spotted green puffers

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Bl80

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jan 15, 2011
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Location
pittsburgh, pa
So I have several set ups, all ciclid, but have had fresh water too for the last 20 years or so. My son got some green spotted puffers. All is good, I have a cycled tank empty ( just moved the cichlid juvies out of it) and they are happy in their home. He took a pix at the LFS he was at and that said they will grow a max of 1.5 inches, yet onthe internet while looking into their needs, I am reading 6 inches. (ok, I guess if this is so Ill have to dig out the old 55 I was goimg to reseal and re do cabinet on, no biggy). But are their dif species? I did see some dwarf I think it was while researching. Or perhaps we will wait and see. Also I was reading about they will have to go to brackish water. Some say that aquarium salt is what to use DO NOT use marine, and on other sites it said use MARINE DO NOT use aquarium salt... I guess they are a ways off, but I like to be prepared and all. Thanks for the help... also what is the best food. we have some freeze dried blood works I crushed to feed them. They are very tiny right now.
:thanks:
 
GSP are great, if you prepare for them properly they should do really good. They can get to 6" in the wild, but my research says 4+ in captivity seems to be closer to the norm.

Yes, they're BW and you want to use Marine salt, I use Instant Ocean and it's working really well. SG varies from juvie to adult and I started mine out at 1.003 since my LFS kept them at that SG. I gave them 2 weeks to adjust to their new home and now I'm stepping it up to 1.005 over a couple weeks. Some say just short of full SW and some say full SW as adults, but I've heard there's issues with taking them to full SW, so more research to do (like that ever ends lol) :D.

I prefer feeding frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms, with a treat of fresh frozen shrimp I cut up into small chunks. Snails are needed so they can work on their beaks and keep them from growing too long.
 
thx :) so we have 6 I think in there.... so eventually a 55g would be enough room?
 
thx :) so we have 6 I think in there.... so eventually a 55g would be enough room?

Yikes :eek:! You'll have a battle royale at some point lol. I have 2 and was warned about territorial wars at some point. Most of my research says 15-20g per, but the extremist say 30g minimum (8-12" of fish alone in 75g of water is what I was told to do at TPF lol). Filtration is the biggest concern because they're messy eaters and poop like my goldies, so I have a Fluval 305 on their 29g home.
 
Guess I'll have to rehome a few.... I have a biowheel fir a 50 gal on their tank now. I have a Rena xp3 that goes on their 55. So that's enough I'm guessing ;-) thx for ur help.
 
I am on board with Limpet on this one. I have a 36gal with just one GSP and he is a very messy eater. If you do plan on keeping the puffers, hopefully not all 6, i would invest in a small side tank and ask LFS for there pond/pest snails so you can grow a colony of your own. Puffers are hungry lil guys/gals. But they have the best personality i've seen on a fish. (the snails breed fast too)
 
Thx, I got held up with other stuff so I didn't get out to get snails. Looks like I'm digging out the 55 to re seal for a project before I go back to work later this month :) and finding a home for 4
 
I agree.. You want between 20-30 gallons for the first fish and an additional 15 gallons for every one after that. They are very aggressive so even keeping more than one may cause in fights or death, but all fish and circumstances are different, just be vigilant. As baby's they are born in freshwater and as they mature they move down the rivers and deltas closer to the ocean so as they get older in your tank you should simulate this with adding marine salt tNk make your tank more brackish until its very close to full marine levels for a full grown fish. This time frame I can't say for sure but as with any fish you keep, you should do your own research on the specifics of them in nature and do your best to recreate this scenario.
 
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