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New to Green Spotted Puffers

6K views 20 replies 5 participants last post by  Tanvalis 
#1 ·
Hi, I am new to puffers and just got 3. I saw them at a pet store and they looked terrible. They weren't in brackish water, there fins were ripped, and there tails were tucked against them and the stomachs were mostly black and they were with a bunch of tetras. I had an extra 15 gallon at home and took some water from another tank so it was all cycled and a filter, heater, and an airator and got some crushed coarl gravel to keep the pH low (is that ok? I heard they need a low pH and that coral will lower it). I have slowly been changing the water to brackish and they seem to be doing much better. I have been feeding them bloodworms and small snails and am hatching some brine shrimp eggs for them. They are about an inch and a half right now and I know they need a much bigger aquarium soon and plan to get atleast a 30 gallon if not bigger and if I am unable to I will bring them to a really good fish store specializing in fish and reptiles that will take care of them. But for now any pointers on how to keep them happy and healthy would be great!
Thanks!
 
#3 ·
They need marine salt. However, because they were in fresh water (and I'm assuming are in freshwater right now) you'll want to invest in a hydrometer that can measure very low specific gravities. Then, over a long period of time (i.e. months) you're going to want to slowly increase the salinity. Green spotted puffers can even thrive in full marine conditions (specific gravity 1.025-1.026). If kept in freshwater, their lifespans will be much shorter.

For three puffers I would want something like a 55g or possibly a 40g breeder. You would need lots of filtration (10-15 times the gallon size for the tank, so for a 40g you'd want 400-600 gph total flow through your filters) because puffers are messy eaters. You'll also want to keep an eye out for bullying as these fish are quite aggressive and can be very nippy. If any fish is getting picked on, it should be removed.
 
#4 ·
They are in slightly brackish water right now (about 1.005). For now insteap of getting a stronger filter would just cleaning the tank 2-3 times a week do? And I'll get a bigger tank as soon as possible, right now they are like 1.5 inches, when is the latest I should get the bigger tank?
 
#7 ·
Whta is the best food right now? It looked like they were getting a bit picky and it didn't seem they wanted the blood worms or brine shrimp very much so i got mysis shrimp, is that good for them, the seem to really like it? They won't eat any flakes or pellets either. What is a good nutritional food they will eat? And is there any good live foods I could get?
 
#10 ·
I would feed twice a day. Ideally you only want to feed them as much as they will eat in a couple min time, but puffers, they are very unpredictable in their eating habbits.
At one time I had my DP trained to eat from a dropper, that way I did not have alot of wasted food floating around the tank to remove.
I kind of got away from that and decovered my MTsnails will eat any uneaten bloodworm when they come out at night. They are a great little cleaning crew.
I would put in 3-4 rhamshorns and replace with some new when you notice they have been eaten.
 
#11 ·
I doubt that you'll ever get them eating any sort of prepared food like flakes or pellets. For that reason, variety in their diets is especially important. I second Twistersmom's recommendations; I've never met a fish that didn't go crazy over live blackworms. They should be available at most fish-centric pet stores (they don't carry them at the big box pet stores). The snail infestation should provide a lot of food for them as well. Mysis shrimp are just fine. Don't give up on those bloodworms though! Most frozen bloodworms are fortified with all kinds of vitamins and minerals that might otherwise be lacking in their diets, so getting them to eat some bloodworms would be a good idea.
 
#19 ·
other brackish cleaners


Hi again, I have had a chinese algae eater in with all my brackish ciclids for 12 years now and they are the only one that seem to do fine. Try those, my fish don't bother them either. :lol:
 
#14 · (Edited)
I keep my blackworms in the refrigertor.
Keep them in an open container. You want a small amount of declorinated water covering them, maybe 1/4 inch above the worms or less, no more than that. Not too many worms in one container, they need to be able to get air to breath.
To keep them healthy you should rinse them with declorinated water every day. If you rinse them daily, they should stay alive and well for about 4-6 weeks.
I have found spring water or purified to work best, also, you want the rinsing water to be cold. I buy the 2 1/2 gallon jugs of purified water and keep it in the fridge till needed.

Any snails in brackish water are likely to become food and I can't think of any good cleaner fish for brackish.
 
#15 ·
One of the puffers doesn't look so good, I don't think he has eaten for a while. It doesn't seem to be bullying cause cause food will float right past his mouth while the other two are on the other side of the tank. His left side looks almost deformed and dented compare to his right side. On the left side it is really caved in, while in the right side he is still pretty thin but not as much. Do you know what might be wrong?
 
#21 ·
I have two puffers in a 20 gal tank, and one of them seems to be having the same problem you are describing. Does anyone know what is wrong? The other one is healthy and hale, and seems to be growing at a MUCH faster rate. I got them both at the same time, about a month ago, and they were the same size. Now the healthy one seems to be almost twice the size of the unhealthy one.

The smaller one has taken to hiding in one of the caves for most of the day as well, something that didn't happen when I first brought them home. I've watched them eat, it doesn't seem to be a bullying issue, as the larger one attacks the Bloodworm Cube, while the smaller one nips and grabs at the worms floating down... but he only eats a few and then goes back to his cave.

I guess the worrisome part is that the left side of his tale seems dented in, and he doesn't use his tale to move around much like the other one does.
 
#18 ·
gotta love em


I read your problem and are they eating? If they are thats a start. The more salt you keep adding every week is best. What kinda puffers are they? If they are eating and there stomaches are still a little black add a very small amount of epson salt to help with constipation. Far as other things I can answer if you have more problems. cindylou ;-)
 
#20 ·
Yup they are eating, they are green spotted puffers. One of them died, I don't know why he was kinda eating, he didn't seem stressed at all, theothers didnt chase him, his stomach did look wierd though on side was normal then the other side was like it was crushed or broken there. I had him for a week and then on day woke up and he was dead. Do you know what itmight have been? And great i will cheak out the algae eater, though ill wait till i get a bigger tank for all of them. Thanks a bunch!
 
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