Leopard Puffer, confused

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kitnerjr

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 26, 2011
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So I have been doing research on this guy for quiet some time now, was interested in getting one. Last night my fiancé came home with one, about 2", if even that. Well i ended up finding a forum on just puffers and was told that they can not get along well in community tanks as well as none saltwater, although not only have I read they can, FI was told this by 2 different LFS places.

He seems to be getting along just fine, not fighting or picking, keeping to himself as well as eating and swimming around just fine. I also set up a snail breeding tank so I don't have to keep frequenting the LFS for baby snails.

What do I do? Keep him where he is, add a little salt into the tank (tank mates can tolerate "some" salt), or just give him his own tank?
 
I was stumped for a second, but I just googled it and found out what species you were referring to. That is more commonly known as a Green spotted puffer or (GSP) for short. It will need it's own aquarium later on, gets about 6", and will do a whole lot better if it's in a full marine tank by that size. They can get a little nippy; which is why most aquarists choose keep them alone. If you don't wish to do a full saltwater aquarium for it, they reportedly do pretty well in brackish water. I have seen larger specimens eat goldfish amongst other things, so keeping it alone might be in your best interest.

Here is a video of one eating a goldfish; not mine.
[video=youtube;DN64RSdcjrY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN64RSdcjrY[/video]
 
My apologizes, I knew the other name for it but didn't think it would be an issue.
So how long do you think I have before I need to separate him? By the sounds of the people on this forum i need to do it ASAP, but again he is still a juvenile and seems to be adapting just fine.

Also, is a 20-30 gallon big enough for just him?
 
kitnerjr said:
My apologizes, I knew the other name for it but didn't think it would be an issue.
So how long do you think I have before I need to separate him? By the sounds of the people on this forum i need to do it ASAP, but again he is still a juvenile and seems to be adapting just fine.

Also, is a 20-30 gallon big enough for just him?
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Don't sweat it.

The sooner you can dedicate a tank for it, the better. It's less stress for the fish when it's still small. Please also remember that when you are transporting a puffer fish that it is always advisable to keep it in water; do not use a net!!! Puffer fish usually inflate when stressed; likely to happen when switching aquariums, so use an appropriately sized *tupperware or any other container able to hold water and the fish when relocating it.

Go with the 30g, I have seen them kept in this size aquarium with great success. Although a standard 20g may be enough, the whole bigger is better rule applies; especially with puffer fish. You will soon discover; if not already, that this is an active fish that loves to swim around.
 
Great, again I am looking into getting one this weekend to transfer over.
Another question (i know i know, pain in the rear lol)... Since it's currently full fresh water, is there anything i need to do to condition it into brackish?
 
kitnerjr said:
Great, again I am looking into getting one this weekend to transfer over.
Another question (i know i know, pain in the rear lol)... Since it's currently full fresh water, is there anything i need to do to condition it into brackish?
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Good to hear that you are planning to buy one.

lol, it's not a pain, that's the point of the forum; is it not?

You can slowly increase the salinity of your water. This will involve a hydrometer to measure the salinity value, and a few cases of marine salt. It depends on what the directions on the box/bag/whatever the salt is in, lol.. but the goal is to increase the salinity about 0.2 degrees every week over the course of 7 days. Never rush the process as it can kill off the beneficial bacteria in a fully established freshwater aquarium too quickly for it to re-establish as marine bacterium.
 
OK, so my plan:
Next water change I am going to take some of the water from the original tank and add it to the new tank, let it run and level out for a few days, then slowly add the marine salts weekly until the needs of the puffer are met.

Would you suggest gravel or sandy bottom? I am going to try and find one on craigslist before going new, my breeding tank is only 5 gallon so that is not a good temporary fix since his bio waste is pretty extreme.
 
man i wish i still had my gsp's.. mine had a sand substrate it had tonnes of ocean rock in a brackish water. they are wikid hunters and are allways looking for food to kill. i fed mine live shrimp 1nce per week and lots of snails (from my snail breed tank) daily... sadly 1 died unsuspectingly then the other got stuck and puffed out inbetween a rock and the tank and drowned..

so bare inmind keep a good distance between things.

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