Mixing BW Puffer Species

[spottedwonders]

hey guys!! so i was wondering could i get a figure 8 puffer to go with my green spotted? why do their bellies get black? also...aquarium salt or marine?? anyways...i forgot how to make new posts can anyone refresh my memory on how to do that? that would be awesome! anyways gotta run, chow! hehe

[SammyDee]

You could but it would be pointless bc f8 is low end brackish water and a gsp is high end BW to SW (saltwater). You need to you marine salt. Aquarium salt is really for treating ick. When I got mine they were raised from f
freshwater. After I was sure the tank was established. I began raising the salinity by .002 a week with a hydrometer. A refractomer is better thou. Hydrometer will do thou. Be sure to not raise the salinity/ SG by .002 a week. If you do u risk crashing the bio filter. And that'll makethe tank re cycle or mini cycle( just as bad IMO) take the sg eventually to high end BW or full SW. I highly recommend taking your gsp to full marine. Fw is 1.000 sg and i think 1.004 is where bw starts and marine begins around 1.020 and higher. If you don't want to spend the money on a SW tank or just the salt( everything expensive) and you still want Puffers I would go with and F8. There are some real nice FW and BW puffers. Mine live in full marine now and are happy as ever. Brighter too. The bellies get black sometime while sleeping or while stressed. Stress lines are a typical sign of off water parameters. Test frequently they need near perfect water conditions. Nitrates less than 15 at all times. Plus they're messy so you will have to be persistant with upkeep. Stressline runs horzontal across the belly where there green meets the bellys white. Black can be stress but they also can do this while the lights go out and sleep. Or to blend in to there surroundings. I recommend a white sand to encourage bright white bellys. They can also display black mustache on the sides of the mouth. This goes with the same issuesas seeing stress lines. Keep clean water. Take the sg higher with marine salt( instant ocean).

[Pufferpunk]

In addition to their different salinity requirements, GSPs are much more aggressive & grow 3x as large as the F8.

[spottedwonders]

oh thanks so much!! his belly started to get a lil black but once i put some salt in there its back to white it was never truly black just started to become it at the top. just wondering is low salt was the issue...anyways hes really happy showing good signs of health my only problem is finding baby snails...its terrible i use to have a guy that would breed them and give them to me but he doesnt anymore

[Pufferpunk]

Some salt? How much? What kind?

[SammyDee]

If I were u i'd try a few LFS in your area. Ask for ramshorn or common pond snails. I got mine for 10c each. I let em hang out in a 20g for a few months feeding them shrimp pellets and I have hundreds now. See if he'll give you some to start your own breeding tank. 10 gal or 5 gal would be fine too. I just had an extra 20g. Ask the lfs by phone or visit for pest snails like someone said above. Some places will give to you for free. My store just started charging 29c each. For dinky snails. They come in on the live plants they order. So if a store your in has live plants more than likely the have some snails. Just try not to buy the trumpet style snails. They can be too hard to break. Any snails you feed should be no bigger than their eyes. When I do a wc in my snail tank it's funny cuz I'll vacuum the gravel good and when I empty it to a container by the time I'm done a these super tiny snails attach to the container with my dirty water I dispose of and when the waters out there's a ton of babys in there. Then I just scoop then with an old playing card into the puffer tank. And they love them lil ones too the big one usually are to big to get pulled up bc of their weight.

[SammyDee]

Why does your friend breed snails. If he has a puffer too I understand bc it's nice to feed them alot of snails. But he could could still give you a few to get started. Also I believe some people order snails from eBay. Someone else can prolly recommend who to buy from so you don't get disease infested snails.

[Dadof4]

I just go t an order from Wilma about 2 weeks ago. http://www.wilmasthecause.org/index.php ... contact_us

[pufferpuggirl]

Rmashorn are so easy to breed yourself .... just need a small tank, little filter, and a 25-watt heater and you're good to go!

[spottedwonders]

wow thanks for all of ur help! i was wondering do i need a filter for my snail tank or is a bubbler just fine

--right now in the puffers tank im using aquarium salt is that ok?? or i need marine? the ppl in the fish store tell me aquarium is just fine

[PolishPuff]

Rmashorn are so easy to breed yourself .... just need a small tank, little filter, and a 25-watt heater and you're good to go!

+1

there is a great article in our librery about breeding snails