The Puffer Forum

Hello, new member here.

A little background on myself, I've been keeping various fish on and off for about 8 years now. I currently have 2 dwarf puffers happily residing in a nice, planted 20g long for just about a year now. I have a separate 10-gallon snail farm set up for food.

I've started (about 6 months ago) a cycled (fishless of course) 29-gallon low end brackish (currently at 1.004) that I used to babysit a couple bumblebee gobies and a F8 that have recently been returned to their original home. I am looking at purchasing a young GSP, hopefully around an inch or so in length and gradually bringing him up to mid brackish (1.010) levels of salinity.

My question is this, I know he will eventually outgrow this tank. Will a 29-gallon tank suit a solo 1-2 inch GSP for about a year or two? After looking through various websites, including this one, I've concluded that a minimum of 30 gallons are necessary for an adult GSP. My end game is to gradually bring the 29-gallon tank up to high brackish levels as the fish grows over the course of 2 years, while building a separate 55-gallon marine tank that will eventually be his/her home for adulthood.

here is the filtration set up and info for the current tank:
29-gallon
Tetra Whisper 30 HOB filter.
Eheim 2213 Canister filter.
Eheim Jager 125W heater on a temperature control regulator
My current, well prior to re-homing the previous occupants, water change regiment included 30% changes weekly.

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 20

I've been dosing the tank to keep the denitrifying bacteria happily fed.

I think for 1-2 years it should be OK. I'm not thrilled with the Whisper filter though. Aquaclear is MUCH better!

Thanks for the welcome and the information! Realistically I'd like to replace the tank in about 9-12 months but, things don't always happen as planned. I want to make sure the GSP would endure the tank longer if I'm forced to wait.

I hate the whisper filter. Unfortunately, it's what I have for now. It's on the replacement list, only it's pretty far down.

Olive is in a 29 with a blue damsel that he allows to push him around a bit lol hoping I can get a bigger tank for them in a few months. Luckily he was already in saltwater when I got him

Oh! Welcome lol and +1 to aquaclear! Buy it on amazon for a lot cheaper

If your running a fine argonite sand with an aquaclear make sure to get a couple fluval chi prefilters. I burned out 3 motors before i found them.

Ouch. Yes, I'm running aragonite sand. I love the pH buffering it offers. I might actually have a few pre-filters left. I put one on the Eheim and Whisper filter...that means the 3rd in the pack is still somewhere in the house. Are the aquaclear filters simply built better? or is there another reason they are preferred to whisper filters? I admit, haven't researched HOB filters thoroughly. The Whisper filter I have came from a yard sale incidentally, in the same box as a light hood, extra bulbs, and misc. equipment.

I'm relieved to know a juvenile GSP can tolerate a 29g for a brief time period. It will make "sneaking" a 55g tank into the house a bit easier. I'll wait a little while for my wife to get to know the fish and then drop the "well, you know it should really be in a larger, marine tank... ... ..." line.