The Puffer Forum

I'm a new green spotted puffer owner. I bought 3 puffers 2 weeks ago and they all seemed to be doing ok. The only problem is one of the puffers color and spots seem to be fading. He is still quite active and has a hearty appetite. I'm a bit worried though, after reading about possible parasites and Ich. Does anyone know what would cause this? Is it natural or a sign of a bigger problem? The other two still look fine.

Fading color is odd, perhaps his slime coating is thick and making it dull? Does he look slimy, too? How did you cycle the tank they are in, it could be stress from an uncycled aquarium, that will kill the weakest first, and thickening slime coat can be a response to ammonia burning the skin. The actual number readings for your water conditions would be helpful in finding out if this is the case. What specific gravity is the water at? They are brackish water puffers and if they are much over an inch long, do poorly and become sick easily in fresh water. They also might be having territory disputes, how large a tank are they in? They need 30 gallons each, so the pale puffer might be stressed from lack of room, they really need the full 30 gallons by the time they are 2" or so long, or they start to stunt even with 50% weekly water changes, they are that sensitive to water quality.

Welcome. Please answer all of the questions at the top of this forum so we can help you better.

The fish does not appear slimy. They are about 1.5" long and are living in a 5 gallon tank. I kow this is too small, and plan on buying a much bigger tank this weekend. I don't have a hydrometer in the tank (another purchase for this weekend), and will can give a much more detailed description when I get it. They were already living in a saltwater tank when I bought them. We filled the tank 3/4 then started the filter system for the tank for about 6 hours and added the amount of salt (given and recommended by the store) to the tank before intoducing the fish into it. I have already cleaned the tank (25% water change) and they will be introduced into a new tank today or tomorrow. We tried not to overfeed them the first week. However, the store we bought them from told us to feed them 10 dried bloodworms twice a day, and after reading about them I don't know if this the best advice. Luckily, there is plenty of fresh shellfish to be found here, so since I've given them a tiny bit of scallop sashimi and also put some tiny clams in the tank. I've been reading alot about them since buying them, and there is ALOT to learn. I bought them in Tokyo, so really there is no way to return them to the store (returns here are very uncommon). And I'm really enjoying them and trying to do my best, so they have a good living environment. Thank you so much for your help! Without a site like this I would be completely ignorant.

I hate to tell you this but your GSPs are very likely to die. Your tank wasn't cycled and they are extremely sensitive to ammonia and nitrite poisoning. You need to be doing large volume water changes of at least 80% daily until the tank cycles. In addition, if they were in saltwater when you got them and you plunked them into water that didn't closely match what they were in, they are going to suffer from osmotic shock.

You cannot create or maintain a proper brackish tank without a hydrometer or refractometer. Its good that you are getting one tomorrow. However, I would highly recommend you stop listening to your fish store because they aren't giving you very good advice. They can't tell you how much salt to use, it has to be measured accurately. In addition to the advice about the salt, they didn't give you very good advice about food. I doubt they really know the proper care of puffers.

You are going to need at least a 90g tank very soon and even then, the likelihood of them getting along long-term isn't great. They get more aggressive and territorial as they get older.

I highly recommend reading the GSP care article in our library if you haven't done so already. In addition, please read the following page to learn exactly what "cycling" is and why it is vital, especially to fish like puffers:
http://aquariumboard.com/forums/articles/26.htm

Agree completely with Boxermem. This is why your puffers colors aren't "healthy". Pleqase read my signature & act accordingly. Get a Master Test kit too & start testing for ammonia, nitrites & nitrates. I'd get them in a larger tank Now! Can you return them until you are really ready to keep puffers? They will eventually need a 90g tank (min) for all 3.