Another GSP Tankmate Thread...

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Update: Got some Mollies in the tank on Friday: 2 black, 2 platinum, 2 orange marble & 2 gorgeous orange sailfin males with red spots. GSP pair went in on saturday morning & immediately went after the Molly fry that we didnt even know was in there! My molly at the office has been pregnant for weeks & is about to pop, but our black ones throw fry within 24 hours of purchase. Crazy. Anyhow, we managed to find/net out 12 molly fry, all black. I had a 1.5G desktop tank laying around, so we threw them in there to grow out.
When we woke up Sunday, all mollies in the main tank with the GSP's were 100% intact. Not a single nipped fin. That lasted until right after the morning feeding... The large orange sailfin males were pushing around the puffers like they were the kings of the tank, going for food at will & giving the GSP's no space. Despite my warnings (fish never listen), after about 10 minutes of pushing, one GSP took several small chunks from each of their sailfins. I think they took the hint, as there has been no further damage. I'm going to start the GSP's on pellets tonight so they can get ready for snail hunting. I want them to associate round dots with food...not fins/fish. I think with so many Mollies, they just cant pick a target. Thinking I might add gut loaded ghost shrimp for even more targets!
 
Sounds great--- what size tank you have all these in? And just to let you know those gsp's are natural snail hunters. They need know teaching. I could never get mines to eat anything like a pellet or flake. I allways fed frozen blood worms, fr mysis shrimp, market shrimp and snails from my planted tank. And a dozen ghost shrimp once a month or so. I think that is why mine never bothered the goby or the mollies because they were allways full and had a shrimp to chase when they felt the need.------------------good luck to ya
 
Thats good info. Thanks! The tank is an over-filtered 29G bowfront. Everyone seems to have plenty of room & the puffs are leaving each other alone. I still see a new nip on a molly every now and then, but nothing major.
I tried the pellets, but no dice. Same with flakes. They like frozen bloodworms, huh? Good to know. I tried freeze-dried brine shrimp & they liked it until the cube fell apart. They didnt go after the floating pieces unless it was a good chunk. I guess I'll go frozen with that too. Our snail colony isnt started yet, but I'm gonna get on that this weekend. I need to get started gut-loading some ghost shrimp, too. I only have the one extra tank, so will ghost shrimp eat the molly fry?
 
dont know about the fry. my GSP go crazy for the frozen mussell cube, my two GSP will tear up a cube of that within a minute of them seeing it. they dont take very well to the whole krill, or the frozen cubes. they seemed to like the silverside chunk i threw in there last night to give to my starfish.
 
Frozen mussell cubes? I haven't seen those, but I'd like to try them. Where do you get yours? Frozen bloodworms were definitely a hit. I'm gonna try the Mysis shrimp tonight.
 
All of my puffers eat a mix of frozen krill, clam, blood worms, and mussells. I alos fee them ghost shrimp, snails, and baby crayfish. Another thing they like is earthworms, however you have to be careful were you get them because of chemicals.
 
i got the mussell from this local aquarium store, havent seen it anywhere else other than That Fish Place. you may be able to go to thatfishplace.com and order online if you cant find it anywhere else. my puffers daily food is the bloodworms, every other day i give them the frozen mussell cube with bloodworms. ghost shrimp every couple weeks as a distraction and something to chase around and eat as they please. small snails whenever i can get them from pet stores(not always available), and if small snails arent available i will go with a crayfish or crab for them to pick apart and trim down their teeth.
 
Update: GSP's have killed one large orange male Molly. All his fins were nipped off & I guess he drowned. I warned him not to piss off da puffers! The others seem to have a healthy respect for the GSP's, but this guy was one of the pair that was acting like they owned the tank. I was prepared for more carnage than this, so for now I'm gonna throw the ghost shrimp in & see if that distracts the puffs a bit more. I at least want the other big orange male to mate before he gets taken out.
 
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