My first post! About a Brackish Tank...

[shlenier]

Hello! I'm very new to this board, and excited I found it, the posts are wonderful. I have a 10 gallon tank I have made into a brackish tank for a little spotted puffer. He's such a jerk to all the other fish, so he's all by his lonesome. Fun little guy, he's learned when I walk in the room, comes up and says hi to me. It's adorable.

I have a problem though....GREEN ALGAE! What can I use to get the algae? Pleco's and chinese algae eaters get sick cuz of the water, and the snails never come out of their shells. What can I do?!?

Shlenier

 

[zombiefetus]

First, you'll need a bigger tank for the Green Spotted Puffer, due to their very large bio-load, you'll need a 30gallon tank for each fish.

You can't keep any algae eaters with a GSP, the puffer will eat anything you try to put in there. You're best bet is to buy an algae scraper and do all the work yourself.

Also- what are you feeding him? Puffers need a varying diet of hard shelled meaty foods, like clams, crabs, and especially snails.

There's a good article here: http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Nigroviridis/
It should answer all your questions.

 

[shlenier]

Food...

Thanks for the prompt response. My trouble with the algae isn't so much the sides...it's the gravel....it's so coated in green, i've tossed it numerous times, but it still is green!

Food....he lives primarily on ghost shrimp (they are gut fed with flakes), that's my main storage tank, I feed them to other fish tanks.

Occasionally i'll tie a chunk of shrimp to a bobber, or calamari, mussels, etc...type things.

He's a happy little bugger.

 

[zombiefetus]

Make sure he gets snails, he needs them to keep his teeth from getting too long.

Your problem with the gravel is most likely due to his tank being a bit small for him. While he's in a 10gallon you'll want to do 2-3 weekly water changes of at least 50% using a gravel siphon and getting the rocks really well. But definately look into upgrading his tank. He'll be a much happier puffer, and his tank will stay much cleaner.