starting my GSPs tank

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ilovemydragongoby

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jun 14, 2010
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I've been trying to figure out if the tank I have for my green spotted puffer is big enough. Some people say yes, and some say no. Right now what I have for him is 36lx13wx16h the guy we bought it from said its a 25 gal, but the calculator i looked at said it was like a 33 or something. so i'm not sure. also http://aqadvisor.com is saying the tank is overstocked with one puffer. i dont know if that thing is accurate or not but i'm just saying lol
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but anyways, i just want to know if the tank i have is good enough for 1 GSP. He's still very young right now, but I would like to get it started asap before i notice any aggression towards any of the fish in my 80 thats he with right now.

Also, I've heard that they need full marine water to live a happy life. How old/big should they be when the hit full marine. And when i get full marine will i actually need to have all those crazy saltwater equipment? lol like skimmer and sump pumps and all that? lol i know nothing about salt water

please help :D
 
Your tank is a standard 30g...just measures out a little bigger.

From what I've read, 30g is the minimum tank size for a GSP. Meaning it will be ok in that size tank, but bigger is really better. If you could get a 4ft 40g or a 50g (36x18 footprint) that would be even better. Considering it will get around 6" I think it would look huge in a 30g full grown. I also feel like it would grow better/faster and to its potential size in a bigger tank.

This site has good info. It says:
I suggest keeping GSPs in low-end brackish water when juvenile <2", (in a specific gravity, or SG of 1.005-10), at 2-4", medium BW (SG 1.010-15) and adult >4″ SW (SG 1.018-22).
So once it gets bigger than 4", start converting to marine. Looks like it will be a gradual climb to marine SG.

You don't have to have a skimmer or a sump with marine...with brackish or marine I'd just make sure you have good water movement but a HOB filter or canister should be enough for your puffer.
 
i've been asking some questions at thepufferforum.com but i just wanted some more advice for more people. hehe.

what kind of substrate should i use for my gsps tank? i was told like a crushed coral, is there anything else? can i just use like tahitian moon sand (spelling?) cause someone was selling some cheap on my citys fish forum
 
I would use sand. You can use the tahitian moon sand...that would be fine. I wouldn't use crushed coral....it can trap alot of waste and keep your nitrates elevated.
 
So I picked up all the stuff I need for the tank. We got 5gal of black tahitian moon sand, a filter, and heater. I already have a pump. I'm going to start setting it up tomorrow. I'll have to go to a lfs like once a week and just buy a couple decorations at a time because moneys tight right now. I'll post pictures tomorrow...that is once we figure out where it's going.
we were going to put it on our dresser but once the filter goes on, it won't fit. so we have to move our 20gal onto our dresser and the 30 gal onto the stand that the 20 is on. arg what a PITA!!!
 
the cycle has started. that was fast. we set it up yesterday after. added a dose of 'nutrifin cycle' and i just checked the parameters:

ammonia: 1.2
nitrites: 0.1
ph: between 7 - 7.5

but i actually just noticed this on my test kit instructions. i used the nutrifin liquid test kits. and it tells you divide the results by a certain amount:

ammonia: it says divide results by 1.22 so that would make it 0.98
nitrites: it says divide the results by 3.3 so that would make it 0.03

is there anything i can add (besides raw shrimp or pure ammonia) to speed up the process? or should i just wait and be patient?
 
Well, you have used a bio-product which may be speeding up the process. You can also use filter material from another tank (or seed a filter pad on another tank's filter) if you have a healthy tank to pull it from. If there has been disease in the tank the last month or so, I'd be against it though.
 
Cylced!!!!

so as usual..patience works! The tank is fully cycled!

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - around 10
Ph - between 7-7.5

Now I just got to find a heater. I had one, but the one I was using in my 20gal (my temp GSP tank) stopped working, so I had to put my 30s heater in it. I still have to get some lights too and some more decor. A couple more weeks and this should be my GSPs new home! :lol:
 
i didnt add ammonia. i just used 'nutrifin cycle' i think i'll just leave it and be patient.

Wow...

Wait a minute...I'm confused...you added nothing else?

I must have got something wrong in my understanding of the Nitrogen Cycle...

Your tanks' filter has built up enough bacteria to cope with the bio-load of a tank that some say is overstocked, without adding any Ammonia?

:confused:
 
well we have about a dozen snails in there. and the tank was seeded with some stuff from my other healthy tank. we washed the filter media from my 55 in that water. and those were the readings as of yesterday!
 
and my tank wouldn't be overstocked...i have nothing in there except for some snails

but you are intending to put a GSP in there, and you said earlier that some site thinks it will be overstocked then.

Do you not need to feed the filter bacteria with ammonia, to #1: keep the bacteria living, and #2:increase the quantity of bacteria to cope with the increased waste from the GSP?

Will filter "stuff" from an established tank contain Ammonia? I know it contains the beneficial bacteria, but Ammonia?

If you are measuring 0ppm Ammonia, maybe it is because you haven't added any... will the snails produce enough to get a reading?

I just thought you had to add ammonia to a level of 4ppm(ish), and then when it reads 0ppm after 24 hours (and 0ppm NO2) then you knew it could cope with the extra bio-load.
And I thought that Nitrates should read quite high, like 40-80ppm...and this was another indicator that the Ammonia & Nitrites were being cycled. Your Nitrates read 10ppm.

I just don't want you to have problems with you new addition :)

Again, I might have got something wrong in my understanding of the Nitrogen Cycle... but if I have hopefully someone with more experience will come on and put me right :confused:

I absolutely adore Puffers BTW...I had a Figure of Eight many moons ago, before I knew what a test kit was.... :( this is why I am concerned :(
 
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