Green Puffers

[Bonsai_girl]

i mean if they fight, and i keep one, can it live in my 20gallon happily?

indeedy i have, i do like to take good care of my fish, and a nice big tank would look awesome

If you were really on top of water changes and tested every day you could probably get away with it, but I wouldn't recommend it.....just because things happen which mean you can't always change water as frequently as you'd like. Imagine having to do daily water changes for the rest of the fish's life, for the sake of another 15-20 gallons (30 gal is a minimum). The bioload with puffers is just immense for their size.

The other thing to consider is getting the GSP to marine - trying to keep a marine tank stable when it's only 20 gals is extremely hard work. Yes, it can be done, but it's very difficult and far more prone to spikes and swings. The bigger the tank the more stable the water and the more time you have to rectfiy any problems that occur.

 

[Phoenixbaby]

would a 40 gallon be ok

 

[Bonsai_girl]

would a 40 gallon be ok

For a single GSP?? Absolutely (with the caveat of the weekly 50% water changes necessary for all puffers).

 

[Phoenixbaby]

quick question, have u got msn so i can pick ur brains for a minute lol

 

[ac106]

theyre in a 20gallon at the moment as theyre only small, but ive just down sized all my tanks so make room for a bigger one in the alcove in my room, looking to get over 100gallon tank for em

Good - the bigger, the better. Glad to see you've got a plan.



ac106 - You're more than welcome to try. Just remember euryhaline doesn't mean instantly adaptable to catastrophic salinity change.....and the osmoregulation of all Tetraodontidae is still a matter of biological research and debate. I don't doubt they'd more than likely survive, but whether they'd be comfortable or thrive is a different question. For me, just "not dying" isn't quite enough to make it a feasible experiement with a pet.

Actually it pretty much does. what does a euryhaline fish do when the tide comes in?

 

[Bonsai_girl]

quick question, have u got msn so i can pick ur brains for a minute lol

I haven't got msn but I can PM you my email address

 

[Phoenixbaby]

yesh plz lol

 

[Bonsai_girl]

ac106 - You're more than welcome to try. Just remember euryhaline doesn't mean instantly adaptable to catastrophic salinity change.....and the osmoregulation of all Tetraodontidae is still a matter of biological research and debate. I don't doubt they'd more than likely survive, but whether they'd be comfortable or thrive is a different question. For me, just "not dying" isn't quite enough to make it a feasible experiement with a pet.

Actually it pretty much does. what does a euryhaline fish do when the tide comes in?

Tides don't work that way. They don't suddenly appear and at the same time instantly remove all the brackish water in the vicinity. It's a relatively gradual process, much like drip acclimatisation on a very large scale. The fish also have the option of following the receding brackish water if they want...no such option in aquaria.

And as I said, the euryhaline characteristics of Tetraodontidae are still being discovered - the most recent one I know of was regarding T. nigroviridis and was published in March '08.

 

[ac106]

would a 40 gallon be ok

For a single GSP?? Absolutely (with the caveat of the weekly 50% water changes necessary for all puffers).

That is really inaccurate to say. First off it’s too broad saying “all anything”. Second, it simply isn’t true. Do you know any reef aquarists that would follow this with Dogfaces for example? You would go broke buying the salt alone. I have had GSP for years and never have done 50% water changes. They are healthy, never had ich or other diseases, grow steadily, eat heartily etc. I hate making anecdotal arguments…

While advice like that would never hurt and probably would be a good practice. It simply isn’t reasonable, especially with big tanks. Do you know how long a 60-90 gallon water change would take if you had to use RODI, mix the salt etc? Hours. You cannot expect anyone to do this every week. Even freshwater changes would take forever even with a python.

Anyway. it all depends on the bio-load, filtering, protein skimming etc. Too many factors to say, x% per week.

 

[Bonsai_girl]

You're right that it depends on bioload and the equipment you've got. You're also right to point out there are sometimes exceptions - some puffers will require far larger water changes Pedantry aside, the fact that they are exceptions, though, suggests the generic advice of 50% water changes per week is good for beginners with puffers.

Yes, I do know what it's like having to do water changes on large tanks - I have 8 - and I consider it part of the responsibility of good puffer ownership. I'm not sure my puffers would appreciate it if I started doing less water changes because it was too time-consuming

It's difficult enough trying to get some new puffer owners to buy large enough tanks or to use marine and not aquarium salt for brackish species, without suggesting they can skimp on water quality because they might have something better to do.

If they've bought tons of equipment, learned how to use it, test their water regularly and so on....you know, the sorts of things that'd be necessary for them to understand their individual fish's bioload....I doubt they need my advice at all.

All in all, I'm happy to place sweeping statements on these things so new puffer owners take good care of their puffers.

 

[Phoenixbaby]

Ok so i have marine salt for the brackish set up, and i am also looking out for plants too that will take the salt well-ish lol

as for filters im running an internal, its built into the tank, but im also going to be adding my fluval external to it also, when i get round to moving it again

as for protien skimmers, do i need one?

i am used to regular water changes, i have to do this for my bettas, so im not fussed by it, and again i take gr8 care of my fish, so the puffers wont be an exception

ive gathered up a load of pest snails for them, and they loved it lol

 

[Ace Of Spades]

Ok so i have marine salt for the brackish set up, and i am also looking out for plants too that will take the salt well-ish lol

as for filters im running an internal, its built into the tank, but im also going to be adding my fluval external to it also, when i get round to moving it again

as for protien skimmers, do i need one?

i am used to regular water changes, i have to do this for my bettas, so im not fussed by it, and again i take gr8 care of my fish, so the puffers wont be an exception

ive gathered up a load of pest snails for them, and they loved it lol

Java Fern and Java Moss do well in Brackish, but once you go over SG 1.011 I dont think there is many plants that will survive

 

[Bonsai_girl]

Ok so i have marine salt for the brackish set up, and i am also looking out for plants too that will take the salt well-ish lol

as for filters im running an internal, its built into the tank, but im also going to be adding my fluval external to it also, when i get round to moving it again

as for protien skimmers, do i need one?

i am used to regular water changes, i have to do this for my bettas, so im not fussed by it, and again i take gr8 care of my fish, so the puffers wont be an exception

ive gathered up a load of pest snails for them, and they loved it lol

While you're still in brackish, you don't 'need' protein skimmers - they're certainly handy, but not necessary. Once you move into marine, I'd strongly recommend getting one. Another area of debate - some marine and reef aquarist claim skimmers aren't needed, other say they're absolutely needed. I fall on the definitely recommended/needed side of the fence

 

[Phoenixbaby]

dammit lol

ok so heres my tank at the mo

excuse the uprooted plants, i knocked them out by accident lol, and the big one in the right corner needs to be planted in yet