Green Spottet Puffer

TioTom · Mar 23, 2016

I know this is a reef forum. But mayba i can get some input on this issue....Ive been tempted to purchase a Green Spotted Puffer from walmart and slowly acclimate him into saltwater(i know they do this in the wild and only move to fresh to spawn) to keep in a FOWLR tank. Has anyone ever done this or known of anyone do it?

eatbreakfast · Mar 23, 2016

I've heard of it being done successfully. It's not a bad idea.

tj w · Mar 23, 2016

Make sure u watch other inhabitants of the tank. These puffers can act out in a hurry in my experience.

eatbreakfast · Mar 23, 2016

tj w said:
Make sure u watch other inhabitants of the tank. These puffers can act out in a hurry in my experience.

...but that can be true of any puffer IME.

TioTom · Mar 23, 2016

Thanks i will more than likely be keeping him on its own.. Or with an antennata lion fish. But once its big enough not to fit in its mouth. . theyll be my in my shop. Next to my coral tank lol. Im too scared itll nip at them.

Benny Gyger · Feb 21, 2017

I have a green spotted puffer in full marine. With a domino damsel. He's doing great. A lot of work to feed though. I suggest a breeder tank for snails and ghost shrimp.

Dash · Feb 22, 2017

I have a pair of GSP in a 75g - they were the reason I set up a SW tank. I had them in a 20g brackish (.5ish) for a few months while I researched, then drip-acclimated them to 1.25 SW tank over the course of a day.
It's a mixed reef set-up as through my 1 year newbie experience, I've added a bit of everything to it, including a few SPS. If you do your research and be mindful of their needs, there is a good chance of success. They are amazing fish.

Re feeding, I find that easy and no food gets wasted, haha. They peck at the rocks so no need to deal with teeth issues.

Btw, they share the tank with:
- YWG/pistol pair, 2 ocellaris clowns, long nose hawk, mandarin dragonet, tail spot blenny, flame hawk (introduced in that order)
- 2 hermits, 3 snails, 2 conches, tuxedo urchin (all original CUC crew)

Dash · Feb 22, 2017

Sorry! Dupe post

Dash · Feb 22, 2017

Sorry! Dupe post

Benny Gyger · Feb 22, 2017

Dash.,
I'm thinking about adding a young porcupine puffer to my GSP and domino damsel... input?

Dash · Feb 22, 2017

Sorry, I don't have any experience with porcs - they sure get a lot bigger! I love puffers & fish that are a bit quirky. Thinking about adding a valentini if I upgrade to a bigger tank. I do enjoy my coral, and so much as i love porcs, I don't think I'd get one 'cos all my reading shows they are def not reef safe (plus more imprtantly they get too big).

Benny Gyger · Feb 22, 2017

Yea I'm not into the coral thing YET. Just fowlr.

Benny Gyger · Feb 22, 2017

I would love to have a dragonet. Amazing looking fish.

Dash · Feb 22, 2017

To go back to feeding, I wonder if it impacts their behavior...I don't give my GSP any live prey. When they were in their brackish home, they occasionally got little pest snails from the freshwater tank. Now I make my own mixture of chopped seafood which the whole tank enjoys. So much so that one puffer turns her nose up at store-bought frozen. I really wonder if this lack of hunting has made them more docile. I read horror stories about mean fish like 6-lines, etc & wonder if puffers have been unfairly singled out. Mine have been model tankmates. (They do check out the CUC every once in a while though:p)

Benny Gyger · Feb 22, 2017

Yea that most likely plays a big role. I actually just started adding live ghost shrimp to his diet yesterday!! Before I fed snails, frozen bloodworms, shrimp.. I may be creating a monster... literally! My damsel eats the bloodworms and shrimp right along with him.

eatbreakfast · Feb 23, 2017

Dash said:
To go back to feeding, I wonder if it impacts their behavior...I don't give my GSP any live prey. When they were in their brackish home, they occasionally got little pest snails from the freshwater tank. Now I make my own mixture of chopped seafood which the whole tank enjoys. So much so that one puffer turns her nose up at store-bought frozen. I really wonder if this lack of hunting has made them more docile. I read horror stories about mean fish like 6-lines, etc & wonder if puffers have been unfairly singled out. Mine have been model tankmates. (They do check out the CUC every once in a while though:p)

The reputation really varies species to species. I have aggression is more closely related to boredom. Puffers are highly intelligent and explore their surroundings with their mouth. If they have a lot to explore, then they are content to do that. If they don't have a lot to explore then they will 'pass their time' nipping at tankmates to get a reaction. This is often why large species of puffers are more problematic, they need greater spaces to explore.

Dash · Feb 23, 2017

I agree they certainly exhibit a lot more character than other fish, including curiosity. They explore every nook & cranny, and I've noticed that even if I move a litle rock they will check it out immediately, doing the little curved tail thing as if ready to strike.
While I do respect their natural instincts as hunters, I think that it is possible to build a nice environment around them if you understand their needs.