The Puffer Forum

HEY GUYS! I have 5 puffers in a 30 gallon tank!! I have one Figure 8 Puffer and 4 GSPs. The Figure 8 is about 2 inches long and the GSPs are all about an inch long. The Figure 8 and two GSPs are always flitting and swimming around. Two of the GSPs are kind of sitting around on the floor and on the leaves a lot and will only reall swim around much until they are either bother by another puffer or until I feed them. Also when they are on the floor of the tank they are dark in color and gain color back once they begin to swim around.
Nitrite is 0...Ammonia is 0...Nitrate 0...pH is about 8.5...SG is 1.005

Can anyone help me please?

THANKS!![/b]

I'll repost my reply to your PM here.

That's a lot of puffer for a single 30 gallon tank!

I'd suggest setting up a much larger tank as soon as possible. Like 90 gallons or more would be a start. The bigger the better though.

4 fully grown GSPs require a 120 gallon or so to have enough territory and swimming space, as well as enough water volume to handle their bio load.

Furthermore, GSPs require high end brackish, while F8s stay at low end brackish. So eventually you'll have to split them up.

Are the breathing hard when they are laying around? If so, they may be sick.

They might just be bored though. A larger tank with more things to explore would help a lot.

I'd look to return some of those puffs ASAP.

Figure 8's do not live in the same conditions as GSPs as Phaedrus mentioned. Not only that GSPs require about 30 gallons EACH!

I heard that you can leave Figure 8s and GSPs in moderate Brackish water for the remainder of their lives? Why is this not true? I will probably end up with only 1 GSP in the tank and the 1 Figure 8 in the tank in the end. You are right and I agree that it will be too many fish in the tank but at the moment I feel they are small enough to be alright that way. Any other suggestions? What pH should I be looking for...Mine is hovering just above 8.0 at the moment.

For long-term health and longevity, it seems that the best conditions for F-8s are light BW, while the best for GSPs are high BW to full SW. One or the other will not be in the correct conditions.

The GSP will be at least 4x the mass of the F-8 if not more, there will be feeding issues and possibly/probably aggression issues.

Plus the fact that the tank is not big enough for both fish will magnify the issues and add upkeep/water quality problems.

Both of these fish have excellent aricles on their care in the Library here.

your tank is big enough for either 2 F8s or 1 GSP. i would consider returning some of your puffers, or upgrading toa 120 to move the GSPs. i know it would be really hard to return them, im sure you are really atached to them by now, but please consider it for the wellfare of your other puffers. i think you would be happier with 1 or 2 healthy puffers then 5 sick and dying ones.

Ph of 8 is perfect. You can use aragonite and/or crushed coral as a substrate to help buffer the ph to maintain a consistent 8 in brackish and marine conditions.