gsp or ceylon and how best to cycle and decorate tank

[indie]

hey guys, ive finally been given the all clear to get a trigon 350 / 76 gallon tank.
just need some money now...
but im still debating wether or not i want to put a ceylon or a green spotted puffer in there. which one is the most active? as i would rather have one that is active than just sitting on the bottom of the tank all day. id also prefer one with as much character as possible.

or does this vary between puffers rather than type?

also, the ceylons at my lfs are currently in freshwater although they have recommended to switch it to brackish, so i presume i start out at freshwater and gradually raise the salinity?
also, id like to put sand in there, but thats as far as ihave got toward decor... what is the best decor for each of these puffers? it would be nice to have live rock in there but how practical is that? and also if i could, would i have to wait for the water to be full marine first? or does live rock survive quite well?


alsoooooo.... as the tank is so big, is it ok to have one of each puffer in there, or can i only do 2 of the same species?


oh and also, my lfs didnt seem to be able to tell me the best way to cycle the tank. they didnt seem to think i cud use mature filter media from my community setup... in fact they had never heard of it. could i use some mature filter media from my community setup to cucle the tank? or is there another method of doing this, perhaps running a filter along side my current one for a few weeks? the lfs thought this was a bad idea as it would under filter my current one or something?
they mentioned i think bio spira, the bacteria thing thats meant to cycle your tank in 48 hrs... does this actually work?

ok too many questions, but if someone can provide advice on some of these that would be great.

[Nick]

both are hunters not lurkers, that should satisfy the "active" need. The ceylon would get a bit bigger, so two would be a tightish squeeze in there, but two GSP's would fit fine. You could probably do one of each if you wanted, there is about the right amount of space, they are compatably sized, and they both go from high end brackish to full marine as adults. If the tank will be set up high end brackish, cycle it with Marine Biospira. It is added at the same time as your fish, and the cost is worth the lack of stressing over cycing the tank and the constant testing.

[indie]

thanks for the advice nick.
do u know if i would need to introduce both at the same time or if its better to get one followed by another shortly afterwards?

[indie]

oh just realised, the ceylon puffer is kept in freshwater at the lfs and the green spotted is kept in brackish. therefore wouldnt be able to intro at same time would i'?

[kass]

Yeah it could be done. I'm assuming you would then set your tank up as brackish, so you could then slowly drip acclimate the ceylon to your tanks SG. It wouldn't hurt to acclimate the GSP also.
As for cycling, check out the article in the library. But if you have access to biospira it is much easier than cycling.

[Hilly]

Forget about the Bio-Spira, it's not available in the UK. Go for the fishless cycle method. Waiting for the cycle to complete is going to do your head in but it will be worth it.

I like the idea of 1 Ceylon and 1 GSP. Aggression could come into play as they get bigger but if it doesn't it would be an awesome sight.

[Fella]

There is an alternative to bio-spira available in the uk,but it's both hard to find, and not widely used. It's called sol-bactinetts, and from what I can tell, it's the same as bio spira. needs to be refrigerated for use however.

I've not used it though. I always clone sponges.

[indie]

my lfs sells that live bacteria stuff. is it worth using? they recommend it and are a good lfs.
when i get the money for the tank, i;ll perhaps go have a chat with them.

could i not use mature filter media from my current freshwater community?

[Hilly]

Most bacteria stuff LFS sell are nigh on useless. Using mature filter media, from your other tank will work. I did this recently. Cloned a Fluval 2 Plus, used 1 sponge from that and put a fresh one in each and then shifted it over to the new tank when I put the fish in.

If you do this, keep an eye on the water parameters for a while though as I did get dome nitrite and ammonia readings. Seems the bacteria in the filter just wasnt quite enough. After a few weeks its all good now though. I assume more bacteria has seeded in the substrate and wherever else it clings on to.

[indie]

hi hilly, did u only use one sponge from the mature filter? or did u use more?
i presume u would have to add the fish within 48 hrs so the bacteria didnt die?

[Hilly]

The Fluval 2 Plus only has 2 sponges, so I could only use the one. I added the filter as I was floating the fish.

If you can use more media from your established tank then all the better as long as it doesnt affect it.

[Pufferpunk]

needs to be refrigerated for use however.

You mean, before use?

my lfs sells that live bacteria stuff. is it worth using?

What's it called? Hilly's correct, anything other than Bio-Spira is bunk. I'm not sure about that sol-bactinetts stuff--can't even find it on a search--obviously no published studies on it. I wouldn't trust it.

[indie]

would the mature filter media work if i established the tank as brackish to begin with?
or would it be better to begin freshwater using the filter from the freshwater community, add the ceylon that is in freshwater at the lfs, then bring the salinity up slowly to the level that the green spotted is in at the lfs and add the green spotted?

i think i read somewhere i couldnt use the mature filter media from the freshwater if i was going to put it into a brackish tank, altho i could be way off.

[Pufferpunk]

Cycle the tank at whatever SG the puffer is at in the shop.

[Hilly]

Doing a fishless cycle at the SG the GSP is in at the shop and drip acclimating the Ceylon seems the least time consuming way of getting them both in the tank.