The Puffer Forum

At my LFS they have some puffers labeled as dwarf. They are spotted dwarf puffers and i know they are supposed to be freshwater but they have them in brackish. How would i go about taking them off brackish and into fresh. How long would this take. I have a 15Gal waiting for them which I don't really want to set up as brackish if I don't have to. Can a 2-3 hour acclimation work or would it take days or even weeks. If it would take longer will the freshwater bacteria that I have established survive in brackish or would a mini cycle take place. I don't actually have the water in the tank yet. I'm taking it from my 130gal which has been up and running for 3 years now and I hooked the filters that I will be using on the 15gal up to the 130gal and I will also be taking some of the gravel from it as well. What do I do?

I suggest looking in our Pufferpedia at the dwarf puffers & green spotted puffers to ID exactly what they are. Also, most shops consider 1 tbsp/5g of aquarium salt to be BW, so you should find out exactly what they mean by BW. Ask them what the specific gravity is & if they are using marine salt. Could be, you don't have to acclimate them at all then.

They are Carinotetraodon travancoricus, which are freshwater. They said they are low end brackish. Don't know what that means to them, but there is still salt in the tank. Its IO salt. What ever the specific gravity is I still will have to bring them back to fresh, correct? How do you recommend I do this and what period of time should it be done. I also keep a 40 gal brackish tank with 2 fig 8's in a SG of 1.007 so if they have to be acclimated slowly I can use that water to start. This brings me to my other question though. Will the filter media I have been seeding in my fresh water tank die off in the brackish water from my 40. I could throw the media in the brack tank to seed, but how long would that take? I am planning to pick the puffers up on thurs or fri.

If they are in a low salinity you could slwoly acclimate em down over an hour or 2 depending on salinity to fresh then put them in the tank.,

I'd be shocked if there is even enough salt in their tanks to register on a hydrometer. I suggest you bring in yours to check.