Freshwater puffer at the bottom of the tank

[syte]

I recently put in two new puffers into my brand new tank. I had a water test just before getting the puffers. The person working there said my nitrate, ph, nitrite, ammonia levels were good. I'm kind of anxious about it dying. The other one is doing pretty well so it seems.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

You really need to get your own test kit. We all like APIs Master Test Kit. That way you will know exactly what your levels are at. Also, if your tank is brand new, you will need to change roughly 50% of the water daily to keep the levels safe for your fish while your beneficial bacteria grow to detoxify the ammonia your fish are producing.

 

[Cichlid Kid]

+1 blueberry
Also if your tank setup is extremely new there may be the reason for your tests being good. Nothing has had time to build up to readable levels. Was the tank cycled? Fish in? Fishless?
Its hard to cycle a new tank & filter without a good test kit.

 

[HN1]

What type of puffers? Most are not fully FW fish.

 

[syte]

I realized this fact, too, so I invested in a test-kit fairly recently. It was a green spotted puffer HN1. I believe you can treat them as freshwater fish when young. I could be very wrong though. It was not thoroughly cycled. I just assumed that good tests meant ready to go . Sigh.....

 

[HN1]

It will need brackish eventually, but may be just fine in the short term. Puffers do tend to "sulk" too though so he may just be in a snit. Do you happen to know if the tank it was sold from was brackish?

GSPsArt

 

[syte]

It was freshwater HN1

 

[MABJ]

How big is he now? My puffer never laid down on the bottom of the tank.. I made the same mistake as you ;\.

I did the best to correct it while I rehomed him. He's all happy in a 50 gal at my uncles.

Also.. If this place is selling GSPs out of a freshwater tank, they probably gave you bad stocking advice. What size is your tank?

 

[syte]

15g (temporary). I believe you maybe right, sigh.... Should i take him back? I was really looking for dwarf puffers, but the person I spoke to told me I could keep these for a few months. I plan on giving them an owner of a larger tank later on down the line.

 

[syte]

Oh, to answer your other question, 3/4 of an inch.

 

[MABJ]

Wow! They're fine in freshwater for now, but if you do plan on keeping them they will need at least 20 gallons.

I think they're called refractometers? Purchase one to gauge the salinity which you will gradually need to increase as they grow. Just gradually, though!

 

[ktomminello]

My husband surprised me with 2 green spotted "freshwater" puffer fry- one was lively the other sulked. I did my research and found that not only are they not freshwater, they are also best kept either alone or in groups of 3 or more, which require around a 100g tank. I rehomed the sulky one, buffered up my ph with dolomite substrate and a large piece of decorative dead coral. I have since switched my puffer to saltwater (I DO NOT SUGGEST DOING THIS unless you are completely and totally committed to tending to water testing and balancing daily, along with 50% pwc weekly as they are sensitive to salt creep) and add red and blue crabs here and there as my baby puff tears them apart and eats them. My puffer didn't really start growing or being his superstar self until I changed him over to brackish. When I switched him he grew from an inch and a half to almost three inches in about 2 and a half weeks. I would recommend a bigger tank and maybe just some live sand or dolomite and perhaps ph stabilizer and ph up for freshwater to about 7.3-7.8. Good luck with puffy puff- I love mine to pieces and am here to help with advice if you feel like chatting

 

[bettaowner]

What species? Certain puffers stay at the bottom to ambush prey.

 

[tukker]

I had a dwarfpuffer, they need snails and other scaly animal to sharpen their teeth

 

[ktomminello]

My baby destroys everything I put in the tank with him. He keeps his beak sharpened to the point that it looks like he's smiling all the time. I only did the research on green spotted. I know that there are all different parameters for different puffers and once you switch them over to saltwater they can never go back to being freshwater, they grow to about 6-8 inches, and are definitely like having a pit bull as a fish. Just make sure you understand what you are stepping into- with great responsibility comes great reward

 

[christine2012]

If you do a fish in cycle with a puffer, you will most likely lose it as they're super sensitive to water conditions. Also, they are brackish as juvies but as an adult I believe they are fully marine animals. I learned the hard way, when a few years ago got a spotted green puffy from Walmart.

 

[ktomminello]

I did a fish in cycle, works fine if you use aquarium salts to soften the water, mix in a 1/4 cup of instant ocean per gallon (instead of 1/2 cup) buffer with live sand/ rocks, keep at least 3X the filtration needed and make sure that when you mix your water aerate the water till it is crystal clear before adding. Add 1 gallon of this saline solution per week (daily water changes of at least 25% are a necessity for the first month). After the first month increase to 2 gallons per week of saline solution and with your 15g tank they should be OK until they are around 3 inches a piece, I've had my puffer since he was a tiny fry. Your story sounds so close to mine.. I would NEVER bring them back to the evil walmart empire, they will die for sure. I guarantee if you post him on craigslist and take pretty pictures you will find an avid enthusiast to take care of him.

 

[christine2012]

I did a fish in cycle, works fine if you use aquarium salts to soften the water, mix in a 1/4 cup of instant ocean per gallon (instead of 1/2 cup) buffer with live sand/ rocks, keep at least 3X the filtration needed and make sure that when you mix your water aerate the water till it is crystal clear before adding. Add 1 gallon of this saline solution per week (daily water changes of at least 25% are a necessity for the first month). After the first month increase to 2 gallons per week of saline solution and with your 15g tank they should be OK until they are around 3 inches a piece, I've had my puffer since he was a tiny fry. Your story sounds so close to mine.. I would NEVER bring them back to the evil walmart empire, they will die for sure. I guarantee if you post him on craigslist and take pretty pictures you will find an avid enthusiast to take care of him.

You did a fish in cycle with a puffer? That's interesting, I still wouldn't recommend it, but I'm glad yours went well. I've done fish in with other fish, but for puffers I've always done fishless. They're usually not tolerant if poor conditions.

 

[syte]

Thanks for the overwhelming responses guys. I have since found these GSP a new home. I wish I could've kept them, but my tank was too small at the time. Also, it was cycling . They're relatively hardy fish though. I've had green spotted puffers before that did really well until I gave them away as well.

As far as water salinity is concerned. This is what I've heard. Someone please correct me if i'm wrong. GSP are actually born in freshwater and slowly make their way out to see. So they're initially freshwater, then brackish, then finally full marine.

 

[Terrance]

I did fish-in cycle with my Turgidus puffer when i first entered this hobby last year. I did water changes daily or every other day. PITA and i will never do it again.