The Puffer Forum

OK so went out to my LFS today to get some fishies to Put into my 20 gallon planted tank. I had nothing in there so asked for some suggestions of good easy to care for fish that would not bother the plants.

The manager suggested the GSP's said I could put 4 in there, I got three. He said the are easy to care for and to just add some aquarium salt as per instructions once I got home.

So home I am, and looking for info on them on the Internet, I see its not aquarium salt I add (Which I already did) and I see the should only be kept in 1's.....plus my tank is WAY to small for them!!!

Not to mention it looks like even if I did make the water right for them, the plants would then die right?

So what do I do now??? I cant take them back to the store as they are about 1.5 hours from me!! I don't want these poor guys to suffer - is there anything I can do at all??

I would really appreciate any help at all!

Well, yep you about summed it up.

The plants probably won't even like the little bit of salt you already added, but that's easy enough to change back.

Basically you have two options.

Buy a 90+ gallon tank and commit yourself to taking care of these three little buggars, or find them a new home (take them back to the store you bought them from, find a store locally that will take them in or find a person who will take them in).

And make sure you let the store you bought them from know just how big they get and their requirements, so maybe they *might* stop selling them with such poor information.

I'm sure it doesn't make you feel any better, but this happens to all of us. Its how most of us bought our first puffers. The difference is, we didn't know why they kept dying.. you have the info to prevent that from happening. Good luck!

Thanks for the info - Unfortunetly I dont have room for another 90 gallon so I guess I will need to find them a good home...These sure are cute!

Are there any other Puffers besides the Dwarf puffer who would do good in Freshwater only?

Check our Pufferpedia for ideas.

Bristol, make sure to return to the LFS to educate the manager about these fish.

Yes I definetly will be - I am going to be calling today and will also need to speak with him about returning them

spoot wrote:Bristol, make sure to return to the LFS to educate the manager about these fish.

Unfortunately you may have a better time cutting your own arm off. LFS rarely care what you have to say especially if you are challenging their practises. The best thing is to be diplomatic about returning them as once they are on the defensive you may run into trouble. Hipefully I am wrong and they will take your information on board.

Be prepared to say that GSP require full marine condition eventually to get them to a good mature age and healthy too. Kept in FW they will not last very long will have growth issues and suffer poor health. Also trying to tell him that puffers require more water volume than other fish due to their body shape and size would be a good idea too. If in doubt tell him to check out this site

You are welcome to copy my GSP article to bring in for them to read. Always ask for the highest up manager/owner.

that would be a great idea. However I took Eberst Aqualog in to my LFS and he refuted all the info in there. Palembangs aren't aggressive and are fine in a community don't you know!!!!!