My New "Mystery" Puffer

[PolishPuff]

PPG I think you know a lot of someones with marine tanks

+1 ( THEPUFFERFORUM.COM )

[pufferpuggirl]

Well obviously all of you .... but sometimes it's good to see something in person, if you know what I mean. I like to see things up close and personal.

[xrayjeeper83]

I knew, and understood, what you meant. Just wanted to pick on you lol

[Corvus]

I don't think marine is that more expensive as long as you don't want to keep stony corals and such (Then it will get really expensive) - keyword FO or FOWLR. Skimmer, powerhead and some live rock are one time investigations, just the salt is a re-occuring factor.

Maybe you would get away with keeping this puffer in brackish, but I would not "dare" this experiment if it was mine.

I don't know an exact way to tell male from female (on Sphoeroides). When adult the females might have a larger girth when producing eggs.

[pufferpuggirl]

Obviously I want to do what is right for this puffer, I think it would be very interesting to see it mature, but I'm going to be honest here -- I can't go to marine right away. I could start buying bits and pieces of what I would need, but unfortunately, this transition won't be all in one go. Not at this time.

Hopefully I can keep this little guy alive until I can change over to a marine system, and I know that's not ideal, but it's the best I can do right now.
The other two that were at the LFS will be sold as brackish puffers, and unless someone knows or bothers to find out what they've bought (like I did), then they are going to just put that puffer in a brackish tank.

It would be easy to lie to you all and tell you that I'm going to get him into a marine tank ASAP, but I am not a liar and that would not help the situation anyway. So I'm being honest and telling you that I will try my best to convert my tank over as soon as I can .... but it could be a while.

I feel totally blind when it comes to marine systems. I don't know the first thing about them and don't even know where I should begin!

[Flutter]

Converting slowly is better than not converting at all though. If it's in with your GSPs and ceylons then why not start with increasing the salinity in that tank. They can all go marine and need time for the conversion anyways (well the bacteria does).

[pufferpuggirl]

Actually my plan was to continue to increase the salinity (even before getting Snafu). I am very backwards when it comes to my brackish tank (the mudskipper tank is just too easy and doesn't compare with my fish tank). I was given bad information when I first started out with brackish tanks and now I'm sort of stuck in a rut. I thought my SG was higher in that tank, but it's actually very low. Thing is, I know I can't increase the salinity too quickly or I will kill off my filter bacteria. I have a fairly high IQ but am useless when it comes to math (extreme dysfunction mathematically). So I've been fumbling along with the whole brackish issue. When I had my GSP's in my other smaller tank, I got the SG where it needed to be, and then of course I got the F8's, and I had to lower the SG for them, but I think I'm just winging it when it comes to the bigger tank.

And this is why I'm hesitant to go to the dark side.

[Flutter]

Well, what do you think will help you? A refractometer (if you have a hydrometer)? Maybe read the article/thread on BW mixing again? Maybe we can help you lay out a plan to get you on track I'd be happy to help you with the math and I know others would too!

How are you mixing your BW before putting it in the tank? We're going to buy a big water jug but our tank is considerably smaller than yours

[jus85411]

you will do fine PPG! i was unsure too, but once i started the BW conversion for my GSP i started really reading up on marine tanks, parameters, the biological filtration you get from live rock, how to position your rock and have the flow go over it for internal filtration. what a protein skimmer does, what are good ones, then i started reading up on overflows and sumps after a little bit so i can get ideas on what to do for that over time. i would piece together what you could over time while converting to SW by getting a skimmer or get a tub going with base rock to cure and cycle it in while you wait. theres tons of people here to help, im sure some people would be willing to throw together a pictured email explaining certain things. you can do it!

[Pufferpunk]

I can't go to marine right away. I could start buying bits and pieces of what I would need, but unfortunately, this transition won't be all in one go. Not at this time.

Not to worry--this is a fish that can start in BW & move up to SW as it matures, same as the GSP. This is exactly how I got into SW with my GSP. Just move up the SG as you have planned & start gathering up the SW materials for him: skimmer, refractometer (with calibration fluid) & start buying live rock. Place it on a bucket & start curing it--it could take several weeks.

[pufferpuggirl]

This all seems so overwhelming ... but I am willing to try, however, I can tell you right now, I've no space for a sump as I've used up every bit of space we've got.

Okay, so this is where I'm at. The very first brackish tank I ever had was for my mudskippers, and the guy I got them from was like "mixing brackish water is easy, you just put 2 tablespoons (of marine salt) in for every four and a half liters of water", and I suppose because we were talking about a small amount of water, he never felt the need to explain mixing brackish water any more in depth. And so that's how I've been doing it. However, when I graduated to a brackish tank for my GSP's ... I used the same basic recipe only I would start out the first week by adding 2 tablespoons of marine salt, and then next week I would add another 2 tablespoons .... and believe it or not, that's how I've been doing it. I got lucky with my GSP's when they were in the smaller tank because I got the SG up to 1.012 -- BUT I've obviously failed with my big tank because my SG is only at 1.006 and I know that's extremely low for GSPs and Ceylon puffers.
I do 50% water changes on that tank weekly, and if I don't want to kill my good bacteria, how much salt can I get away with adding? I have a spoon that's exactly a 2-Tablespoon measurement and I know that 2 Tablespoons equals 1 ounce. On my big tank I'm up to adding 34 of the 2-Tablespoon measurements (or I suppose you could say 34-ounces). Left to my own devices I would just keep increasing the amount of salt by 2-Tablespoons each week until I reached an SG that I was happy with, probably 1.015 or there abouts.

Also, PP ... how do I cure live rock? And where would I keep it until I can put it in my tank? Can I do a marine tank without live rock? Thing is, I'm afraid if I put a bunch of live rock in there, it's going to take away from the swimming space for my puffers. I don't want to add anything else to the tank other than making it better for my puffers. So I'm not out to make it so I can add tankmates or anything .... I just want to do the right thing for my puffers.

[Pufferpunk]

Sure, you can do a marine tank w/o live rock--if you feel like paying for all that $alt for 50% weekly partials.

Dad has a great article on mixing salt for raising SG, in the BW puffer forum.

As far as curing LR:
http://petcare.suite101.com/article.cfm ... _live_rock

[pufferpuggirl]

I'm not making any decisions right this minute, so I may end up with live rock, I just always like to know both sides of the coin. What I can and can't get away with, that's all.

My little Snafu is still doing well, he's got a nice little appetite and gets right excited about food at feeding time. He's so small compared with the others though, it's funny to see him jumping in there biting at the shrimp.

[pufferpuggirl]

I took some photos of Snafu (the rosenblatti puffer) tonight and thought I would share. This little puffer has one mean appetite, he will jump right in there with the bigger puffs and attack the food, and down it goes! I'm glad there's no issues with eating though, so one less thing to worry about.

As we all know, I'm not great at taking photos, so these are not very good, so please pardon me for the lack of quality.
And also for the dirty tank!

[Ohyouknow]

So pretty I'd love to see that tail fanned out too (most awe inspiring thing to me, I think - I love to see mine flair it out)... Looks like it'll be quite an attractive tail too! I love how the lines on it are like a drop in water, leaving wakes... quite beautiful!

I'd have to say definitely worth the adventure to the dark side, Can't wait to watch her grow with you!