Green Puffer from Walmart...heh

[Pufferpunk]

Great news! Just keep up with those WC until you get it set up. Don't worry about fishless cycling. Ty to get Dr Tim's to instant cycle the tank. Order it now from DFS. Don't forget their rebates!

[kilofey]

goodness gracious! you didnt order it brand new did you??? can you still cancel?
have you tried craigslist? you could get yourself probably an entire set up for less than a new tank costs with nothing in it... just a tip, i personally would never buy new tanks just because you can save hundreds for used ones that look just as nice.... i bought a 55gal for 50 bucks, another 55gal for 100 bucks and a 16 gal bowfront for $10 off craigslist... and they were complete and ready to go... the 55 even had fish in it (which i sold and made some money off)

just a little advice, hope it helped... hope it didnt piss you off knowing you could have saved a TON of $$$

[Kungpaoshizi]

Eh, I'm not too worried about the money for something "new"..
Seemed everyone around here in Iowa wants +20% for the tank that's 6+ years old, and +30% of what the new tank actually costs lol
Dunno how that works..

Otherwise thanks again for the advice everyone, ich is pretty much gone, still got a few days to go for the timing, and they're very exuberant.

They're totally gonna look like minnows in this tank though heh...

Any suggestions for plant life? My broinlaw told me don't get live plants because of the mess, but I don't care.
I'm just trying to find some that they wouldn't necessarily eat all the time and that would create LOTS of bottom cover..
Is there a type of grass that is around appropriate for the water/fish? So the bottom of the tank is a few inches nice grass they can hide in? Or am I sol for some type of evenly growing cover?

[LilGreenPuffer]

There are no plants that will survive the salinity change up to high brackish. You'll need to use other types of decorations.

[Myaj]

Very true, there are many plants that live in freshwater, only a few in brackish, then marine has its own group of "macroalgaes".

So since you'll be raising the salinity over time, its probably best to go with fake for now, and when the day comes that you are at 1.016+ you could start introducing macoalgaes if you desire.

[Kungpaoshizi]

Thanks again for the help everyone, looks like we might be out of the woods
As you can see the color is doing much better, and the fins are looking spectacular!
But the bottom right picture I think one got mad lol, no aquarium lights yet, and I think after awhile they got annoyed by the flash lol....

Thought ya might like to see though~

Anyone have any suggestions for lighting? Led vs fluorescent vs incandescent(heard it's the worst)?

But yes, thanks again so much everyone, they're looking and acting much better than the first day from WalMart!
I've even seen one of them puff up a couple times! It was way to fast to get the camera though lol

[SammyDee]

Very true, there are many plants that live in freshwater, only a few in brackish, then marine has its own group of "macroalgaes".

So since you'll be raising the salinity over time, its probably best to go with fake for now, and when the day comes that you are at 1.016+ you could start introducing macoalgaes if you desire.

Please tell me more about macro algaes I am at 1.018 right now I ready start using my sump now too. Whats there purpose? how to introduce them? Is coraline algae a macro algae? whats the difference in fw AND sw