The Puffer Forum

That is a good point which I have pondered. I'm going to try it anyways and if the Bactria does indeed die I will cycle the tank over again from scratch using marine bio-spira. Hmmmm maybe I should just raise the salinity right now and go get marine bio-spira. Decisions, decisions. Or I could just got to to the other LFS that sell the GSP in fresh water and do the whole salinity raising thing with the fish in it. But, as I said before the GSP in the brackish tanks look healthier. I have 4 LFS right within minutes of my house all saying different things, hence the confusion. If you live in the Northern California area I recommend you go to ALL ABOUT FISH, the have 4-5 brackish tanks. Plus if you are into saltwater puffers you will be blown away by the amount of species they carry. I counted 4 or 5 saltwater species at this place.

It depends on the age/size of the fish. GSPs start off in freshwater and move through brackish to full marine as they get older and bigger. Ours is currently the size of my thumbnail so he's still basically a baby and is in a FW tank with some aquarium salt added. As he grows, he'll be moved to a brackish tank and then a full marine tank.

I would say that the decision should be based on the age/size of the fish and the conditions the LFS keeps it in. If they keep it in brackish, match their SG. If they keep it in FW, do the same and then you can slowly raise the salinity after that.

If the GSPs in brackish water are in the 3 inch range, and they do indeed look healtier, might as well just match the SG and use the bio-spira if you can get it.

Always try and get the healthiest specimen available.

Agreed. I have decided to match the LFS's salinity level at 1.010. I currently just have a bunch of snails in my tank and a couple gouramis that are there for cycling purposes. My current plans are to raise the salinity levels 0.001-0.002 a day. I will take out the fish and drop pure ammonia into the water to keep the Bactria alive and kicking. Or I will just leave rotting fish, dead snails, and old food to keep my ammonia levels up. Hopefully I can get lucky and the Bactria will survive the conversion.

What's a salinity of .996? FW starts at 1.000. How'd you read that, w/a refractometer? Better recalibrate it. No hurry raising the SG (unless the fish is sick)--take your time. Glad to hear you've come to the other side! :19:

Since you have access to bio-spira you really don't even have to worry or mess with cycling at all.

Yeah I thought the rating of .996 was very strange too. This is the same rating I got form my tap water as well. I accounted for the temperature of the water in my calculation so I must be doing something else wrong. Maybe my thermometer is off. I am going to test over again. My hydrometer is a very nice glass one I purchased from a brewing supply store the ratings go from 1.000 to 1.017, perfect for brackish tanks.

thats an alcohol hydrometer not a salt hydrometer. they measure quite different things. a aquarium hydrometer is 15 bucks a refractometer is 35-45. id grab one of those as your alcohol hydrometer wiont read anything in aquariums correctly reliably.

Aha! Those glass brewing hydrometers are calibrated for somewhere in the 60s. I'd get a refractometer.

I wouldn't pitch that alcohol hydrometer - use it to check your drink next time you're in a bar. Tell 'em you're inspecting their drinks...(well, its true...)

lol!! OK figured out what I did wrong folks. The brewery hydrometer does work, it measures the exact same thing as the ones you guys use. You can use hydrometer to measure salt or sugar displacement(Degrees Brix). Refractometers were used for wine and beer before they were used for aquarium hobbyists.
When you use the glass floating hydrometer purchased from anywhere you can't just float it in the tank or in a bucket. The reading you get is way off. So I took the hydrometer and I floated in a container that is thin and cylindrical. When I did this the hydrometer was spot on. This applies to all of the floating hydrometers you would purchase from anywhere. All most all brewery hydrometers are calibrated for 60 degrees, as is mine. Here is website if you need to correct your specific gravity due to temperature. http://www.leebrewery.com/hydromet.htm

I used a floating hydrometer when I had my first SW tank back in '77. They work fine but floating-arm hydrometers are much easier to use and refractometers beat them both hands down. If you are planning on having BW or SW tanks for very long, investment in a refractometer is something you will never regret. JMHO

I'm glad PP brought up Dr. Ebert's book. It is the best resource on puffs I've found (beyond the wonderful folks here). It can be hard to find (and it is expensive, although no more expensive than some of the other fish books I've spent money on) so I found a link to a place that sells it:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookse ... 260X&itm=1

This is a nice link since they list the ISBN. I've heard this called "The Puffer Bible" and I have to agree it is the best book out there. I'm just waiting for the sequel: "The Puffers of Marine Waters".

I'm glad to see you are doing the research first... always the first sign of good puff husbandry. Welcome to the wonderful world of puffers!

I just got my book today, ordered from someone on Ebay, and I love it and highly recommend it.

Added my first marine salt. The aquarium is now around 1.002. I took all the snails out and put them in a piece of Tupperware with some lettuce.