# Green spotted puffers



## johnwayne1215 (Apr 22, 2009)

About 3 or 4 months ago i bought 2 green spotted puffers from walmart. They both looked sickly soon after i put them in the tank.I did some more research (i should have done before i ever bought the fish) and through my research came to the conclusion that they do better in brackish to full marine waters (I came to this theory after reading tons and tons of conflicting information online and sort of drawing my own conclusions).I also upgraded them to a 29g tank. Anyway long story short i slowly progressed the tank over the course of a few months until i reached full marine conditions. The puffers are now doing great and are healthy and happy. I have fed them nothing but frozen foods and the occasional snail to keep their teeth filed down.

I have 10lbs of live rock a condy anenome, lots of snails and hermits, a sea urchin, and blue damsel with a yellow tail. 
I would like to try keeping some coral in the tank as well once i get more live rock, but i read that puffers are known to eat corals. I have seen mine take occasional nips at the live rock, but despite all the information i have read painting them as "predatory fish" and "invert eaters" they never bother any of the other animals in the tank and are model citizens. 

Does anyone know of any good corals that hold up well, or that would not be appetizing to a puffer?
Anyone ever had any experience with GSPs in a reef tank?
Any information regarding this would be awesome.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

As far as puffers and reefs go ive had a porcupine in my reef for the last month. It has yet to touch a single coral and I have a wide range of corals from sorties to sps. 

When it comes to ur tank I'd look into changing a few things before adding any coral. For instance I'd add a bunch more of and lights, etc. 

I won't simply assume you already don't know the demands of the coral so if you don't please ask.

For hardy corals, take a peek at zoanthids; they are super colorful and easy to tale care of. So much that I plan on my next tank being dominated by them.


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## johnwayne1215 (Apr 22, 2009)

I'm relatively new to salt water tanks obviously. So any suggestions are helpful. 
i know the water conditions must be pristine to keep corals (Nitrates, and Nitrites are both near zero in my tank, and PH is good). I have a single CORALIFE 20,000k bulb right now.Is that enough light for Zoanthids? 

I also have a an instant ocean protein skimmer that is rated for up to 100 gallons that i plan to hook up as soon as i get a pump for it. 
2 mechanical filters 
A small powerhead (plan to get 1 more)

Is there anything I'm forgetting.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Hopefully someone will answer this soon, if someone doesn't get to it before tomorrow morning when I have my computer I'll fill ya in.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Yes you'll generally need more light than normal output florescents. I would suggest looking into T-5 lighting 2-3 watts/gallon.


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## johnwayne1215 (Apr 22, 2009)

Do t-5 light bulbs fit into a standard florescent fixture? If not, is there a less expensive way for me to achieve the proper lighting? 

Maybe an additional light?


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

When you say you have a single coralife 20000k bulb, what does that mean? Is this a power compact? a normal fluorescent? and no, as fishfirst has pointed out, that's not enough.

As far as lights for zoanthids; they aren't too demanding, but that is in comparison to other corals. So that I can help in being more specific with lighting recommendations, could you please post your tank dimensions? To give you a better clue I was looking for something like one of these. 

Now where rocks are concerned your going to want to add a bunch more, im thinking about another 30 lbs or so. Since the tank is already running and cycled you can't really go about adding live rock so getting your hands on some dry/dead rock would be best. I would go somewhere like this, like I just did for a tank I am starting.

Get that skimmer in soon and toss those mechanicals for now to help keep your nutrients low.

As far as powerheads go, your going to need much more flow, at least in comparison to what you have. I've gotta head out the door right now so I can't really give you this, but I will be more than happy to help with that in the near future.

Note that this is not the only way to go about this, but it will work if done correctly.


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## johnwayne1215 (Apr 22, 2009)

Ok thanks for the help dude. Sry if I'm a noob or whatever haha. 

This is my first saltwater tank, and I've had relative success so far, So i just wanna make sure i get this done right. 

So should my next step be to get the skimmer working? and then get more rock? and lastly the lighting?

Also my puffers are very messy eaters and it seems the tank would be in ruin if i unhooked the mechanicals.

Why would i not be able to add more live rock to the tank in the future? What would happen if i did? 

The bulb is a normal florescent. I'm guessing that's not going to be good enough.Also the im not sure of the exact dimensions but its just the standard 29g aquarium. Whatever that is.

Thanks in advance. Sorry if I'm asking too many questions.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

johnwayne1215 said:


> So should my next step be to get the skimmer working? and then get more rock? and lastly the lighting?


Get the skimmer working and on the tank, so yeah that would be the first step from where you are. You'll be suprised with how much nastyness that it will pull.

When it comes to more rock make sure you are not adding live rock. Make sure it is dry. Otherwise you will restart your cycle and have to start from the very beginning.

Before you get to the lights I would take care of the flow and before you can decide on the proper flow you need to decide which corals you would like to keep. Certain corals like SPS require more and then there are those like zoanthids and LPS that require quite a bit less. There is a way to do all kinds of coral, it will just change where they are best placed in the tank.

Once you have the coral and flow thing figured out you can move to the lights, which will also depend on your coral decision. Oh, and to really help you here we're going to need ya to measure the tank. This is the only way we can figure out how much light can fit on top of it.

Also, does the tank have a canopy?



johnwayne1215 said:


> Also my puffers are very messy eaters and it seems the tank would be in ruin if i unhooked the mechanicals.


I have first hand experience with these guys and how piggy they can be so I understand, but don't worry. That's why you do 10% weekly water changes, have so much rock (biological filtration), and a skimmer. It will be enough to keep it clean without the mechanical. After the tank has been running with the new set up for a while it may not be a bad idea to run the mechanical every once in a while to keep the water clear, I would just use activated carbon in them.



johnwayne1215 said:


> Why would i not be able to add more live rock to the tank in the future? What would happen if i did?


You could add dead rock later, sure no problem, but not live rock. Unless it is completely cured live rock will sit a rot in your tank until it is cured. More likely than not it will only cause problems for you. If you want to add rock later, just make sure it is dead dry rock.



johnwayne1215 said:


> The bulb is a normal florescent. I'm guessing that's not going to be good enough.Also the im not sure of the exact dimensions but its just the standard 29g aquarium. Whatever that is.


Nah, thats from from enough. What your looking for is going to be much brighter. Once we get the dimensions, which I will try looking for in just a couple minutes, we can start figuring what lights will fit the coral you want and your price range.



johnwayne1215 said:


> Thanks in advance. Sorry if I'm asking too many questions.


Np at all. Sorry I'm typing so much


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

found the size. 30"x12"x18"

So for lights you may want to start with something like this in the 30" model.

If your budget allows I would do something like this or I would make a canopy and use something like this .


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

Dunno if anyone has said this but just incase two puffers will not go well for very long.

Also.. If you want some big healthy puffers.. a 75G is pretty good. They love clams chopped fish.. Pretty much everything..


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## johnwayne1215 (Apr 22, 2009)

Kurtfr0 said:


> Dunno if anyone has said this but just incase two puffers will not go well for very long.


Yes i know that it is not recommended to put more than 1 GSP per 30 gallons. But my fish were both babies when i bought them at around 1" long so they have grown up together and act almost like siblings. During feeding sometimes one puffer will turn and face the other if he gets too close, the other one will just back away giving him his space. I've come to find out that each fish has a very unique personality when it comes to GSPs. So i guess i just got lucky in getting 2 fish that aren't super aggressive (time will tell i guess since these fish grow to 6")

I've had them around 4 months and they are now both over 2" and other than the occasional dirty look they are never aggressive toward eachother or the damsel they share the tank with. I hope to move them to a larger tank once i get some money saved up but in the meantime as long as they don't fight eachother and continue to grow and be happy i don't see a problem leaving them in there.

Also. 

I have ordered a new pump for the protein skimmer and will have it up and running as soon as the pump gets here.

I looked on craigslist and managed to find a private seller of live rock near me that sells the stuff for 3$ a pound. (way cheaper than i can buy it anywhere around here) He says it is fully cured and has been in an established tank for about 4 months. Assuming this is true, then adding this rock will not cause the tank to cycle. Correct?


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

If u can get it in ur tank quick and keep it under water the whole time.


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## johnwayne1215 (Apr 22, 2009)

Alright man i think I've pretty much got it down now. 

Skimmer is gettin hooked up as soon as i get the part in the mail to fix it.

Just bought a korailia power jet and hooked it up so my flow is much better.

Next paycheck i will be adding either 30 lbs of live rock and dry rock. (I have 10 lbs live rock in the tank already)

Then a more powerful light. Such as t5. 

Once all this is complete i can begin adding some corals. correct?

P.S. Thanks for all your help bear, you have been very helpful.


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Make sure that you are watching your water parameters and doing weekly 10% water changes. The small size of the tank really calls for frequent changes if you want to keep it healthy.

Yes once you have all these things you can begin keeping coral. Which korailia did you get? How did you place it in the tank? You may actually want another powerhead to create more random flow, but what it should be depends on which korailia you have.


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