The Puffer Forum

I have a 29g reef that has been up for over a year. Along with the GSP there is a clownfish, blenny, and damsel. Mostly LPS corals, with some zoas and a RBTA and mini maxi nems.

I just noticed the GSP is looking bleached for a lack of better term. Normally he is bright white belly, bright shiny green, and dark black spots. Of course his belly and coloring change a bit with mood. Right now he looks bleached out. What I really don't get is that none of my early indicators of water problems are showing anything. If I need a water change (I do 20% every other week at least) there are a couple corals that will close up a little and I know nitrate and/or phosphate is slightly elevated. Literally everything else looks great.

I quick checked and Ammonia and Nitrite are 0, and salinity is 1.025 right where its supposed to be. I quick did a 20% water change.

I just don't get it... I have too many things that should indicate a problem before the GSP looks this bad.

The only thing I could think of is he tangled with an anemone or other stinging coral? But they've all been in there for a long time and its never been an issue.

Any ideas as to what would cause a GSP to look like they've bleached out? Thanks.

Nitrate? A 29g is way too small for all those fish, coral & LR. Too small for all that minus the tank mates, IMO too.

Nitrate is <.2

I skim heavily and never have water quality issues.

Still not enough swimming room. I bet he's unhappy. Can you upgrade to a 55?

This is not "unhappiness" that caused such a drastic change in a manner of hours. Moving a fish in this shape into another tank (that even in the best case scenario would go through a mini-cycle as everything was transferred over) is irresponsible. I'm familiar with the many colorations a GSP shows and this is not just a stressed fish.

As far as swimming room he was sold to me as a dwarf pea puffer with a 5 gallon tank. Clearly bad beyond advice from a LFS. Looking up on this forum I saw that a 30 was the minimum recommended but it would not fit in the spot I wanted the tank. A 29g was a reasonable compromise. You lose 6 inches of length, but gain a bit of height. Also on this site I found that they should have plenty of place to explore, so a large amount of LR was slowly added. The first fish to be introduced to the GSP was the yellowtail damsel which was purposely chosen because damsels can defend themselves should the GSP be aggressive, however yellowtails are considered the most docile. Addiontally damsels are most territorial of their sleeping spot in the rock while the GSP sleeps in the sand. No aggression it went fine. The lawnmover blenny was later added and occupies a different part of the environment. Again no issues. The clown came last and was the wildcard which I had a backup plan to rehome. He doesn't move more than 5 inches from his nem, so doesn't impact tank space.

Heavily stocked? Yes. Aggression issues? No, not yet and I'm okay with the risk if the GSP decides to eat everything at some point. I've had significant growth with many of my corals which (along with water tests that confirm) demonstrates pristine water quality in a high nutrient tank. Macro algae, heavy skimming, and water changes keep everything in check despite having almost no cleanup crew due to the GSP eating everything but hermits.

I'm fine with the stocking decisions I've made, but am also fine if others disagree. But to my original question what (when water quality issues have been eliminated) can caused a GSP to look completely bleached in a manner of hours when for a year it has been shiny white belly and bright green? My only guess at this point is tangling with a nem? Any insights?

Your nem conclusion could be right. I do agree with pp 100% on the stocking. The main reason i upgraded my 29 to a 40 long was the tank looked too small for this very active fish + the live rock and corals. I only have a dragon goby that im about to trade out for a smaller species due to it limiting the room for the gsp Hope your gsps colors come back.

A lot of GSP's are very temperamental and definitely have different personalities. Some can tolerate a crowded tank while others are serial killers in the making. I have owned a few specimens to attest to this.

30 is the BARE MINIMUM for a BW singleton GSP. When moved up to SW, a lot of space is used up with LR & then you add corals, anemone & extra fish. A disaster waiting to happen. It was just a matter of time. I do also agree--it could have tangled with the nem.
Try & calculate here how much real water volume you have for that poor guy: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... p?tabid=75