Puffers ... Turning Fresh Water ---> Brackish

[piranha_tim]

I am really interested in Puffers.

Just so you know I am looking to get either a Green Spotted or a Figure 8

Does anyone have a moment to tell me the process of changing fresh water to brackish water?

 

[kj23502]

get some marine salt(not regular aquarium salt), a bucket to mix in, a powerhead in the bucket to constantly stir it in for ya, a heater and a hydrometer


Put your water in the bucket add a little salt(to little is better than to much), wait a little while to make sure it mixes in and to let it heat up to the same temp as it will be in the tank (sg readings are different at different temps). test it and if it tests good pour in into the fish tank. Don't do large sg changes if the fish are in there though. Bad for the fish.

 

[piranha_tim]

Nope fish not in the tank ... So buy marine salt ... how do I work out what the measurements should be?

 

[kj23502]

It depends on how much water you're mixing with. Try a bit and see where it stands. Starting off it's trickier b/c you have to find the right amount instead of after a while when you kinda know.

===edit
do a search in the sw section to find more info on mixing it

 

[piranha_tim]

So I am def thinking a green spotted puffer ...

Would this be ok?

50G 36" x 18" x 18"
Crushed Coral Substrate (buffer the 7.6Ph I have naturally) or would sand be better?
Well planted.
Maybe some large rocks to change the enviroment.
and some Bog wood.

How does this sound?

 

[Bonsai_girl]

Sounds good - minimum of 30 US gal tank needed per GSP

Remember to acclimatise the GSP properly when you get it home - either match the salinity of the LFS (assuming you're lucky enough to find one that keeps their GSPs in brackish ) or drip acclimate. Most people get ones having been kept in FW at the LFS, and it's recommended you raise the SG by .002 per week to acclimatise.

Once adults, they thrive in full marine conditions

Remember you need excellent filtration as they're messy feeders and sensitive to nitrites etc

 

[piranha_tim]

Will do ... so to understand what you saying is IF I can find out the Salt Levels from the fish store I can match it if not I should start fresh and increase slowly?

 

[kj23502]

Brackish fish are a lot more able to cope w/changes in salinity than others. Brackish conditions can change extensively in just a couple of hours in the wild. I wouldn't nec. say drip acclimate is needed. Take a scoop of tank water lets say 1/4 cup and put it in the back that the gsp's in and then add more in a little bit.

 

[Bonsai_girl]

Hehe, don't worry - here's a potted version

Salinity is measured in specific gravity (SG). The more salt > the higher the SG.

Freshwater is basically 1.000 SG. Low-end brackish is about 1.005 - 1.008 SG.

It's recommended that GSPs are kept in water with an SG of around 1.015 (high-end brackish). When I keep brackish puffers, I try to match the SG of the lfs and then raise or lower them slowly to whatever SG is recommended for that species....at a rate of 1.002 per week.


Most lfs don't keep brackish puffers in brackish water - this is either because they just don't understand the puffers in their care or because many brackish puffers are actually freshwater in the wild (or move between the two), whereas in capitivity those same puffers seem to thrive in brackish and struggle or suffer in freshwater. As far as I know, no-one really understand why this is, but puffers are being studied a lot these days so there should be more information available in the future

Have you bought a hydrometer yet? You'll need one to measure SG

If I were you, I'd either ask the lfs what SG their GSPs are kept in (they should know this). If they turn out to actually have been kept in freshwater, you should mimic that at home and raise the SG by 1.002 each week as part of water changes (drip acclimate the puffer each time).

One final thing - is your tank fully cycled?

If anything's not clear, just ask Feel free to PM me too.

 

[andywg]

Salinity is measured in specific gravity (SG). The more salt > the higher the SG.

<pedant>

Salinity is measured in parts per thousand. The relative weight of a liquid compared to pure water is described as specific gravity.

</pedant>

 

[Bonsai_girl]

Salinity is measured in specific gravity (SG). The more salt > the higher the SG.

<pedant>

Salinity is measured in parts per thousand. The relative weight of a liquid compared to pure water is described as specific gravity.

</pedant>

<even_more_pedantic>

Preferably parts per million or practical salinity units (PSU)

</even_more_pedantic>

Neither of which is gonna help a complete newbie

 

[piranha_tim]

Any help is good.

 

[Bonsai_girl]

Have you bought a hydrometer?

 

[Mr._Fishy]

So I am def thinking a green spotted puffer ...

Would this be ok?

50G 36" x 18" x 18"
Crushed Coral Substrate (buffer the 7.6Ph I have naturally) or would sand be better?
Well planted.
Maybe some large rocks to change the enviroment.
and some Bog wood.

How does this sound?

If you must use bogwood be sure to boil or soak it first to remove the tannin. If not, the tannin will slowly be released into the water counteracting the effect of the crushed coral.

 

[piranha_tim]

I am going to be honest .. I am nervous about the whole salt water thing ... only mainly because I can't seem to define how I would measure salt.