Green spotted puffer

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OhioOilMan

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Has anyone ever tried keeping a green spotted puffer in a saltwater tank? I know they start out in fresh/brackish water but how would they fare in a saltwater tank?
 

silentcircuit

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My GSP is in almost marine conditions (soon to be transitioned to full marine) and several people over on ThePufferForum and elsewhere have had great success with GSPs in salt water tanks. Yes, it's completely possible to keep these fish in full marine even from an early age / small size with no ill effects to them. In fact, I would recommend they are kept in at least very high brackish conditions from 2" or so on. Some have moved 1" fish to full salt without ill effect. In fact, many have reported that the neon green head spot generally agreed to indicate good mood / good water conditions in this fish did not appear until salinity was raised considerably. With my fish, the neon spot never goes away unless I dare move her decor around... and which point she'll turn almost black and sulk for a day or two. Stupid fish, you're supposed to like change and new things to explore! (Really, she's fine with 50%+ water changes, but if I move the plants or fake tree stumps around she goes on a hunger strike...)

If you decide to get one / move one from fresh water / brackish to full salt just drip acclimate them slowly over the course of an hour or two and they should be fine. I would make sure they're at least 1.5" or so personally, but as I said others have had success with even smaller fish than this.

I've seen you post around here a lot so I figure you already know this, but remember that despite how cute they can be you are dealing with a very aggressive species. Anything that isn't substantially faster than the puffer is likely to end up with some fin bits missing and may even be killed. Shrimp and crabs are good as dead, regardless of relative size. Smaller ones will go first but larger ones are likely to be eaten later (possibly weeks or months later) when the fish gets hungry or bored. Fish with long, flowing fins are likely to be harassed to no end as well. Unlike many predatory fish the "will be fine with larger or similarly sized fish, will only go after things small enough to fit in its mouth" rule does not generally apply with the GSP. These little death-blimps will take a chunk out of anything they feel like, even fish 5x their size.

Depending on water volume it's possible to keep more than one of these in a tank but I have never had much success; there are regular squabbles even with two or three 2" fish in a 40 breeder with lots of decor to break up line of sight. I'm currently keeping one alone in a 20 long for this very reason -- she tried to murder her previous potential tankmates. If you decide to get more than one getting them all at once and similar size helps a lot with curbing aggression, and more water volume / surface area (bottom area) is always better. They can be very territorial and all want their own hunting space. That said, there's nothing like putting a crab or crayfish in the tank and watching 5 little GSPs coordinate on the attack against something bigger than all of them put together -- and win!

Of course, personality and aggressiveness varies greatly between individual fish. My current specimen is more aggressive than most and has made honest attempts to kill everything I've ever trialed with her (likely a male given this I know, but it's a girl in my head and there's no way to tell, so...). Don't worry, they all went back to the local fish store within hours for their own good only a little worse for wear, a couple fin nips lighter. If you're looking for tank mates they generally do best with things that look nothing like themselves. When she was in very low brackish there was a pleco in there with her for a while, but he was moved as salinity increased. She never even acknowledged the pleco, never went after his fins or anything, and he wasn't much bigger than her. If there's a chance a fish may be mistaken for another GSP... that fish probably shouldn't be in your tank. Generally I'd recommend a species only, single resident tank when it comes to these just for simplicity's sake. Watching them hunt down shrimp you bought for feed and snails you put in the tank to wear down their teeth is fun. Watching them hunt down everything else... not so much.

EDIT: Last edit, I promise!

Just saw your pictures thread. If you're considering a GSP for the 55 gallon they will more than likely happily murder any and all snails in the tank and the hermit crab, then sample corals that strike their fancy on a given day. Wouldn't recommend it, though it may be worth bringing one home to trial and hoping you get a calm one. If you're starting a new tank or it's for a different tank already set up don't let my somewhat negative presentation above dissuade you. I do love my fish.
 
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Fractalis

Heavy Weapons Guy
Mar 3, 2011
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obviously more informed than i was

never underestimate the aggressiveness of a puffer
[video=youtube;GLUgRFHHu_E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLUgRFHHu_E[/video]
 

Ace25

www.centralcoastreefclub. com
Oct 3, 2005
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?? That is a porcupine puffer, way bigger than a GSP.. and one that was aggitated and then had a finger shoved in its face.. of course it is going to bite you. Heck.. I don't even have to come close to that mean around my clownfish and they bite much more than puffers. ;)
 

gordonw

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Nov 29, 2009
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i had mine in brackish, just wanted to comment about the aggressive nature of this fish. While im sure most of the GSPs are super aggressive,some are not, like previously mentioned the personality and aggressiveness varies for each fish. I kept mine in a 30g brackish tank with a bumblebee goby, 3 small mollies, a guppy and a couple ghost shrimp. Only after some time of them being housed together did the guppy go missing, but no other inhabitant had so much as a scratch or nibble on them. I guess mine was one of the lesser aggressive fish, you could get lucky with it too.
marbled Crayfish and decent sized ramshorn was my GSPs favorite meal
 

Khemul

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Oct 14, 2010
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Has anyone ever tried keeping a green spotted puffer in a saltwater tank? I know they start out in fresh/brackish water but how would they fare in a saltwater tank?
Technically they likely start out in saltwater then quickly move into fresh/brackish, then back to salt. Granted it isn't entirely known just how their life cycle works or why they shift around so much. Most likely because food is easier for the babies in FW. It does appear though that they breed and are born in SW.

They should be able to handle saltwater at any age, but it is usually suggested to wait until they are at least half-grown. There are plenty reports of people keeping them in saltwater as babies though. They just seem to take the transition better as adults.


A lot depends on personality with these puffers. Saltwater fish seem to be much better at getting out of the way then freshwater fish so they seem to handle the aggression better (my theory here is that saltwater fish are used to always having a predator around, whereas a freshwater fish can be top of the food chain at 6-7"). But this is a fish that if it decides to be a bully can take a chunk out of its tankmates. Just keep in mind that any companions are a risk until you know the adult personality of the fish. Clean-up crews are most likely food and not really worth the expense of testing. Corals can depend a lot on personality also (some nibble on them and some don't). I've heard of them being kept in reef tanks, but it isn't generally suggested since they can unpredictable and reef setups are expensive.
 
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OhioOilMan

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Thanks for the info yall! The reason I was asking is a local BIG NAME retailer that sales fish which"IMO" should never have even started selling live fish or anything of the nature to begin with, and I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about, had 2 little GSP's in a tank and the woman said we have had them for month's and cant get rid of them because people who buy them say they can't keep them alive for longer than a few weeks or months. well with a little research turns out as I already knew that these fish fancy a brackish water to keep them healthy and that as they mature further into adulthood they require almost full salt. I have never kept GSP's and was wondering if they are as aggressive as most puffers are. I know that puffers come from a family of fish that are noted to be very intelligent the same as most triggerfish are. but I value my other fish and corals to much to have one chomping into everything. I do believe though, that places like W******, should better inform their customers of the needs of their livestock that they are selling. people whom may not know a whole lot about the hobby but just want a neat little aquarium with a cool looking fish such as a GSP and then be disappointed that a few weeks later their fish are swimming belly up that can be discouraging to anyone new to the hobby and at that point some will give up all together on this great hobby!!!
 

fshfanatic

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I had a couple of GSPs a few yrs ago.. I had them in a brackish tank and transitioned them to full marine. I think they were happier in the marine tank.
 

OhioOilMan

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All I have in my FOWLR at the moment is a few blue damsels, a velvet damsel, and a spotted hawkfish and with their aggresive nature im sure that they wouldn't harm them too much even if I did have one in the tank.
 
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