Well, I stumbled upon a tank labeled "leopard puffers - $9.99" and idk something about them caught my eye. and I just had to have one. So I talked to the shop keep and he assured me they weren't super easy to care for but weren't necessarily the hardest. and began to educate me on what brackish meant etc. Recommended a 15 gallon tank kit, all the proper water additives, salt, and explained to me how to get the tank up and running. Told me to get the salinity set and let the tank cycle for 4-7 days and come back with a water sample to see if the tank was ready to receive fish.
Here is where I believe I was misled. I decided to do some research while I waited the week for the tank to cycle. When I google "leopard puffer" it always seems to point exclusively to the green spotted puffer. but the puffer fish at the local store did not look like the GSP at all. I stumbled upon figure eight puffers and bingo. the puffers at the local store were F8's no doubt. I guess that's not so much of a big deal. but when I initially purchased my 15 gallon tank and spoke with the shop keep, I just assumed these puffers were like any other fish (in that I could have more than one in a single tank) and asked "how many puffers will this tank accommodate" as I wanted more than one. I also figured it was not big deal as the shop kept about 6-7 juveniles in a single tank that could not have been bigger than 30 gallon. The shop keep told me, that this 15 gallon tank could handle up to 4 of these F8 puffers comfortably. Which is the part that I believe is a bigger deal, as I thought "alright cool" and when the time came to put fish in my tank, I purchased 3 of these juvenile F8 puffers. The fish have been in my tank 3 days as of the posting of this.
From what I have gathered this is a particularly bad idea, as 15 gallon is not enough room for each fish to have their own "space" as it were. I still have very limited knowledge of these fish and am learning daily. I do not want to stress these fish and shorten their life. They don't seem to be exhibiting any signs of stress as of yet. I was talking with a co worker today about this situation and he informed me, by happenstance, his wife is into aquariums, and has a spare 55 gallon tank that she would be willing to sell me if I needed it. they offered my a VERY reasonable deal. I am almost certain upgrading to the larger tank would be very much ideal for my three F8s.
I can't tell you much about my water as I do not have anything to test the water nor was I recommended any such testing devices by the local shop. They did however test my water the day I picked up the puffers and told me everything was all good. Currently my salinity level is 1.010. when I picked up my fish they told me they have been keeping the puffers at a salinity level of 1.014-15. which seemed a little high for these fish from what I gathered online but again, I'm no expert. I made sure to properly acclimate them to the salinity of my tank.
Any advice would be much appreciated! hopefully its not too late
