Yet another puffer question...

javier

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I went to the LFS today to look for a set of puffers and they have little puffers labled as Leopard Puffers. Pufferfish.co.uk has them listed as Spotted Puffers. The problem is that the LFS claims that they are strictly FW fish whereas the sites online say that they are a brackish water fish. I am almost certain that the LFS is running them in a strictly FW tank. I don't know what to do about my home setup. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Javier
 
We recently purchased a Green Spotted Puffer also labled as a Leopard Puffer. You really have to do your homework, look at lots of pictures before the purchase. By doing this, you will be able to identify the puffer and it's special needs. Apparently Green Spotted Puffers are ok in fresh water when young, but will need brackish water as they age. We are working the salinity of his tank up to the 1.002 that is outlined in the article at the top of this forums page. Unfortunately, many aquarists are more knowledgeable than LFS clerks.
 
Hi javier

pondfreak4365 is absolutely correct. It seems that there are not too many lfs that know how to identify and care for the various puffer species properly, which is one of the reasons you really need to do homework when thinking of puffers (my first ones were impulse buys :*) , but I'm getting much better :D )
Leopard Puffers are another name for Green Spotted Puffers - Tetraodon nigrifilis, also known as Spotted Puffer, Tetraodon palenbangensis, Green Puffer, Tetraodon fluviatilis, Tetraodon nigroviridis, not to mention all the other names fish stores make up...confusing ain't it. :S
I would follow pondfreak4365's recomendation and raise the specific gravity up to between 1.002 and 1.008 over the course of a couple weeks. You can buy a Hydrometer to measure the SG at most lfs.
I have seen GSP owners report that as juveniles the GSP's did well in FW butas they matured their puffers were eventually climatized to full marine conditions.
 
edit: :eek: triple posted...Ok I'll use this space to answer the question below :D

Also will this have any adverse effects on my live plants (sorry for the newbie question, I haven't dealt with a brackish water set up before)?
From what I've read there are a few plants like Java Fern that can stand BW, but maybe post in the plant section for more expert advise :D
 
Thanks for the help guys, so you think I should start off as freshwater and over the course of a month or so raise the salinity? Also will this have any adverse effects on my live plants (sorry for the newbie question, I haven't dealt with a brackish water set up before)?

Thanks again for the help,

Javier

-Im going to try and add more smilies to my posts, it seems I need to add a bit of color to them lol :D
 

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