GSP Details and care

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J

JTRG05

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 9, 2009
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Northwest Ohio
I recently decided to put a GSP in my 29 long (haven't bought yet)

And would just like to know more info on them, there's lots of information on them out there, but I tend to trust this site for the final say.

I know they are brackish, how much salt do I keep them in? I know I need to feed them snails, but how often? And what all should I feed them as a regular diet? Can I keep tankmates, or is a 29 long not big enough to house more than just the gsp/ or are they to aggressive with the nipping?

I can also get ahold of a Figure 8, would u recommend these over a GSP or a GSP over a f8?

mainly, I just want as much info as I can before I purchase since this will be my first brackish tank and my first puffer purchase.
 
http://www.**************.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Nigroviridis/

go there. the most reliable GSP info. i have two of them and im constantly on here trying to find more info on them. i would recommend the GSP over F8. dont get me wrong F8's are pretty awesome too, but i like my GSPs better than my F8s. watch though, you will probably not find somewhere that already has them in brackish water, most likely in freshwater at the pet stores as they are mostly in FW in my area. so you will have to do a small change just about every week or every other week of .002 SPG until they are fully salt. approx 1 cup of marine salt will raise your SPG .005 so i would do like a half cup of salt added in every week. i feed mine a couple pond snails once or twice a week. the best thing you can do is get a little 2 1/2 gallon tank with small filter on it and throw a couple snails in there to breed. they are unisex so you only really need one, but a better chance of getting more babies with the more you put in there. their eggs look like gelatin on the side of the glass. STAY AWAY FROM MALAYSIAN TRUMPET SNAILS, aka ice cream cone snails with the pointed top to them. i keep them with a diet of bloodworm cubes regularly, frozen mussel cubes every other day, mysis shrimp, live blackworms, krill on occasions(it causes lockjaw if fed too often). i wouldnt go with any tankmates in a 29G, if so keep something small that stays on the smaller size, fast and wont give off a big bioload as puffers do, thats mainly why the minimum tank sizes are the way they are. i have my 2 GSP and a few tank mates in a 29 right now but im picking up my 75G this weekend to get them into soon. if you do choose to do tankmates you need to go with faster moving fish, dont be fooled by the GSPs fatness, they are still very very quick.
 
Therr are also good feeding articles at that site.
 
Follow the Pufferpunk! She has led many to the GSP promised land! Anyway, read her articles & get your snail tank going early. Tankmates for my GSP pair are Mollies & about a dozen Ghost Shrimp a month (they get eaten at random). I've also heard Dragon Gobies can be kept with GSP's, but I haven't tried it. My Mollies breed constantly, so I have a ton of fry (and usually snails) to feed my Loaches in my office tank! Be ready...Salt gets expensive quick.
 
yeah salt does get expensive but once you get it to the desired SPG your pretty good and dont need too much salt after that. i didnt anyway. you could go the route of live rock and live sand after you have your tank fully saltwater and that will lessen your need for water changes. i havent done a water change besides last week in a little over a month, my water was crystal clear the whole time and my levels were only elevated slightly when i did the water change, and i have 4 puffers in my 29(soon to be a 75 once i get it this weekend and get it cycled). live rock and sand is like having your own in tank filtration to a point. also look into doing a decent sized sump/refugium as your filtration and get a deep sand bed in there with more live rock that should help your water quality greatly. make sure you get test kits for more than just ph and ammonia. for saltwater, and puffers in general, you also want and need to know your nitrite, nitrite, phosphate, and copper levels.
 
my tankmates for my puffers are four striped damsel, blue devil damsel, yellowtail damsel, scooter blenny and a chocolate chip starfish. so far so good, the only thing they looked at funny when i put it in was the starfish, my bigger gsp went over to him and i guess kind of gave him a taste to see what it was, he did a really lite bite, nothing like when they see snails, food or anything, it just seemed like it was a test but after that they were completely fine and never looked at him like that again. none of the damsels or the blenny have gotten messed with, the only thing my bigger GSP does is every once in a while he will chase my other GSP but never nips the fins. ghost shrimp are a good choice and very entertaining to watch them chase to try and eat. i have had these 5 ghost shrimp in my tank for at least a month now. it seems like they have come to an agreement, the shrimp stay out of the way during feeding time, pick up the scraps and the puffers let them live which i dont mind, it just leaves me with a cleaning crew.
 
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