Acclamation Time For Dogface Puffer

[ac106]

I am thinking of adding a dogface puffer to my brackish community tank. my tank is currently at sg 1.010. I could possibly raise it higher, but prefer not to. Most dogface puffers at LFS's are housed in marine conditions. I would assume this is 1.018 at least. How long would it take to acclimate a dogface puffer down to 1.010? Are we talking hours, days or weeks? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[DarkEntity]

As far as i know they require full saltwater conditions, so dropping them to brackish isnt an option. Recommended SG for a Dogface is SG 1.020 - 1.025, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Temp. 72 - 78° F. There is also the fact they max out at about 13" in length so you would also need a large tank....(assuming you have a full saltwater tank)

 

[ac106]

As far as i know they require full saltwater conditions, so dropping them to brackish isnt an option. Recommended SG for a Dogface is SG 1.020 - 1.025, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Temp. 72 - 78� F. There is also the fact they max out at about 13" in length so you would also need a large tank....(assuming you have a full saltwater tank)

well...

How big is the tank?

For a start, you might try some brackish-marines. The dog-face puffer is an excellent fish, and does well at SG 1.010 and is nicely behaved in community tanks. You can often buy them very small (around 5 cm long) and then sell it on if its gets too large (they reach about 20-30 cm in aquaria). There are several other brackish-marine puffers sold as marines; consult the Aqualog Pufferfish book for details. Other brackish-marine fish include several snappers, a few damsels (including sargeant majors), stripeys, batfish, and a few other things.

On the freshwater side of things, mollies, guppies, and several cichlids are tolerant of marine and brackish water. I've listed the brackish and marine cichlids elsewhere on this subforum, so having a look through past messages may help.

Cheers, Neale

and since it's Neale Monks who posted this...

 

[mlawson]

Dogfaced puffers can live in brackish water environments infact they venture into freshwater areas in the wild. You should be able to introduce the puffer to your tank, maybe add slightly more salt for a bit.

 

[Puffdaddy]

I'm not sure where these guys are getting there info? I do know that Neale Monks is a reputable source when it comes to brackish water fish. I have one that is 2 1/2 years old and is 10 inches (25.5 cm), and my father has two of them, one is 13 years old and is 14 inches (35.5 cm). Based on my experience here is my two cents worth. A Dogface puffer (Arothron nigropunctatus) should not be kept in water with an sg of 1.010, although it most likely well survive the conditions but well not thrive. For a beautiful heathly Dogface Puffer than can reach its teens I recommend keeping them in water with an sg. of 1.016 and ideally an sg. of 1.022. I started mine off in a 20gl tank and now is in a 55gl tank, I am planning on moving it to a large tank over the summer, as I believe the puffer is getting to big for the 55gl. I'm a ferm believer in starting young fish out in small tanks and moving them to larger ones as they grow. I do this so that the fishes environment does not get smaller as the fish gets larger. Hope this helps.

 

[ac106]

Unless someone can quote research to say these puffers cannot live in high-end brackish, I am going to go with Neale on this.

anyway...

back to my original question:

If Dog Face Puffers are kept in marine conditions at LFS say 1.016+ how long will it take to acclimate him to around 1.010? Hours, days, weeks?

 

[mlawson]

Unless someone can quote research to say these puffers cannot live in high-end brackish, I am going to go with Neale on this.

anyway...

back to my original question:

If Dog Face Puffers are kept in marine conditions at LFS say 1.016+ how long will it take to acclimate him to around 1.010? Hours, days, weeks?

Well, I would go with Neale... in his book it sais they can be kept at an SG of 1.010 to 1.018 (aswell as marine) but an SG of 1.010 to 1.018 is prefered. It also sais that you should temporarily adjust your SG to about 1.015 and then over a period of a few days or weeks, adjust it to your desired level, in your case, SG 1.010. And apparentily they are reasonably hardy and will adapt to your conditions. It depends if your brackish water fish at the moment will be able to adjust to this salinity, what are the inhabitants at the moment?

Cheers,
Mike

 

[DiscusAngel]

Raise your saltinity from 1.010 to 10.17 within a week then lower it with small water changes over a week will be fine

 

[nmonks]

Hello all!

Arothron spp. do indeed live in brackish and even freshwater. I first enountered young (5 cm) Arothron hispidus as *freshwater* fish in a shop in Dundee circa 1992. They weren't very happy, and their colours were definitely off, so I wouldn't recommend keeping them that way. But at 50% salinity (SG 1.012-ish) they pepped right up and did very well.

The Aqualog books -- both the brackish and the pufferfish ones -- also list Arothron hispidus as a brackish water fish. Also check with Fishbase.

In the wild at least what happens is this: the parents spawn in estuaries, and the baby puffers grow up there. As they mature, they move into more saline conditions. The adults can move in and out of the estuaries, but they don't seem to be permanent residents. That said, they do fine in high end brackish tanks. What probably matters more is that the pH and hardness are both high, and the water quality is "marine standard".

As for adapting fish to different salinities, don't fuss about it too much. True brackish water fish are very tolerant. Spend an hour or so doing it and that'll be fine. Don't mess about with the SG of the tank too much -- killing off your filter bacteria is more of a problem than the fish adjusting to a lower SG. Arothron hispidus is a very hardy fish, and arguably is a tougher fish that "true" brackish water fish like Tetraodon fluviatilis. It is also more peaceful, but larger.

Cheers, Neale