The Puffer Forum

I have a 10 gallon brachish water tank with a single GSP (about 3") whom I saved from Walmart a few months ago. He's doing very well and I love him to death. He'll be getting a 55-75 gallon tank to himself very soon. I'm having algae issues. I use tablets to control the general bulk of the algae and then scrap off any that forms on the glass, it woks pretty well for the most part. There are no live plants, only mass amounts of fake ones and several other decorations. The plants continue to get algae on them and it's rather difficult to clean off. In my search of finding some way to stop it I found a few websites about Olive Nerite Snails. Has anyone tried them with GSP? I feed my little buddy small snails on a regular basis, but I'm hoping maybe if the Olive Nerite Snails are large enough he'll leave them alone long enough to let them eat up some algae. Is this a futile attempt? It's really not all that much algae, but I figured I'd at least give it a shot.

And are there any suggestions on how I should set up his new tank. What kinds of plants, rocks, etc. Is there anything I can do to keep him from getting bored so easily? (I rearrange his 10 gallon on a regular basis to try to keep his intrest, which works for the most part).

Also, my little puffer is rather skittish. He freaks out whenever I walk by his tank :/ is there anything I can do to make him less shy? By now I've just accepted that that's what his personality is, but still, it'd be nice if one day I walk by and he's excited to see me, espically considering how much money I put into him so far (he's lucky he's cute).

Thanks <3
-Hannah-

In the new tank....lots of spots to check out...lots of broken eye lines...lots of little places to go into. My GSP loves hiding under the bridge we have...it's his fav. spot...and you can still see him!!!

As for the algae...I had the same problem with my GSP at first we had him in a 15 gallon but I wasn't comfortable keeping him in there...too small (obviously) now he's in a 20-30 gallon (i dont remember which) and it's so much better!!!! No algae issues yet!!!

Of course it also has a MUCH better filter......

But we got a small pleco to go around and suck on stuff.....I was told they'd die in breackish....but the pleco's still alive

sparks42 wrote:But we got a small pleco to go around and suck on stuff.....I was told they'd die in breackish....but the pleco's still alive

How long have you had the pleco? And what's your Specific gravity at?

I highly recommend against putting a pleco in a brackish tank. Even if it lives a short while, it will suffer health consequences. Just because it looks fine right now doesn't mean it actually is fine.

Olive nerite snails work well. They eventually do get eaten by puffers but can last much longer than regular snails as they have a very tiny footprint so its hard to sneak up on them or chew them up.

As far as the algae, manual removal is best. I definitely recommend against using tablets or any other kind of chemical to try and control it. You never know what that crap will do to the fish in the long run.

Thanks for your help boxermom ^-^