New Brackish Aquarium

[xxReidxx]

would a burrfish work in this tank? and how long would it take for him to get to his max size of 10 inches?

and would it be harder to maintain saltwater than brackish or no?

[CoreyK]

Basically, it's considerably more expensive to do a marine setup "right" (that is, with live rock, a protein skimmer, etc.). It is more difficult than brackish. I would definitely not recommend a saltwater tank as a starter tank, especially not with a relatively delicate fish like a puffer, and certainly not a burrfish.

Besides, a burrfish will need a ~90 gallon+ full marine setup.
Two GSP's will need a larger tank than a 55g, they get pretty big and need a lot of space. One would probably be very happy in a 55g, but remember that a GSP will need a high-end brackish tank within a year or two. A high end brackish tank is no more difficult than a low-end brackish tank, except for the cost of additional salt.
Many people take their GSP's to full marine conditions so that they can have the water quality benefits of live rock and protein skimmers, which is very expensive, but not "necessary".

@ either 46 or 55 gallons, your brackish options are: one GSP, one Ceylon, or 2-3 Figure 8's. There are a variety of freshwater puffers that would work as well, and a few marine puffers (Tobys).

Tankmates for a GSP or Ceylon are tough because few fish will thrive in high-end brackish. If you choose to go full marine there are a lot of options.
Brackish tankmates common for Figure 8's include BBG's and Knight Gobies, depending on the temperament of the puffer(s). Although in my experience I'd find it suprising for a Figure 8 to bother an adult knight goby much as they're quite territorial themselves. Orange chromides (cichlids) are also an option.

As for a filter, hang-ons work fine, but personally after going to a canister filter I will never go back to a hang-on for a "serious" tank (I still use a hang-on for my snail tank). They are less maintenance, stealthier and quieter, though generally more expensive.

[Pufferpunk]

Many people take their GSP's to full marine conditions so that they can have the water quality benefits of live rock and protein skimmers, which is very expensive, but not "necessary".

Actually, I found this not to be necessarily true. You can buy live rock & sand, even a used skimmer from a local reefer. Way less than the 50% weekly WC I did on my 55g, costing me 10 cups of salt/WC.

[xxReidxx]

okay so if i got a ceylon and found a small fish or two that could live in high end brackish i think ill go with that because the ceylons have a more ball-shape than gsp's do.

[Pufferpunk]

I found them to be shaped identicaly.

[spoot]

Pretty much the same shape really. Ceylons are a bit hard to find too. Make sure you understand just how much salt is needed for highend brackish water changes.

[Pufferpunk]

Yeah, on my 55g, it took 10 cups of salt/week!

[xxReidxx]

How many cups are in 160 gallons? because it only costs like $40 to get 160 gallons of instant ocean. Also, if i go full marine could i have a small eel in there or would the puffers pick on it. and what is the conversion for cups of salt per gallon to raise the salinity by .05 oh yeah and would a 75 be okay for a burr because a 75 would fit well into my living space

[xxReidxx]

anyone?

[Nick]

160 gallons is how much water the salt in one bucket of instant ocean makes. It's actually 5 gallons of salt.

[xxReidxx]

oh... but how many cups do i need to raise the salinity .5 per gallon?

[spoot]

you need about half a cup per gallon to raise the S.G. by 0.025.

Those are the instructions on the Instant Ocean bucket. You will need a device to measure the specific gravity (hydrometer, or refractometer) or something to measure the salinity (digital salinity meter).

[xxReidxx]

pufferpunk how much of the water did u change each week? and what was your salinity at.....

anyway does anyone else know if you can keep a GSP or ceylon with a eel?

[xxReidxx]

would i be better off gettting a fluval cannister filter? and if so which one? or would i want to stick with a plain filter

[Corvus]

anyway does anyone else know if you can keep a GSP or ceylon with a eel?

It could work if you got a peaceful Ceylon and a peaceful eel. Hard to predict, impossible to guarantee. Consider the following:

Smaller piscivorous eels like dragon, juwel and stout morays will kill and eat the puffer in most cases, at least mine would without a doubt. As far as I know they are immune to puffer poison.

Brackish water eels like G. tile, which could be kept in a 55, are also known fish killers and have taken chunks out of adult scats, monos and archers, even attacked rock cods. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_4/ ... r_eels.htm

Commonly traded Zebra and snowflake eels get pretty large und need large quarters (55 is inadequate). Adult 2.5 ft snowflakes may become fisheaters (they even develop serrated teeth when becoming adults), although they mostly eat crustacenas, an adult Ceylon puffer is not on the safe side of the size scale. Even large zebra morays have crushed fish to death (they don't have pointed teeth), but that is the exception, not the rule.

Small or delicate eels (garden, ribbon, ghost etc.) on the other hand would likely be harassed by many Ceylon puffers.