puffer queries

[nsmore]

so well now my ceylon puffer has spent his first 10 days in my 15g i've not given it away he is perfectly happy very active follows my finger a little bit (i.e. i guess because he's hungry)
just fed him his first snail a little while ago avialability issues but will get quite abundance in some days later will be breeding my own
he will be shifted in a 45 g in 6 months once my girlfriend comes back from college ad we setup her tank
so the guy is a 4-4.5 incher i wanted to know if he'll be ok in the 15 g till then and also can i feed him snails only because he got very happy when i gave him the snail and the guy hates pellets like crazy he did not eat or ate very little for all the days he was did not try worms or blood worms or anything like that though

and i know i'm gonna hear a big no for this but do you think dwarf puffers can go along with tetras???
i've ot a 25 g planted cube and would love to put in a pair of dwarfs in that but also already have plans for tetras in it and won't be dumping them right now it has a pair of neon gourami's a golden algae eater a lemon tetra and a hillstream loach and it is medium planted....

[nsmore]

ok i just read bertie83 comment on another post

please bare in mind puffers should not be mixed with other fish full stop.

so that is a fullstop for one of my questions lolz
and yet agian i have a different question
i know puffing up is not good for the puffer but i won't deny that i want to see mine puffed up once i know im going to get bashed up pretty bad for this but is there a relatively safe way to make him puff up sorry if i offend someone but i cannot resist the temptation and also i've read it somewhere puffers can only puff up 4-5 times in their lifetime is it true.
and if puffing up is fatal for the fish im not going to try anything like that at all anyways

[trekenk]

Hi nsmore at 4" he should be in a larger tank by now. We suggest 55 gallon minimum. You really are running the risk of stunting and permanent damage in that 15 gallon. What salinity do you have him in right now? Good luck with him. You should never ever try to make a puffer puff. Some will puff for practice while other people say they have never seen their puffers puff. Just watch and enjoy him and you just might catch him puffing one of these days. Work on getting a 55 gallon or big is your main concern right now.

[nsmore]

well i just might have to give him away then because i already have 2 55 g tank but one has oscar in it while other has discus well that would be very sad :'(
also i don't think i'll hand him back to the lfs because the poor soul was kept in a 10 g over there if it cannot wait for another 6 months i'll put a word with my fish friends and see who can properly house him
about the salanity i do not have that meter thing you use for the salanity and i was not intending to get a brackish fish so i added salt as much as i was advised by a fish buddy who keeps a marine tank he told me to get this specific spoon from a general store and add 3 spoons well not the best of the methods but seems to be working
thanks for the quick reply appreciated

[puffykid]

Did you only put in 3 teaspoons? If at all possible I suggest going to pick up a hydrometer to find out the salinity, it's really unsafe to randomly raise the salinity because it can cause the tank to cycle if changed more than .002 a week. I don't think you could keep him in a 15 for very long at all, he would have no way to exercise at all in that tank and you would probably have to start dealing with health problems for the guy from stress and bad water conditions.


puffers don't always puff up only when they are scared, often when they are young they well do a test puff in where they just try it out. If you were to get a red eye puffer for that 15g or some dwarf puffers would fit comfortably in there. You can make a beautiful forest with plastic plants too.

[Pufferpunk]

At this point, I think he needs to re-home this fish. Messing with the delicate bacteria of this tank by adding salt is not a good idea. Adding a 4" fish to a 15g (uncycled?) tank is sure eventual death for this fish.

[nsmore]

ya i do think i will have to let it go eventually because i do not want to see him suffer so also im not giving it back to the lfs cause i know where he'll end up either with someone like me who is not experienced to deal with this guy or maybe in the 10g i will get hydrometer over the weekend as i'm quite impressed by this awesome new fish i found man i love puffers now well the tank was cycled but i failed to notice that adding salt would kill the bacteria.i will get some other puffer eventually it would be a pain to let this guy go though i love the activity dwarfs are freshwater right do i have any options open in 15 g brackish because all my tanks are freshwater and i want to expand and experience the brackish tanks

[bertie 83]

F8 puffer, 15g min. Low end brackish. The only thing being is your tank will not hold 15g, would you consider a 20g?

[nsmore]

actually i do think i have a 19 g tank so i think ill can house the guy in that tank the only thing is he wont b in my room but in the living room well thats ok still my fish lol
ok i got a hydrometer and also got in touch with a guy who says he can house my fish but only after 6 july well i guess he stays with me for a final few days
about the hydrometer it is the one that you have to dip in the water and take a reading has a thermometer on it it's giving me a reading of just above 1 i think it is broke any way to comfirm???

[nsmore]

in case anyone is wondering i've got 2x56g tanks 2x19g tanks 2x15g tanks 1 25 planted cube and a 4g nano planted long tank which im setting up currently
ya im crazy that way

[puffykid]

Hows he doing? That was really fast on finding him a new home, and this way you still get to spend some time with him.


Which hydrometer do you got? Is it the instant ocean one? I use that one too it works and seems accurate. If you are getting a bit above one, I am guessing you mean the tank? Well you did say you added in 3 spoons of salt (marine salt, table salt, aquarium salt?) that's probably what it is, make sure you wash it out with warm water before and after each use for it to stay accurate (regardless of brand) and make sure when you are doing the reading to put it down on a flat surface. Go down to it's level to read, in order to get an accurate reading. Test with tap water that should be 1.000

[nsmore]

well my hydrometer is a local one not ocean i was actually trying to find the one in which you have to fill water but did not get that so i bought the other type that you have to put directly in the tank it seems to be accurate it reads 1.00 in tap water i am only sceptical because it does not give a reading very different from the tap water in the tank water i guess 3 tablespoons in 15 g is not that great amount of salt
and my lfs has got dwarf puffer in stock finally i've told the guy to hang on to 3 pair currently i have got no tank so i guess i finally am getting a suitable puffer
as for salt i used to use aquarium salt then i was advised to use natural sea salt and i found out there are salt pans at an hour's drive from where i stay and i've been using that salt for maybe 6 months now i added the same salt in the puffer's tank the salt has done wonders curing my fishes

[RTR]

"Aquarium salt" is meaningless. There is no legal or common definition, nor does any brand I have seen offer an analysis of the contents.

"Sea salt" is not suitable for BW or SW fish. It will not support life, but is excellent for culinary use. There are irreversible chemical reactions in the concentrating brines as the water evaporates from salt ponds which make it unsuitable for marine and brackish life forms.

You should use only commercial marine mix to make brackish or salt water.

[puffykid]

Here is some more information in regards to what RTR wrote about aquarium salt.

http://theaquariumwiki.com/The_Salt_of_the_Earth goes through the different salts