Green Spotted Puffer And Snowflake Eel (gymnothorax Tile)

[Lyle]

as the title says.. i have a green spotted puffer and a snowflake eel in a 55 gallon tank. the tank seems kinda empty with just those two, however i can't find very many brackish fish at pets stores, let alone a fish that either one of those two wont eat. could these two do well in salt water?? not just live, but really be healthy and happy?
thanks
-lyle

 

[Ranger]

I was under the impression that Snowflake eels were marine fish. However, I do know that many marine fish CAN be kept in SW. The greenspotted puffer can be put into SW, I think it is only in its juvenile stage that it resides in FW, and as it grows it migrates to brackish and then finally to a marine environment. So in short, yes I believe that both of those will be fine in a marine tank. As far as tankmates go, I think anything with GSP's are a gamble as they get pretty big; some are extremely aggressive and some won't bother anything. It's all a matter of the fish's personality I think. The snowflake eel is pretty compatible with most fish. It has poor sight, so as long as you keep him well fed i doubt hell go after any fish. I have heard of them going after crusteceans though.

 

[suggs]

watch the eel dosent go carpet surfing, i lost one to this after some years and getting him to hand feed, he just decided to climb out of the tank one day and found him dead on the floor, and my tank is big but the eels are like snakes. they also get stuck down weirs and pipework etc..

the puffer should be fine..

 

[Lynden]

G. tile should never be kept in fresh water or even light brackish; they do much better in full salt.

Green Spotted Puffers also do very well in marine tanks, and should never be kept in freshwater. I bought my "GSP" from a freshwater tank, with many other dying puffers. I acclimated him in 3 hours to full salt, and the ich on him simply fell off.

I fed the other fish before introducing him, but I apparently didn't wait long enough; my Niger Trigger bit him on the eye, thinking he was food, and the wound fungused over for a few days; leaving him scarred, but a better fish, since he was put in his place from the very beginning and so is not aggressive. I even keep him with shrimp, which he "will kill" according to many sources. But then again, those books and websites that I researched said that about the Triggers, too...

-Lynden

 

[Ranger]

I even keep him with shrimp, which he "will kill" according to many sources. But then again, those books and websites that I researched said that about the Triggers, too...

-Lynden

There's always shades of grey/gray(?)

 

[Lynden]

I even keep him with shrimp, which he "will kill" according to many sources. But then again, those books and websites that I researched said that about the Triggers, too...

-Lynden

There's always shades of grey/gray(?)

You are right, especially with intelligent Tetraodonts.

However, I would have to be pretty damn lucky to get 3 good fish in a row - lets hope my luck persists for what I buy next.....

-Lynden

 

[Lyle]

thanks for the advice guys. just a few more questions........ my puffer is about 2.5-3 inches max, and my eel is almost a foot and a half, are they big/old enough for salt water (i know they do start off in light brackish and move to full marine in adult hood, but i don't want to put them in salt water if they're not ready)? and also, my lighting is simply 6 x 50 watt grow lights (300 watts total) that i bought from lowes, which works great for plants, would that work for live coral too?
thanks alot
-lyle

 

[Lynden]

are they big/old enough for salt water

Yes. They can be in full salt when they are babies. The species breeding in freshwater is for protection from predators, not because of any environmental reasons.

would that work for live coral too?

It depends on the "type" of bulbs; if they are T-12 (12/8'' thick) or T-8 (1'' thick) they may not be adequate for a tank over 12'' tall. If they are T-5 High Output, Power Compact, or T-12 Very HO, they should be adequate for many species of corals.

-Lynden

 

[Lyle]

It depends on the "type" of bulbs; if they are T-12 (12/8'' thick) or T-8 (1'' thick) they may not be adequate for a tank over 12'' tall. If they are T-5 High Output, Power Compact, or T-12 Very HO, they should be adequate for many species of corals.

these are the kind of lights that i have....

http/www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=prod...&lpage=none

i just built a canopy with six of those lights in it. they work great with any plant and this type of light is what my lfs uses on their heavily planted display tank. if i can help it i'd really like to keep using them but they didn't match anything you listed above..... are 6 of those good enough? should i get more? or is there somthin about florescent lights that these bulb just can't give me?
thanks again!
-lyle

 

[Lynden]

Unfortunately, no, they will not work for Corals. Those types of bulbs do little more for a marine tank than grow algae - which is wonderful for a "planted" lagoon marine tank - but unable to support Zooxanthellae, the symbiont algae that makes some animals, including most known Corals and Tridacnid clams, photosynthetic.

-Lynden

 

[Fella]

I'm very much under the impression that GSP's would pick at soft corals.

 

[Lynden]

I'm very much under the impression that GSP's would pick at soft corals.

That's what people say about Canthigaster Puffers and Boxfish. It is not true unless the puffers are starving to death; at which point they will try eating them.

-Lynden

 

[Lyle]

hey so i know the reasons for raising the salinity slowly (learned the hard way changing from fresh to brackish). if i put extra nitrifying bacteria in the tank could i raise it faster? theres this stuff called "cycle" that helped alot when i changed my substrate and had an ammonia spike, would it help with the raising salinity?

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

hey so i know the reasons for raising the salinity slowly (learned the hard way changing from fresh to brackish). if i put extra nitrifying bacteria in the tank could i raise it faster? theres this stuff called "cycle" that helped alot when i changed my substrate and had an ammonia spike, would it help with the raising salinity?

I wouldn't use it, just buy some live rock and raise the salinity straight away, the puffer and eel can be acclimated to the higher salinity very quickly.

SLC

 

[andywg]

Cycle is snake oil. There is no way one bottle can maintain bacteria which operate at entirely different salinities (that is the FW and the SW that it claims to help with).

Fish that are brackish can easily cope with differing salinities with very limited acclimstisation. SLC has good advice, though if you could set up a small holding tank to cure the LR in (unbless you are sure you can get cured) it would be perfect.