Newb Questions

[flipsideleo]

Okay... so I fell for a trap at the local dept/groc store. There were some sick looking green spotted puffers in there, and the person working the fish dept. said that they would live in freshwater. Their stomachs were concave and they seemed to be very interested in what I was doing! Very smart fish! I've owned 3 of them for a few months now, and I really like their "personalities." My daughter has already named them... see my dilemma? The fish are pretty hearty now. They eat well (I feed them one cube of brine or bloodworms everyday). They've become a part of the family.

Well, after researching a bit more, and talking with a pretty knowledgeable kid at the LFS, I found out that these little creatures live a whole lot longer in salt (he said to slowly start introducing marine salt in their tank). He said he had one in a 29g for about 20 years with live rock, and all that... I know nothing about salt. Well, I know a lot more than I did 3 months ago, but I digress...

Any way, I've been studying a lot on this site, and many others about saltwater setups. I just set my little 10g up for saltwater (well, more like brackish for now) with live sand. I plan on getting a bigger tank later this year, but I really don't know what to expect with these fish. I feel like I want to have a mini reef, but I'm not sure if these puffers will allow that to happen.

Does anyone else have these fish? I guess they can get up to 6" and I know they will outgrow my 10g quick (they eat like pigs). Any information would be great. Are 3 too many? What size tank should I have for them? Should I go full salt? Questions, questions...

As I said, I have a 10g with a powerhead, little hanging filter thing, 20lbs of live sand and it's brackish water right now. The tank is literally declouding as I type. The SG is at 1.013 and the Nitrate/Nitrite levels are at 0. Is that salt level (or whatever you call it) okay for these little guys?


Thanks!
Leo

 

[LisaD]

I believe you will be okay with heavy brackish (which is what you have) while they are small.

Sounds like you are doing a good job on your research. Puffers won't let you have a reef, they love to chew...

Have you seen these articles?

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i1/green_spotted_puppies.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwpuffers.htm

There's a good one I'm thinking of, but haven't been able to find, will post if I can.



http://www.greenspottedpuffer.net/settingup.htm

 

[reefergeorge]

Welcome to RC.
By reading here you are already taking a great leap forward. I have no experience with that particular fish, but I would look into a 29 gallon. Then bring the sg up to 1.024 when you are ready. Right now your fish are basically in hypo salinity.

 

[flipsideleo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12563101#post12563101 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LisaD
I believe you will be okay with heavy brackish (which is what you have) while they are small.

Sounds like you are doing a good job on your research. Puffers won't let you have a reef, they love to chew...

Have you seen these articles?

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i1/green_spotted_puppies.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwpuffers.htm

There's a good one I'm thinking of, but haven't been able to find, will post if I can.



http://www.greenspottedpuffer.net/settingup.htm

Lisa,

Thanks for the links! I just read them and they are very helpful.

ReeferGeorge,

Thank you for the welcome and the info, too. My goal is to get them in full salt as soon as I can. I don't think I can keep all three of them in just a 29g, but I may try that as a temp fix. I'm pretty sure that I want something bigger than 75g. I believe that the LFS guy really did a number on me by showing me this site. Bittersweet I guess...

 

[flipsideleo]

Well, the little dudes have been in full salt now, for over a week. This may sound nuts but they developed some really vivid color after I went full salt. That's gotta be good.

SG is at 1.025 and the tanks running clean. I have have live sand and live rock in there. I also have a skimmer that I'm going to setup, sump-style, soon.

My wife and kids are going up to Ohio for a summer visit some family, here in June. When they get back, I'll be looking to get a 75-90g tank setup. I'm going to try to reef all 3 of these little fellaz, together. I can't really find any information online about keeping these in a reef, but I figure since I've never fed them anything live (other than a few small pesky snails from the LFS) I should be able to keep some stuff in there with them. This site has me hooked on wanting to get some corals going.

Wish me luck and thank you for the help!

- Leo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikryPx83JX8 <-- here they are

 

[LisaD]

Leo,

I'm glad they're doing well for you. The video is great.

Try frags or stuff you can get as cheaply as possible. You may find things they ignore, but puffers like to taste and chew, and you can't assume any reef stuff will be safe until you try it. Puffers in general are known to be about as non-reef-safe as you can get. However, the author of the article in the link below has reported he has successfully kept puffers with corals. The whole article is an interesting read:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i3/puffers/puffers.htm

You might start with mushrooms, polyps and leather corals. These tend to be hardy, often require low to moderate levels of lighting, and aren't always the most palatable.

Good luck!

 

[flipsideleo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12624118#post12624118 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LisaD
Leo,

I'm glad they're doing well for you. The video is great.

Try frags or stuff you can get as cheaply as possible. You may find things they ignore, but puffers like to taste and chew, and you can't assume any reef stuff will be safe until you try it. Puffers in general are known to be about as non-reef-safe as you can get. However, the author of the article in the link below has reported he has successfully kept puffers with corals. The whole article is an interesting read:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i3/puffers/puffers.htm

You might start with mushrooms, polyps and leather corals. These tend to be hardy, often require low to moderate levels of lighting, and aren't always the most palatable.

Good luck!

Great read, ma'am! Thanks for that! I've been looking all over the www trying to find something about that, and I now feel a bit better with the ideas I have. :rollface: I was kind of bummed-out to read about the anenomes though. It'd be nice to have a few in the tank I want to setup here soon. Pardon the digression...

Thanks again!

 

[LisaD]

There are several anemones that don't have very potent stings, but I'd say anemones in general are on the difficult side to keep.

Thanks for getting me interested in GSPs. They are an ideal size for in-between-sized tanks, when a dogface just won't fit, but a toby is too small...