The Puffer Forum

Hi all.

I bought 3 baby GSP for a 55-gallon tank.

The smallest one, which hadn't been eating, died today.

I'm upset, because I had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and at most <3 nitrate. It seems always after a water change some of my fish die, which makes me dread doing water changes. One thing I did, which I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have, was mix half a cup of Instant Ocean, dissolve it, and then added some of it too quickly into the tank (little pours here and there). I think I shocked my fish a bit. The other two GSP are about 1.5 inches, and the baby was 1 inch. Those two are plump, vibrant, shiny green tops, snow white bellies, and incredibly active and voracious. The baby, since I bought it, had these black spots on its belly, and it wouldn't eat like the others. I don't know if it had parasites, but I do know it had really stringy poop. The other two have been greeting me each morning and evening, but the other one, after the water change, would just lie at the bottom and started struggling once the salt was in. The bigger two seemed to get even more active/vibrant when the salt was added, but the baby floundered...

Also, when adding in the water, I added in this Prime water conditioner which made ammonia non-toxic (even though before the water change there was no ammonia), and it did other things, too.

These are my tank stats:

55-gallon tank
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
<3 nitrate
8.0 ph
30-60 gal whisper filter
sun-sun canister filter hw-302
relatively clear water with some algae spots forming
went from 0 salt to 1.002 salinity today with Instant Ocean and hydrometer
currently have other fish in tank, and cycling separate tank for them (afraid of nitrite spikes)
no snails, no pleco, no shrimp
using bits of flake food, some dried baby shrimp, fresh bloodworms, raw shrimp on string, crickets
starter adding beautiful black granite slates for decor and hiding spots
plants have started slowly dying off

I don't know why my baby GSP died, but I have my suspicions. Am worried about water hardness since I use tap water, and am in need of knowing what other necessary parameters I can measure/control to make sure my puffers stay happy and healthy. Also, I'm worried about vacuuming the sand substrate at the bottom because I feel like it releases toxic chemicals (I had moved about the substrate with my vacuum hose two months ago and it killed quite a bit of fish to my bewilderment).

Please help me!

EDIT: Should I try using anti-parasite tablets to kill any parasites that might be in my tank, and buy a UV sterilizer/powerhead device? They have something you can buy only called the Green Killing Machine that functions as both powerhead and UV sterilizer...

First off, I would like to say that I’m very sorry about the loss of your GSP. I just lost a fish not too long ago (clownfish dominance/submission). If your water parameters are 0/0/<3, I don’t see anything wrong. The tank would be cycled, and that should be ok. It may be the mixture of the salt, like you had mentioned.

When did you buy them? How long ago?

How long until you started raising the salinity?

Personally, I absolutely hate hydrometers and think they are garbage. I have two of them and did three readings each and got different results EVERY time. If you plan to go brackish, I suggest buying a refractometer. This will give you spot on readings. Maybe your hydrometer is off, and the salinity was increased too much?

I have three Marine Aquariums, and one Low-end Marine (where I house the two GSPs). Their salinity is at 1.020, but I didn’t just throw them in there or up the salinity in high, stressful increments. It takes time and patience to change the SG of water, and maybe you raised the SG too quickly with no acclimation periods?

Otherwise, as far as water hardness goes, I use tap water with my puffer tank and other freshwater aquarium with Sachem Prime without issues. The water quality is not great in Phoenix, you should see the TDS readings lol. If you want to rule out water hardness/chemicals, I suggest going RO. I usually get my RO at $0.20/gallon on sale days.

Also, don’t be afraid to gravel vac! I have sand in my puffer tank, and have to gravel vac simply because the GSPs don’t allow me to have a clean up crew. Gravel vac-ing will suck up the poo and left over food (if you happen to miss any during feeding times).

You could go the Prazipro route also, considering they are wild caught. That could also be the culprit of your GSP (IP). Dose the tank and remove the carbon. A friend of mine lost her Dwarf Puffer to IP, but the others are doing well.

As far as UV Sterilizers go, you don’t necessarily need it, but they’re not bad either. I only have one in my other reef tank because I had a diatom algae problem with the amount of light and such.

For now, I would definitely buy a refractometer, and start raising salinity very slowly. Prazipro isn’t a bad idea, either just to error on the side of caution.

Sorry the post is so long!

+1 refractometer. They are pretty cheap on amazon as well, and are easy to calibrate.

Yeah, I paid $21 shipped through eBay. Can't beat the price for reliability. Those hydrometers will give you different readings all day long.