The Puffer Forum

I am new to keeping the Green Spotted Puffers and totally confused. I have been reading about them for about a month and I have two Green Spotted Puffers that I purchased about two weeks ago. I am currently keeping them in a 10 gal. I have just set up a 160 gallon to move my cichlids. The puffers will be moving to the 44 gallon hex once the cichlids are moved. I do have a divider in the 10 gallon. The lfs kept them in freshwater and this is what they are in now. One is about 3 in. the other about 2.5 in. long. I am currently using aquarium salt. The ph is 8.0 nitrite 0 ammonia 0 nitrate 20. Trying to get the nitrate down. Doing 30% water changes twice a week and feeding only on even days. (every other day) I have purchased instant ocean salt to start the change.
My questions are:
1) Should I transfer the freshwater to brackish water or saltwater and recycle the tank before I move them so that I don't cause any unneeded stress to the puffers. Or do you really need to keep them in a saltwater tank.
2)I purchased a hydrometer but the reading starts at 1.012 how do I know if I am only raising their salt level to .002 per week or the .001 per hour?
3)If I need to make them saltwater, what equipment do I need? I don't have any predrilled holes for a sump. And I don't know anywhere that could drill a hole in my aquarium. I would rather not have any holes drilled if possible.
4) I am currently using a digital theometer, 36" bubble wand with whisper 40 air pump, whisperer 60 water pump HOB, Hydor theo heater 200w, will soon be changing heater to a jager 150 w. The hydor is very unstable.
5) Will the two puffers be able to live together peacefully in a 44 gallon hex? I will be using coral, lots of fake plants, crush coral substrate (may change to sand soon or just mix the two together).
As you all know each forum, website and book have different information. I would like to hear from someone that has kept the puffers for several years. No offense to anyone. I just would like true accurate information. I love my little puffers and would like them to have a long and healthy life. Their names are Cheech and Chong. We named them that because they look a little green in the face. (just a little humor)

One more question, when feeding my puffers today I noticed that Chong's belly got really lumpy and fat (normal) but Cheech's belly did not. Could this be that Cheech may have a paraiste? If so how would I treat it? His belly did get a little round but you had to look really hard to notice it. He does not looked skinny by any means when not feeding. Or is it that he just didn't eat as much as Chong?

P.S. I plan on moving my cichlids (hopefully, fingers crossed) in the next week.

Thanks for all your help in advance.

A 44g hex is far too small for them, they need 30 gallons each. The rest of your questions can most likely be answered by reading the Green Spotted Puffer article that Pufferpunk wrote in our Library.

I agree with Boxermom. The 44 hex would be nice for one green spotted puffer (assuming its not one of the really tall and skinny hex tanks).

For your salinity, you need to return the hydrometer you bought and buy one that reads down to freshwater (1.000). To change them over to brackish, you can just start adding a little more salt each week when you do your water changes, but you'll need to know how much Instant Ocean to add (hence the hydrometer).

Most of what you need to know is outlined in the library, the rest is just good fishkeeping (clean water, don't overfeed, etc). There's also articles on deworming, so you should read those as well.