The Puffer Forum

So I work at a pet store and one of these little green spotted puffers came in for adoption owner wanted to flush it... anyways I set up a planted brackish tank with salinity at about 1.010 I wanna keep the plants alive hence the lower salt levels. Will he survive at the lower levels is my question or would the tank be better suited for figure 8s? Thanks for any advice.

you say he is little? 2 inches or less?

That salt level should suffice at that age, but of course he could tolerate more and will eventually need marine conditions or at least high brackish

That level is a bit high for F8s

He should be fine IMO at that salt gravety. Not so sure for your plants even if they withstand that sg don't be suprised if you start getting little holes punched in your plants. I'm assumeing you have java ferns and java moss in there.

Ya he is less then two inches right now but if he is going to rquire more salt as he gets older that's what I'm worried about. Maybe I should give him to my friend and go with th figure 8s and of course lower he salt to around 1.003

what size is the tank..

Yes GSP require 30 g minimum. F8 requires 15g minimum. I wouldn't give him to your friend unless he's prepared to take absolute care of him. In full marine eventually. Feeding him lots of snails and crunchy shell on raw seafoods

F8 would be happy in 1.005.

some freshwater plants will tolerate that kind of salinity as well.

What size tank is he in now & is it cycled?

Fishkeepers have maintained their GSP's at SG1.010+ at 25 DegC indefinately.

I have not found any info to say that your GSP will live any longer in marine than high brackish but there is a thread on this forum that suggests that GSP's can survive and reportedly thrive in marine conditions.

If you're interested in growing plant life at such a high salinity then you will really be looking at sea grasses and/or mangroves; both will need lots of light and lots of ferts. Apparently mangroves roots can only be submerged periodically; in the wild they are only submerged completely when the tide comes in.