Urgent! Which fish to buy tomorrow?!?!

[Ditka]

So...
I am 2.5 hrs from my house & fish tank. I am visiting my girlfriend and there are actual fish stores down here that deal in more than Cichlids. Went to scope out the fish store to day to look at stock....
I am trying to fill a 29g tank that is cycled, and empty, and i was thinking of transitioning to Brackish.
I was planning to put 2 x Figure 8 puffers, and 3-5 x Bumble bee gobies.
the fish store had 0 bumble bee gobies, and only 2 x Figure 8 puffers which did not appear to be in the best of health (one has ich) and were very large (approx. 2in long) and i am therefore assuming old.(they were not swimming much/quickly and were weakly swimming into the stream of the power head (looking for oxygen?) , one had relatively good coloration, the other was pretty dark in color (which i have read means bad health). Should i bother with these guys? Would they perk up in new fresh water? Would they survive the 2.5 hour drive?
The store also had 5 x Green Spotted Puffer. These guys mostly looked to be in good health and were still small at approx. 1" long(young?). I know that eventually the GSP's will need 30 gallons a piece and to be in full marine water but will they be ok in my 29 gallon for, say, 2-3 years?

so, my questions is, should i lean towards the GSP's or the larger(older?) Figure 8's? anything particular to be on the lookout for? Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance!!!

[Myaj]

Honestly, I would pass.

No sense in buying fish from a store that allows them to be sick, save your money for a better store. There's some pretty decent stores in SW Michigan, at least there was back when I lived there, hehe.

Keep in mind a 29 only really holds 25 gallons of water, minus decor and gravel.. so I wouldn't try to put a GSP in one for long term.. if you plan on upgrading within a year and can be honest with yourself that you WILL do it, then maybe.

[Ditka]

thanks for the quick response!
I could not to commit to upgrading the tank before two years from now. I have yet to finish college and would not be able to upgrade to a larger tank until i have graduated. So i guess the GSP idea is out.

Any other suggestions on prospective puffers for a 29g?

[Myaj]

If you want freshwater and can find them, I think modestus/silus are VERY attractive and interesting fish.

Otherwise, I'd probably go with one Figure 8 and maybe 3 bumblebee gobies, or two figure 8 puffers and no gobies.

[Ditka]

Thanks for the replies!
I did not end up buying any fish. patience is a virtue... an annoying one.
The Figure 8 puffers they had looked to be nearly full grown and none of them looked to be all that healthy so they were immediately nixed. I seriously considered a single Green Spotted Puffer, just because the lil' guys they had at the store were so energetic and cute but decided 1 fish in a 29g tank would look so lonely i just couldn't do it. i do know that Figure 8's and Bumble Bee goby's are brackish fish. Most stores sell them from fresh water tanks. Thus i have my tank Cycled and set up as fresh water... with a bucket of marine salt sitting next to it. I will gradually increase the salinity of the water to the desired 1.005 sg after the fish have been in the tank for at least a week.

As far as where i am going to get fish from. Before buying my tank/supplies i went into a small Saltwater fish and invert. shop in my home town before purchasing anything and he recommended a little niche store about an hour from where i live to get brackish fish. I will be calling them tomorrow as they are open tues-sat. The reason i tried to go for the 2.5 hour drive as opposed to the 1 hour drive is because i was thinking that the stores in the larger city would have a better selection so i should hopefully be able to pick out the healthiest, most aesthetically pleasing fish. so much for that plan. In the mean time i will keep my eye out for plants and rocks and decorate the tank. I know that there is a limited variety of plants that tolerate brackish and those are what i will be looking for.

Just to verify my thinking is correct. The larger Figure 8 puffers i saw that seemed unhealthy were probably relatively old?
also, Should healthy Figure 8 Puffers be just as energetic as healthy Green Spotted Puffers?

Thanks again!

[J-P]

I am glad you got a solid answer to four F8 + gobi question

[m-bertelson]

if you havent bought your fish yet make sure you keep them around 80 degrees on the way home it would be a shame to loose them after driving so fare to get them this happened to me with an angelfish after driving an hour home from the pet store. If I buy fish now in the winter I put them in a soft sided cooler its easier on them to travel in the dark buttocks well.

[Ditka]

Update:

I have had a fish-store an hour from my house order 2 figure 8 puffers and 3 bumble bee gobys for me!!!
I plan on transporting them in an igloo cooler and will have a digital oven thermometer in the cooler and some of those hand warmer packet things on hand in case the temp drops. I have the tank cycled in fresh water and that is what the fish have been in at the store.

How long after the fish entering the tank should i wait to start increasing the salinity?

oh yeah, I pick up the fish on Tuesday!!!!

Thanks again puffer forum! I would definitely have killed some fish if i had not found this site... and i would have put 5 or 6 GSP's in a 29 gallon tank...

[Pufferpunk]

I'd give them a week to settle in, before raising the SG.