Cycle fresh then increase salinity vs. cycle brackish?

[growitnow]

Hello all,

New to forum. I did a search on the forum but could not find an answer. Any feedback would we welcome. This is a great board with many helpful puff enthusiasts. I plan on getting 1 green spotted.

Question:

My LFS brings in GS and keeps in fresh water. So my options are to (a) cycle in freshwater then introduce puffer to FW and slowly raise salinity, or (b) cycle in light brackish (e.g., 1.005) then slowly acclimate puffer to my brackish water when it comes home.

(..no, I do not have other LFS that keep their GS in brackish to begin with)


Tradeoffs:
Cycle & introduce to fresh seems least stressful to fish. But yet it seems desirable to get puffer in brackish as soon as possible from LFS where it is not known how long they have been in FW (soon not meaning splashing it in there, just meaning carefully acclimate). Also, initial cycle in BW protects against biofilter disturbance if I introduce to fresh, THEN slowly raise salinity.

I have done my homework, I think, but don't have the experience to decide if one strategy is better than the other, or if it matters. Below is my intended set up. Please critique and point to my flaws!, etc.


Tank: 30 x 12 x 20 (I believe this is 30gal?)
Eheim canister, spraybar output low w/flow driven across substrate
Instant Ocean salt
aragonite substrate (bermuda pink)
3-4 powerheads w/ prefilter sponges driving RUGF
Magnum HOT
18watt UV sterilizer


So, what should I do?
Thanks for helping me treat my GS right!

growitnow

[RTR]

I generally bring home the fish and match the water from the LFS - if it was in FW, I QT in FW. Then slowly raise the salinity - which can be in QT or in the final home tank (these fish are normally singletons for me anyway). If your tap/general use water is soft and acid, I would definitely start at the end of the first week. It is not an emergency situation, it is long-term situation.

[Pufferpunk]

Same here. Plus, you can instant-cycle with Bio-Spira, for FW.

[growitnow]

RTR, thanks.

My Tap:
KH=4
GH=between 4 and 5
pH about 8.2 after degassing

Forgive the grossly redundant questions, but if I follow that tact (bring from FW LFS, put into cycled FW final tank) (a) how soon should I begin raising salinity (b) what rate of salinity increase /day? per week?

My intention would be to begin raising salinity 48hours after introduction to home tank. Then, based on other posts, raise salinity .002 per week. Each increase in salinity would occur with weekly water change. Sound about right?

Many thanks,

growitnow

[bosshogg]

I have an F8 in brackish water, he was in freshwater when I got him.
I left it two weeks so he could settle and start to accept the food I offered then increased at .002 per week.

[spoot]

Yup, raising the salinity with water changes is a good idea. Remember to fully disolve the IO (Instant Ocean) in the water change water first. Some people suggest to to make the water change water 24 hours in advance and put in a powerhead to ensure that the salt is fully disolved.

How big is the GSP that you will be getting? If its still small there is no need to raise the SG that fast. Just slowly with water changes should be sufficient, don't want to strain the new bio filter that you just created with the cycle.

[RTR]

I've always done the density increases with the routine water changes also - it is the easy way.

I am also one of the folks who pre-dissolves the salt with mixing well before it is used.

There is no rush to get the density up once the water has enough GH/KH (the latter especially) to be stable between partials. You water is pretty soft, so I would start as soon as the fish is settled and eating. This is one of the things where slower is likely better so long as the tank is stable between changes. These fish can select the density/specific gravity they "like" in the wild. In tanks IMHO & IME, stability is important. The fish can handle density changes far better than the nitrification bacteria can - the low change levels per week are to protect the bacteria primarily, and secondarily, by protecting the bacteria, to protect the fish from ammonia or nitrite.