aquarium. I kept the water at brackish and added both bio-spira and aquasafe(the freshwater bacteria, forgot the name) . It seemed to do the job and nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia is at 0. My puffer is great now. Happy as can be.

My father set up his own tank. With no experience, he bought a Figure 8 puffer fish thinking he can plop the fish right in without cycling. The ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are sky high. The water is brackish, and a few acclimated ghost shrimp are in there(yes, I know that puffers love those guys as a snack. They were leftovers from my Einstein's dinner). I just can't put that beautiful figure 8 in the tank. I can't. I was wondering if I could keep the figure 8 with a GSP for a short period of time.

The figure 8 is about 2 inches while the green spotted puffer is 1.5 inches. My GSP isn't really interested in live things. When I gave him live ghost shrimp a day ago, he nibbled a slow one and left the rest alone. They're still alive to this day, hanging out with Einstein. The water is at 1.005 on my hydrometer. When I put the Figure 8 baggy into the tank(don't worry, it isn't open) my GSP has little interest and the Figure 8 only looks at him once or twice.

Do you think it's okay?

Please

If there is no other option I would go ahead and keep the F8 in there but the key is temporary. They should be fine since they are juvies but the F8 will need to be separated once you start raising salinity and the GSPs get bigger and older.

How large is the tank?

30 Gallons. It's not a lot, but there is a lot of decorations for minimal contact.

I put him in.

It's a miracle! I watched them for a little. The figure 8 was going up and down the walls on the opposite side of the tank. I had to make late-dinner and when I returned they were hunting one of the ghost shrimps together. I guess the figure 8 and GSP decided to team up and hunt down a ghosty. Sharing was not so fun-- they fought over the shrimp but nobody got hurt. Now there are only a few ghost shrimp in the tank. It's really cool that they get along but I'm a little bummed. I got too attached to the ghost shrimp, and now they're almost gone. The largest one is gone, which was my favorite. When I fed Einstein I would always save a little piece of krill/shrimp for him. He'd take it right out of my fingers and kind of beg for more. Oh well. They already did their algae job anyway.

My next question is probably very stupid.

Will my GSP be upset when the Figure 8 leaves?

Most likely not! Lol, he will probably be happy to have his home back to himself

Kingsleys wrote: He'd take it right out of my fingers and kind of beg for more.

Seriously, DON'T do that, use forceps/tweezers, I just lost the tip of my finger to a hungry puffer

You say that your tank is now completely cycled? If so make sure your dads tank matches your salinity, take out half of the filter media in your filter and place it into your dads filter and jobs-a-good'un, an instantly cycled tank. Because the tank is immature keep a close eye on water parameters over the next couple of weeks and be ready to carry out some water changes if there is any trace of ammonia or nitrite.

+1 to the above post. Hand-feeding small/young puffers is very poor practice. Never directly handle fish food with you bare hands and never put bare hands in a puffer/other carnivorous fish tank if you had contact woth potential food items. The fingers you save are your own.

Hand feeding larger/mature puffers or other meat-eaters is Darminian selection against yourself.

OOOOOHHH, my first +1, thank you RTR

PS is it just me who calls you 'Artiarh' in my head?

Stratters wrote:OOOOOHHH, my first +1, thank you RTR

PS is it just me who calls you 'Artiarh' in my head?

Nope I do also lol

LOL!, no, I suspect it is a pretty common label for me. Some even do so verbally. (;)=