Moving My Ceylon Puffers

[pufferpuggirl]

I currently have 2 Ceylon puffers, and they are in a tank that's way too small for them. I don't know what I was thinking when I put them in there. I didn't think too much about it at first, but then it hit me that it's just too darn small for the both of them. They've only been in there a couple of months, but I want to get them in a bigger tank ASAP. The tank is probably medium brackish (no, I do not own a hydrometer).

This is the issue. I want to move my 2 Ceylons from their brackish tank to a much bigger tank that is currently freshwater. I intend to make this tank a brackish tank. I've changed freshwater tanks to brackish before, so that's not the issue. The issue is, do I move the Ceylons to this freshwater tank now, and get them out of the cramped conditions they are in? Or do I wait until I've got some salt in the water? I need to do a water change on the tank, which I will end up doing tomorrow, but I guess I just wanted to know would it be harmful to the Ceylons if I did a drip-line to get them acclimated back to freshwater, and got them into the bigger tank tonight so they have more space, or should I wait until I do the water change at which time I will add a little salt to get the brackish changeover going?? I know it's going to take a while to get the tank changed over to completely brackish, so I don't kill the bacteria in my internal and external filters, that part I understand.

I just feel so badly for the Ceylons for where they are and I was hoping I could put them right into the bigger tank, but I don't want to cause them any harm by moving them from very brackish to freshwater either.

Thanks for any help on this issue.

[Dadof4]

I would keep them in their current tank until you do the water change and slight SG increase. My thought process is one SG change in a short time vs. two changes and a big WC.

[pufferpuggirl]

So are you saying I can move them after I do my water change tomorrow, and once I add a little salt?

I suppose it would be better for them to be put into a tank with a little salt vs no salt at all.

Since I don't have a way to measure my SG, I usually add 1/4 tablespoon of salt each time I do a water change, and I keep doing that until I reach the amount of salt that I would normally use for one of my brackish tanks. Does that seem like an okay amount that won't harm my external or internal filters? I'm only worried because I've never tackled a tank this size before.

[Dadof4]

You really should pick up a refratometer or hydrometer if you are going to go brackish on this tank, take the guess work out of it. I can't tell you if that is enough or too much salt because of the variations in salt batches and changes that happen when it's exposed to moisture.

[pufferpuggirl]

I probably should have something to measure SG, but since I don't, I will just do what I've done with all my other brackish tanks (never got any problems with any of them). Will let you know how it all turns out.

[Jivenjune]

I probably should have something to measure SG, but since I don't, I will just do what I've done with all my other brackish tanks (never got any problems with any of them). Will let you know how it all turns out.

You can get something to measure salinity for like 8-9 dollars off of Petsmart / Petco. This is pretty cheap even though the price was hiked up quite a bit. Either way, I'm confused as to how you know your tank is actually brackish if you don't have any method to indicate as such aside from speculation. Seems like an odd way to go about things when it's for the well-being of your fish. Are you using some ratio? Either way, different salt mixtures will modify the salinity of water differently as others have stated, so I suppose even those methods are fairly inaccurate.

[pufferpuggirl]

Maybe -- maybe not.

I've been doing it this way since I started keeping fish and so far, it's working for me. I learned how to make up a brackish tank from someone who's kept fish for more than 40 years and I trust this person completely. I don't expect everyone to agree with my method, but as long as my fish seem healthy and happy that's all I'm concerned with. I don't suppose you would agree that even with a hydrometer or refractometer, there is still a certain amount of salt to a certain amount of water, a "ratio" if you will. Well I know what works for my fish and my tanks, and that's what I'm going with. Inaccurate or not, my tanks thrive and my fish are all healthy and I would definitely say happy as well.

I've already moved my Ceylons and I expect that they will be just as happy in this new tank as they were in the other tank -- actually I believe they will be HAPPIER!

We don't have Petsmart and Petco in the UK anyway, but even though I can get something to measure the specific gravity, I probably won't. That's just me, and like I said, I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and that's fine. It's my fish that matter.