Animal Stories - People Talking About Puffer Fish



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Latest Animal Stories on Puffer Fish (265)

natalie - 2013-01-29
I have a dwarf yellow puffer sharing a tank with several other fish. I've noticed that he has gone completely black and almost lifeless. He keeps on resting on the live plant. Could you tell me if he is dying and if I can do anything to help him please?

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Jeremy Roche - 2013-01-30
It is usually a water condition issue. What is the salinity of the water? Check all your levels. These fish are very sensitive to conditions.

Mandy - 2013-01-20
I wish I had read up on the green puffer fish before buying him. I just have a 5 gallon with one neon and one guppy. When I got him at Walmart (yea I know I shouldn't have), the guy told me that a 5 gallon would be fine and that they usually do fine with tank mates such as the ones I listed. He also told me that they generally just eat fish flakes and that the ghost shrimp would be fine in the tank. However, before we even got home with him and the two ghost shrimp, he had eaten them. Now he has started to pick on my other fish. Needless to say, I have separated them and am going to sell him as I can't afford another tank and its maintenance. I wish Walmart would keep accurate information and an informative fish keeper or 2 if they are going to continue to have fish.

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Jeremy Roche - 2013-01-21
I would call the store manager and speak to them. They should give you your money back!

derek - 2013-01-07
Hi I got new tank and I put in tetra water conditiner. So do you know if it's safe to put a green spotted puffer in it? (I have not acclimated it yet with fish.). Please help if you have info.

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Jasmine Brough Hinesley - 2013-01-08
First, how large is your new tank? You will want to a have a minimum of a 30 gallon aquarium to give a green spotted puffer a fair chance to thrive. Second are you planning to get a baby puffer? Juveniles will do better in a regular aquarium, however as they get older they do much better in a brackish environment - meaning you will have to start adding salt and keep it a proper salinity level. These guys can be tough to keep! So if you plan to keep a puffer just be prepared to change up its environment as needed.
derek - 2013-01-09
It's a 20 gallon but back to the original question. I put in tetra water conditioner and on the back it said safe to put in any fresh water fish. But they are only freshwater for one part of their life. So what do you say?
Jeremy Roche - 2013-01-09
It is safe to use.
Jasmine Brough Hinesley - 2013-01-09
Yes it is safe to use. You would have to put it in every time you change the water and use tap water for a freshwater tank.

J - 2012-12-03
Anybody know where i can get a south american puffer in Dallas Texas?

Erik - 2010-07-28
Hey can you people help me out here? I have 1 of these in a 12 gallon tank and 1 catfish. The pufferfish has been flipping and looping and swimming like crazy like its having a seizure or something then it stops and it look like it's dead but then it starts swimming again close to the ground. Does anyone know what this is or how this happens? Please respond it worries me.

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Meagan - 2012-08-23
The same thing happened to my puffer so I called the pet store we purchased him from and they said he had a seizure or a hart attack and will probably not recover. Eventually it will die slowly from starvation so my boyfriend and I decided to be somewhat humane and flush it :( I hope you dont have the same ending result.... and who knew fish had seizures!! i didnt.
Jeremy Roche - 2012-08-23
First check your water levels. Some times amonia spikes will cause this.Maybe add so was to increase oxyen levels in the water?
Lisa - 2012-10-07
It is your PH or the ammonia levels- if the PH is acidic or you have high ammonia levels it will cause your fish to act that way and they will die. You should do a 50% water change and add ammonia remover and make sure that PH is in at the 7.2 to 7.5 range.
Anonymous - 2012-11-20
Keep in mind that GSP's are 'naked' (meaning they lack scales) on the stomach primarily, but also somewhat lack on the rest of the body. They're very suceptible to disease, and are sensitive to temperature change.

Thomas Herrick - 2012-11-20
I first got my 2 green spotted puffers about 2 years ago. They are SLOW growing, although so much fun to watch! Both of mine are about 3-3.5 inches long. Since their scales are small (Practically naked on the white underside) they are VERY suceptible to a number of diseases (especially the pasasitc ailment known as freshwater Ick.) Earlier said, they display multiple personalities. They're not aggressive, no matter what the websites say. The better word to use, is 'Curious.' They love exploring new places within the tank, and nip at small organisms (Snails, crustaceans) in nooks and crannies within the tank. HOWEVER, I don't reccommend them for tanks that have fish with elegant, flowing fins. They'd be ripped apart within at least a day. It's always good to buy them in pairs (or more) so they can have members of the same species to comfort them. As earlier stated, this is a fish with a LOT of personality, so it'll need 'friends.' All in all, it's a fun, easy fish to keep. Comfortable in tanks around 20gal or more, with lots of same species buddies. It'll eat ANYTHING, (Sometimes the fins of other fish) so only be slightly cautioned. Rating: 10 out of 10! I hope to have mine for years to come!

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Anonymous - 2012-11-20
Oh, and also, mine are in a 55 gallon freshwater river rock setup, with a GIANT comet goldfish, large rainbow shark, 2 large silver dollars, a Florida Freshwater channel catfish (about 7 inches right now), a sunset gourami, and a leopard synodontis catfish. That'll give you some good species ideas to refer to (they're primarily semi-aggressive, but they hold their own if nipped or annoyed.) They all get along great! :)

Tubby - 2012-05-31
We had 3 puffers that when we got them from wal-mart the tanks were busted, they were selling them half off to try and get them out of the broken tanks. To my understanding they had gone roughly 3-4 days with cold temp, no filter. We had a couple guys we had always thought were cute and would come to our fingers. We got a 29 gallon tank and everything we could need to try and keep these littles guys alive. Though just yesterday one got stuck in a little hole inside an ornament that we had. A rather large branch tunnel we didn't even know there was a hole on inside. Our little friend tubby died and now another one is dying. When puffers die do they release toxin into the water, do we need to do a 100% water change. Or is it something I am not thinking of any help would be appreciated. We bought them sickly and since with us they had been happy and healthy with white big bellies and growing in size by atleast a third larger?

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Charlie Roche - 2012-05-31
When they are attacked they release a toxin which usually kills the fish that attacked them. I don't know about if the die, but it is better to error on the saide of safety. So I would do a water change but a gradual (say 25%) at a time. I wouldn't want to stress out the other fish.
daniel - 2012-11-07
Do you have them in brackish water

Jeremey - 2008-10-03
I just got my lil green guy yesterday. He is very small...prob about 1.5 inches and seems to be doing really well. He swims around a lot and goes up and down the tank almost constantly. At first I did not know what to feed him so I tried regular flake food, which he wouldn't eat. I then tried frozen brine shrimp which he wouldn't eat either. So I read up on what to feed them and went to the pet store and asked for snails which they gave me for free. I also bought frozen bloodworm which the salesman advised at the pet store. He instantly ate the snails and loved the bloodworms. I am going to start my own snail colony to keep plenty on hand because they need them to keep their teeth ground down. I have read that they need seaweed too but I am not sure if this is true. A lot of information out there is so different. He is in a tank by himself because he is aggressive and all. My pretty fish are in a separate tank so they don't get eaten! Any information on what else to feed him would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

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crystal - 2012-07-13
hi there i have 1nile puffer and 1 fig 8 puffer both where in a tank with cichlids 2 jack dempseys ,a talking catfish a purple spotted gudgeon,1 fontosa,1 dolphin ,1 oska and 3 other that i can not remember the names of, basically hardy fiesty fish that can handle their own but the nile ate 1 of my jacks so i put him in his own tank. but then the oska was attacking the fig 8 puff and stealing his meat so i put the oska in with the nile an now he waits his turn like a good little fishy lol and now they are both perfectly happy tanks, all puffers eat mostly meat, as in mussels,cockals in the shell,live shrimp,frozen and live foods never flakes or pellets you can buy all of them in more or less any good fish shop i feed them both frozen mussals by hand bout 3 times aday if you dropping it in the tank then just make sure you clear the left over parts wen hes done, an if you get frozen cockals bash it so the shells cracked an drop it in tank give them 1 aday again clearing it b4 you put another in, hope ive give you sum ideas
wendy - 2012-10-10
I was told you can drop an algea disk in the tank also and the will nibble on it
Sherie - 2012-10-15
Mine really love the freeze-dried brine shrimp from Wal-Mart. I also have a colony of snails that they love. I have noticed that if you feed them too many bloodworms, they tend to seem more stressed in color. I feed mine bloodworms occasionally. Hope this helps too.
Heine - 2012-10-19
I have a spotted Green puffer, also small, but had him put in a 3foot tank. He loves his freeze dried white shrimps. Hopefully i will manage to get him bigger, he lives with a African ghost knife fish and a Redtail black shark, for know.
daniel - 2012-11-07
You can put danios, tetras, mollys, and platys

Blake - 2011-09-21
So will any kind of snail work? I have a lot of snails at my house or do I have to buy them??

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Charlie Roche - 2011-09-23
Some snails are for land and some for tanks. I would buy them.
Dan - 2011-10-13
When I was looking into getting a GSP PetSmart told me that they had snails in with the live plant tank, and that they would just give them to me if I wanted them.
WHatever you choose to feed them, keep in mind that GSP WILL eat other types of food, but occasional snails or shellfish are crucial; their teeth do not stop growing, and only crunchy shells will file them down. If left unchecked, the teeth grow to the point where they are unable to open their mouths and then you have to trim them yourself or they will starve.
Elaina Russell - 2011-10-18
I get my GPS snails for feeding at the local pet store. Usually lots in quite a few different tanks. Round ones, cylinder ones, just snails.
Tanya - 2012-09-10
Try buying and raising Ramshorn snails. They breed very fast and should be small enough for the puffers.
wendy - 2012-10-10
Pet smart and petco gladly give you the little black ramshorn snail that come in with their plants for free. Another food they love are ghost ship you can purchase these for about $. 25 a i'll feed mine tese a few times a week. I alternate beteen blood worms, defrosted silver slider fish pieces and snail a ghost shrimp they are very happy! ! ! Best of luck they really are adorable little guys
Jeremy Roche - 2012-10-10
Most are fine and many are so easy to breed that id cuts the expensive of purchasing. The Malaysian trumpet snails is one that you do not want to introduce. Their shells are very hard and could actually break the puffers teeth making it unable to eat. Ram horns are always a safe bet and easy to breed.

Frankie - 2012-06-11
I have a gsp, and he was doing fine for the first few weeks and now his stomachs black and he won't eat anything. He was in freshwater, so I moved him to a brackish water tank and he's not getting better. What do I do?

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Anonymous - 2012-10-07
Check your PH and ammonia levels that is most likely the issue

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Animal Stories - People Talking About Puffer Fish

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