Help! I can't decide which puffers to go for.

[zxr]

Please help. i have a 72 UK Gallon tank that has just been set up. ( so i have a few weeks to decide).

I'm torn between

* GSP's
* F8's
* SAP's

I first wanted GSP's because of the way they look and size. These are the ones i would ideally go for but i'm not sure about setting up a high end brackish tank. Also the costs of salt when i do water changes. I also read that GSP's do better in Marine conditions when they are adults. Money is a big factor when it comes to a full marine setup for me.

Another puffer i was looking at was the F8's, Only thing putting me off at the moment is that i want to keep more than 1 puffer (its a big tank for only one fish!) these are also brackish, so the cost of salt??

Last but not least is the SAP's. Biggest thing putting me off is what i have read about their teeth will NEED trimming roughly every 6 months despite being fed shelled food. But i do like the fact that more than one can be kept together.

Other question i have is feeding, what is a stable weekly diet of a puffer fish. I have read that their diets needs to be varied.

What substrate is best for puffers? I have looked at coral sand, Is this easy to maintain? Is this ideal?

I did look into DP's, but they would be lost in a tank of that size. (i'd like to see them from time to time)

I ideally want mainly puffers that are good for a beginner, and hopefully i can keep with well chosen other species of fish.

[Hilly]

GSP's are going to end up costing you more in the long run as they require higher bracksih conditions and then potentially full marine so you're wallet is going to feel it.

You may not be restricted to just one F8. With all that space to play with your 72UK/90US g could potentially have 6 F8's in it.You would only need to get the tank to an SG of 1.005 and then hold it there so it won't be too heavy opn the wallet compared to GSP's but you will still feel it.

A school of SAP's would be a nice sight, no salt so less harsh on the wallet. teeth trimming could come into play at some stage though so you must be prepared to do it. If you dont think you can maybe they aren't the ones for you.

Read the feeding article in the library and try and get as many of them into their diet as possible.

Substrate is more a personal preference, although F*'s and GSP's may prefer cruched coral or aragonite sand as their substrate as it would buffer the Ph and make the water harder. Anything else Gravel or normal aquarium snad its your choice.

You could have a large school of DP's in that tank. Granted on first look from across the room it would look empty but once you got close it would be a different story.

[zxr]

Thanks for the reply Hilly.

I will have to give GSP's a miss for now. I know i cant afford to give them what they need.

So it's between F8's and SAP's.

How much salt does it take to get 72 gallons to a SG of 1.005. Roughly?
What salt would i need?
Also how much water would need changing? 30%? Does this need changing weekly, biweekly?
I have a TetraTec EX1200 filter.

The teeth trimming does concern me. It does look simple enough to do but so does flying a plane.
I would be worried about hurtin the lil' fella's/fella'esses.

How many F8's or SAP's could i go for? What would be a good number to start until the tank is fully matured?

Sorry for all the questions, i just dont want to go in to this blind and end up hurting the fish. I'd like a clear picture of what is required.

edit** one last thing, how much coral sand would i need for this tank? the dimensions are 130cm x 50cm

[Hilly]

I think roughly you would need just under 3kg of marine salt to get it to 1.005.
However you can do this slowly over a periods of time. If you did a 50% weekly change at an SG of 1.005 you would need around 1.5kg to do this so you might wanna look into how much marine salt is gonna cost you before choosing this route.