Newbie...Need Help with Spotted Puffer

[tdawg57]

Hey all,

I'm glad I found this forum beacuse I kind of have a few questions to ask. I purchased some african cichlids at petco along with some spotted puffers. Well the puffers ended up dying and I'm not sure why. I'm using and eclipse system 6 tank, it's freshwater with salt added. I was told that these are freshwater puffers, they were in their freshwater section and doing fine. How much salt should I add, the tank is 6 gallons, and should I add more monthy or not? The cichlids ened up being to aggressive so I got rid of them and now just have two new puffers. They are each about 1 1/2 inch right now. I'm hoping they'll grow to be a decent size, I love these fish. But I was wondering if you guys had a few basic tips on how to keep them healthy and happy. The tank is at 78 degrees, I feed them blood worms once daily, and have added salt. Is there anything else I should know? Thanks for the help.

Trevor

 

[Inchworm]

Hi tdawg57

Welcome to the forum.

I'll move your thread into a forum where it will be seen by more people who know about puffers.

Why not post another thread in the newbie forum to introduce yourself?

 

[amazingbioloboydp]

you got dwarf puffers...Strictly freshwater... dont gert anymore if you plan to keep it brackish if you do plan to keep it brackish get figure 8s or bumblebee puffers.

 

[scott1000]

I'm not so sure that they are dwarf puffers, because as an adult they are supposed to only be 1". He said his were 1 1/2"?

Puffers in general have a tendancy to be aggressive. If they aren't dwarf puffers than having 2 of them in there is probably too many. If they are dwarf puffers then the 2 should be ok if you have lots of hiding places. I have 2 dwarf puffers in an eclipse 6 gallon and they still nip at each other some.

But it's first important to find out for sure what kind of puffers they are, because some are freshwater and some are brackish. Like ghostknifedp said, dwarf puffers are 100% freshwater.

But don't worry, it won't be long before you get more qualified responses from actual experts.

Good luck, puffers are great fun!!

 

[Pufferpack]

Hi tdawg57 sorry to hear about your losses

I fear that you have been misinformed by the lfs. If they are in fact green spotted puffers (sounds like they are) there are a couple problems with the set up.

1. GSP's are a high end Brackish Water species...right up to full marine conditions. Though they can survive in FW for a short time while juveniles, they need to be climatized to BW as soon as possible, to ensure they live a full (15 or more years) healthy life. For BW you need to use marine salt (not just "Aquarium" salt) due to the extra minerals in the marine mix that are needed by the puffers.

2. GSP's need 20-30 gals per fish. They are a very territorial fish that grow to about 6 inches and need lots of swimming room. They are also messy eaters (like most puffers) and can foul a smaller tank in no time. More than 1 GSP in 20 gals or less will usually lead to one killing the other. A 6 gal tank is IMO only suitable for a pair of Dwarf puffers (FW)

3. GSP's and cichlids do NOT make good tankmates, even if they had the same water requirements, they are too aggressive to be kept together without casualities. For GSP's you will be pretty limited on suitable tankmates. Some of the Gobies are compatible, as well as Orange Chromides (a species of cichlid that may work I believe)....other than that any tankmate you choose may end up dead.

HTH.

Don