Green Spotted Puffer Died...

Hey guys, yesterday I bought a Green Spotted Puffer for my tank. I was told that he had been in brakish water previously, and that I would need to "drip acclimate" him to my freshwater tank.

Well, I did so very carefully and after introducing him to my new tank he seemed happy until this morning. When I woke up one of his eyes was covered with this hazy film, along with some of his body. Needless to say, when I returned from work several hours later he was already dead. Less than 24 hours.

Was this due to the fresh water? Was I mislead about him being able to tolerate fresh? If my water tests good, what else could it be? I'm pretty disappointed because I would like to try other types of puffers in the future (in their own tanks) and I'm not willing to spend more money on them if this is the luck I'm going to have.



For reference, he was in with various apistos and tetras.

Should have kept him brackish. Even a drip acclimate to freshwater is pretty drastic for a fish that has been raised brackish. A much longer process would have been better.

Also most puffers just do not work in community settings very well, they are generally better by themselves.

Yeah, that's kind of what I figured but I was told otherwise at the store...oh well. I guess I'll wait and set up another tank for my next one. Thanks!

What store did you say that was?   

I added too much salt to my guys tank and just about killed him. I believe it was the brackish to fresh water that did it as well. They thrive in brackish waters too. Only up to one inch should they be in fresh water. Mine is much more active and brighter colored in his planted brackish tank. Sorry for your loss Chances are the pet store didn't have him in brackish waters properly either.

Best thing would have been to test the water from the store with a hydrometer and had them hold the fish for you until you had the same water parameters then acclimated him to your tank. Any decent store would likely have realized that is what is necessary to make sure of a good transition. I would be very wary of buying from that store again. You cant just flip them from brackish to fresh that fast.

There are many other puffers out there that are completely fresh water and very easy to care for. Problem is many are just not that active or colorful. Some of these would include Congo, Arrowhead, Dragon, Hairy. I recently got my first puffer after a ton of research and over a year of time figuring out what I wanted. I went with a hairy puffer because I thought it was the most interesting of the easier to care for puffers. Not cheap but Im glad I went the route I did. Very interactive little fish.

I won't name the store, but it was over on the east side...

Being a novice fish owner, I took their word for it and figured they knew more than I did about what he would and wouldn't tolerate. Oh well, I've moved onto something else now

Thanks for all the help!