The Puffer Forum

I have (and have been using) a 22 gal tank for 2 GSPs
i know this is small for two but thats what i had

i realized and researched them a lot before i got them and know most of their basic care including water specs


i didnt think that i would be getting an entire 90-100 gal aquarium for free that came with everything, omg so excited, so that tank is toooo big fr me to maintain a salt or brackish tank- mostly for time and scheduling issues and $$$ for that amount of salt


so i am planning on just keeping them in the fresh water (which i hate to do, because, i love them soooo much)

what will happen if they have in a fresh water tank (or low salinity, low end brackish)





aas im typing this i thought of another question:
for high end brackish
can you use sea salt from like at a grocery store to raise sg?
would this work for my chumba wumba and lamaldi?

Bottom line their life span will be shortened. No you can not use sea salt from the grocery store. sorry.

ok
just wondering, why cant i use sea salt

xmikebrock wrote:ok
just wondering, why cant i use sea salt

It doesn't contain any of the trace elements that are in produces like instant ocean. The fish need these.

I agree with trekenk. There is no good end to the plan you have in mind. They must have brackish water made with marine salt made for saltwater aquariums.

"Aquarium salt," often sold to makewater brackish, won't work, either. LFS employees who say that this is doing the job are either lying or misinformed.

Eventual stress from being kept in incorrect conditions. Stress = lowered immune systems = disease = early death/shortned lifespan = sad you...

Hey there, I too have limited funds also but, I am able to maintain two 75 and a 55gallon high end brackish tanks. What I did was bring the SG up slower over a longer period of time due to the cost of salt, about .002 per month. I have a 2 inch GSP in a 55 and two (had to re-home one) Dragon Gobies with 4 Mollies in the 75, both tanks are at 1.016. Now that they are there, I monitor my params real closely and due to the size of the tanks and the smaller load on them, I only do 20% water changes every 3 weeks, I also over filter like a mad man... I am looking to increase the SG again next month so I'll do a 50% WC. Raising the SG is what cost me the most but the cost went down when I got to where I wanted to be.

Now, this is just my thought, and I may be wrong (like usual!) but, getting your GSPs in to a larger tank would take a ton of stress off them and should be a priority. Getting the SG up should be next, maybe even cycle the new tank at a higher SG for their immediate benefit. Then bring the SG up over a longer time, it's not a race to get them up to, say, 1.018 in a three month period, but they do need to go up.

I'm tired and rambling, someone correct me if this is a bad plan or poor advice, shouldn't type (or think) on Benadryl....

xmikebrock wrote:ok
just wondering, why cant i use sea salt

I have 4 brackish tanks, two for my puffers, and two for my mudskippers, and buy a very good grade marine salt to make my brackish water, but when I was talking with the owner of a LFS, he tried to tell me that I was using the wrong salt for brackish. Thing is, brackish water in nature is a combination of sea water and freshwater -- so why not buy the best marine salt I can afford? I think some LFS's give out bad information so that they can sell you what they want to get rid of. I've been using this good grade marine salt from the very beginning and I believe my fish like it, so I won't be going for a cheaper alternative.

However, I do understand that not everyone can buy the best there is .... but you should still try to get the right thing. I've heard of people using table salt to make saltwater thinking it doesn't make a difference -- it makes a difference to the fish!

alright, i am most likely gonna end up going with the high end brackish then lol

but

my parents are divorced, my tanks ay my moms house and im there for half the week

and if i heard right saltwater fuxuates (sp) much faster and wont be able to check it everyday

but i work at a pond gardening center so i am very anal about my water parameters


so if you dont think the whole high SG thing is gonna work out for me (as much as i love my puffs) do you think i should bring them back to the store and get amazon (southamerican) puffers for the fresh water tank?

but if i dont have to i definitely dont want to get rid of my GSPs, i would be soooooooooo upset

The fluctuations in SG are a normal part of brackish life. The ups and downs due to evaporation aren't that large to cause big concern. When evaporation occurs in a brackish/SW tank the salt is left behind so making sure you're topped off well before you leave for the week should keep them pretty stable.

IMO, for brackish, use the cheapest marine salt you can find. I usually use Instant Ocean for that tank & a higher grade of that (Reef Crystals) for my reef tanks.

thats wwhat im thinking, for the BW, i dont need the protein skimmer correct?

a freshwater setup would be fine?

No, you don't need a skimmer.

Honestly, though, if you had a 100 gallon with 2 GSPs (and not much else), you could get it up and running as a full marine for pretty cheap. Marine tanks (imo) are relatively inexpensive if you're not growing coral. They are a little more hassle, though.

All you need is:
- Any substrate
- Salt (a $50 bucket will do a 165 gallon tank to full marine - you're going to need salt for high-end brackish anyways)
- Live Rock (can be expensive, but look around for someone selling their live rock for around $3-5 per pound and pick up about 20 lbs if you only have to the two GSPs, then just add a few more pounds in a year or so)
- a couple small powerheads (to push water, not full filters)

If you've already got some filters (like a canister), you could just use those instead of powerheads (saves having to find/buy new stuff).

If your GSPs are relatively small (less than 3 inches), you can hold off on the protein skimmer for quite a bit. With a skimmer and very small bioload (very few fish in the tank), you can perform less water changes.

If you have GSPs, you shouldn't leave them at light brackish for their entire life, and high-end brackish ends up being far more expensive than full marine (without coral).

It's a tough call, though, for sure. Fish get expensive very fast, it seems.

I'd definately go with a protein skimmer for SW, over the nitrate collecting canister. Substrate should be sand.

The thing to consider when deciding is whether you can afford the upfront extra cost of going marine (live rock, skimmer). If you can, you will save a great deal on salt later for water changes, since the skimmer decreases the changes you'll have to do. If you can't, you could try starting with brackish and saving until you have enough for the skimmer and rock, then start raising the salinity.