The Puffer Forum

ive been trying to read up on all the techniques to having my little puffer thrive.wow i did everything wrong bringing my mollies to brackish there still kickin but it just makes me wonder if i can do the upkeep on a puffer?can i have a little room for error?or do i have to be precise,i try to be precise with my water changes but wow sounds like im doing some hings wrong.if the brackish is to overwhelming for me than maybe a freshwater?like some input please i try not to slack when it comes to keeping fish.

What kind of things are you doing wrong? Puffers are definitely going to be a lot more sensitive than mollies are that's for sure! Don't let the salt scare you from brackish puffers though.....I had no previous experience with salt until I got my GSPs. It isn't that hard after you get the hang of it.

Since the mollies are already in brackish .. why not just keep it like that? It will take time to get used to. I used to do my water tests and changes every Sunday like clock work. Sunday was my "admin day" for the fish.

i brought my mollies up not gradually but rather all in one blow..im glad their so durable so to speak.but i treat their tank like a river head/delta fast moving water they dont seem to mind.but my concern is the lone wolf puffer?i have my brackish water mixin a little better under control these days but are they as forgiving as a mollie?

No, but from what I understand high swings in the SG isn't so hard on brackish fish as it is hard on your good bacteria. To much of a swing at one time will kill it off and cause your tank to have to re-cycle. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Yes, this is corrct. Please test your water before considering a puffer. Post the results here.

that would explain the mood swings?

I'm curious, what kind of puffer were you thinking about getting?

And to add to what briguy44 was saying, if you add too much salt to your tank too quickly, and it kills your good bacteria, your tank is back to square one, and the problem with that is if you had a puffer in that tank, the puffer might not survive going through the cycling process. Puffers are very sensitive because they lack scales and gill covers. So if you're uncertain about keeping things the way a puffer needs it, maybe you should wait.

thats why i want to make sure that my little friend is safe and secure.

If you could, can you post your water test results? It would better help the others see exactly where your current tank parameters are - and help understand the situation fully.