Puffer questions

[faun]

I bought 2 figure 8 puffers at the weekend when i bought them i was told as they were born and raised in fresh water they would not need brackish water i am pretty sure this cant be right but i thought i would ask before introducing them to brackish water is this ok or have i been misinformed by the seller?

[cuteyiddlepuff]

Figure Eights are indeed brackish water Puffers. If your Figure Eights are in freshwater now you can increase the salinity by .001-.002 per week which will give the bacteria time to adjust to the increasing salinity. Figure Eights prefer a salinity gravity of 1.005. You can use the same filter as you would in a FW aquarium, the only that will change is plants. I prefer Java Moss balls because they do well in brackish water and need little light. You will need a hydrometer or a refractometer to measure the salinity. Hydrometers are cheaper, refractometers are more accurate. If you're going to get a hydrometer I recommend Instant Ocean brand. I recently purchased a refractometer to check the accuracy of my hydrometer, it was spot-on. Take good care of them, they are darlings.

[Agnate]

F8s live in both, but they do much better long-term if they're in the low-end brackish (as described by cuteyiddlepuff).

The question I have is, what method did you use to go about identifying them? F8s and Ceylons can look very similar to the untrained eye, and each of these puffers require different water conditions. F8s prefer low-end brackish, whereas Ceylons (and GSPs) prefer high-end brackish/marine towards their adult lives (as juveniles, however, they prefer low-end brackish).

Take a look at the pictures provided in our Puffer Library and make sure you've got a F8. I bought two "F8s", but when I got them home and posted their pictures up on this forum, everyone realized that they were actually Ceylons, hehe.

[Pufferpunk]

I'd check their ID in the Pufferpedia. If they are indeed F8s, there is a good article on them in our Library.

What size tank are they in? Did you cycle it 1st?

[faun]

I have confirmation from someone who used to keep them that they are definately F8's. They are in a 10g qt tank they will then go in my 35g as the only 2 fish with lots of real plants. The qt was cycled as just took one of the filters off my 180g with some wood and plants out of my corie tank and added them all with some water out of each of the established tanks i had. I will be putting them in brackish after hearing your advice and will try raising salinity slowly over 5 or 6 waterchanges. Thanks for all the advice.

[Pufferpunk]

library/puffers-in-focus/fig8/