Puffer Mates

[McCool]

So on Saturday I will be visiting a fish suppliers warehouse to have a peek around and possibly complete my long awaited puffer fish tank. The guy who owns the place is a friend of my brothers, and the deals are too freaking amazing to pass up. The tank (55gal) was originally set up for South American Puffers, but those have proved to hard to find. So now I'm with plan B. Figure Eight Puffers.
Tomorrow I plan on taking my current fish to my LFS and switching my tank to a salinity of 1.003-1.005.
I really need to get any fish I plan on getting on Saturday, since I don't think I'll be going back. That means quite a few fish at one time, and I'm nervous about ammonia spikes...
So here are a few questions....
1. Will the change in salinity kill my bacteria?
2. Anything I can do to help the filters cope with all the new fish? Other than monitoring ammonia levels and water changes?
3. I'm getting 5 puffers, and was looking at Bumble Bee Gobies. How many of them could I have?
4. I'm looking into other brackish Gobies/Blennies. I want to list all possible choices for Saturday, so I can see what he has. So far I've got..
BBG
Rhinohorn Gobies
Zebra Blennies

I have no clue as to how many I could stock of what, but in a perfect world I'd love to have my puffers, a few BBGs, and maybe a pair of some other kind of Goby/Blenny. My tank is sand with lots of rock with hidey holes and large fake plants.

I'm looking for any thing else that would work in my tank. Obviously I know puffers are mean little buggers, and I'm looking for things that won't draw there attention too much. If there really isn't anything else, that's fine. I just know this guy supposedly has some pretty unique stuff and if there's something else that would work I'd like to see if he has it. So, any suggestions are welcome!

 

[iliveinazoo]

So on Saturday I will be visiting a fish suppliers warehouse to have a peek around and possibly complete my long awaited puffer fish tank. The guy who owns the place is a friend of my brothers, and the deals are too freaking amazing to pass up. The tank (55gal) was originally set up for South American Puffers, but those have proved to hard to find. So now I'm with plan B. Figure Eight Puffers.
Tomorrow I plan on taking my current fish to my LFS and switching my tank to a salinity of 1.003-1.005.
I really need to get any fish I plan on getting on Saturday, since I don't think I'll be going back. That means quite a few fish at one time, and I'm nervous about ammonia spikes...
So here are a few questions....
1. Will the change in salinity kill my bacteria?
2. Anything I can do to help the filters cope with all the new fish? Other than monitoring ammonia levels and water changes?
3. I'm getting 5 puffers, and was looking at Bumble Bee Gobies. How many of them could I have?
4. I'm looking into other brackish Gobies/Blennies. I want to list all possible choices for Saturday, so I can see what he has. So far I've got..
BBG
Rhinohorn Gobies
Zebra Blennies

I have no clue as to how many I could stock of what, but in a perfect world I'd love to have my puffers, a few BBGs, and maybe a pair of some other kind of Goby/Blenny. My tank is sand with lots of rock with hidey holes and large fake plants.

I'm looking for any thing else that would work in my tank. Obviously I know puffers are mean little buggers, and I'm looking for things that won't draw there attention too much. If there really isn't anything else, that's fine. I just know this guy supposedly has some pretty unique stuff and if there's something else that would work I'd like to see if he has it. So, any suggestions are welcome!

You would be about fully stocked with 4 Figure 8's. With Bumblebee Gobies I've noted that NMonks recommends 1 BBG for every 20cm diameter circle that you can physically place on the base of the tank and in my experience with the fish it won't be far off because they will whittle themselves down quite quickly if you add too many. More Brackish fish that you could look at for low salinity:
1. Knight Gobies.
2. Half beaks, but they are aggressive and you may need a shoal of 6 or so to keep the aggression among themselves.
3. Orange Chromides, if you get a breeding pair they might also turn out to be bullies.
4. I can't decide if a single Toxotes Microlepsis will be too large for a F8 puffer, it definately would be for the smaller gobies.

Zebra Blennies may require higher salinities for long term health but I'll let someone with some actual experience with them chime in.

 

[McCool]

So on Saturday I will be visiting a fish suppliers warehouse to have a peek around and possibly complete my long awaited puffer fish tank. The guy who owns the place is a friend of my brothers, and the deals are too freaking amazing to pass up. The tank (55gal) was originally set up for South American Puffers, but those have proved to hard to find. So now I'm with plan B. Figure Eight Puffers.
Tomorrow I plan on taking my current fish to my LFS and switching my tank to a salinity of 1.003-1.005.
I really need to get any fish I plan on getting on Saturday, since I don't think I'll be going back. That means quite a few fish at one time, and I'm nervous about ammonia spikes...
So here are a few questions....
1. Will the change in salinity kill my bacteria?
2. Anything I can do to help the filters cope with all the new fish? Other than monitoring ammonia levels and water changes?
3. I'm getting 5 puffers, and was looking at Bumble Bee Gobies. How many of them could I have?
4. I'm looking into other brackish Gobies/Blennies. I want to list all possible choices for Saturday, so I can see what he has. So far I've got..
BBG
Rhinohorn Gobies
Zebra Blennies

I have no clue as to how many I could stock of what, but in a perfect world I'd love to have my puffers, a few BBGs, and maybe a pair of some other kind of Goby/Blenny. My tank is sand with lots of rock with hidey holes and large fake plants.

I'm looking for any thing else that would work in my tank. Obviously I know puffers are mean little buggers, and I'm looking for things that won't draw there attention too much. If there really isn't anything else, that's fine. I just know this guy supposedly has some pretty unique stuff and if there's something else that would work I'd like to see if he has it. So, any suggestions are welcome!

You would be about fully stocked with 4 Figure 8's. With Bumblebee Gobies I've noted that NMonks recommends 1 BBG for every 20cm diameter circle that you can physically place on the base of the tank and in my experience with the fish it won't be far off because they will whittle themselves down quite quickly if you add too many. More Brackish fish that you could look at for low salinity:
1. Knight Gobies.
2. Half beaks, but they are aggressive and you may need a shoal of 6 or so to keep the aggression among themselves.
3. Orange Chromides, if you get a breeding pair they might also turn out to be bullies.
4. I can't decide if a single Toxotes Microlepsis will be too large for a F8 puffer, it definately would be for the smaller gobies.

Zebra Blennies may require higher salinities for long term health but I'll let someone with some actual experience with them chime in.

Thank you! The 5 puffer thing was a recommendation from nmonks, as more puffers would help spread the aggression. The zebra blennies were also his idea
I was actually looking into Knight Gobies last night, but I'm afraid they may eat the BBGs.

 

[nmonks]

They will.

Cheers, Neale

I was actually looking into Knight Gobies last night, but I'm afraid they may eat the BBGs.

 

[McCool]

They will.

Cheers, Neale

I was actually looking into Knight Gobies last night, but I'm afraid they may eat the BBGs.

Ah, Dang. Maybe I could do a group of three knights? Really all depends on what the guy has in stock.

 

[nmonks]

Knights are liable to be nipped by Figure-8s; BBGs may not be the biggest fish but they do seem to be a reliable companion for these puffers.

Cheers, Neale

 

[McCool]

Knights are liable to be nipped by Figure-8s; BBGs may not be the biggest fish but they do seem to be a reliable companion for these puffers.

Cheers, Neale

Wouldn't want that! I think I'll just go with BBG and maybe see if he has the other two you mentioned. Thank you!

PS... Should I be more careful with my acclimation if they have been kept in fresh? I usually put the fish in a bucket with their water, and pour a bit of tank water in every 10 minutes or so, and then make sure they are same temp. Should I do anything different?

 

[nmonks]

What you describe will be fine for brackish water fish. You're only making the water slightly brackish, (1.002-1.004) but I'd make the adjustment in the aquarium from freshwater to SG 1.002 in one go, add the fish, and then over the next few weeks, make salinity changes as needs be across a month. That'd give the filter bacteria time to adjust. There's no rush, and you can keep the fish at 1.002 for a couple weeks, then a couple weeks at SG 1.003, and so on.

Cheers, Neale

PS... Should I be more careful with my acclimation if they have been kept in fresh? I usually put the fish in a bucket with their water, and pour a bit of tank water in every 10 minutes or so, and then make sure they are same temp. Should I do anything different?

 

[McCool]

What you describe will be fine for brackish water fish. You're only making the water slightly brackish, (1.002-1.004) but I'd make the adjustment in the aquarium from freshwater to SG 1.002 in one go, add the fish, and then over the next few weeks, make salinity changes as needs be across a month. That'd give the filter bacteria time to adjust. There's no rush, and you can keep the fish at 1.002 for a couple weeks, then a couple weeks at SG 1.003, and so on.

Cheers, Neale

PS... Should I be more careful with my acclimation if they have been kept in fresh? I usually put the fish in a bucket with their water, and pour a bit of tank water in every 10 minutes or so, and then make sure they are same temp. Should I do anything different?

Will do! Just don't want to shock or stress anything
Thanks for the help!