The Puffer Forum

I just bought my first puffer. The tank labelled it a Leopard Puffer, but in doing some research online, when I search for a leopard puffer 99% of the hits are about Green Spotted puffers. One website I found differentiates between the two, with leopards as Tetraodon fluviatilis and green spotted puffers as Tetraodon nigroviridis. So obviously they are not synonymous common names, and the problem I am having is one requires freshwater and one requires brackish water. I need to properly identify the fish so that I can make the necessary adjustments. It's tank mates are 2 large male mollies and a pleco, and the tank is freshwater. All of these fish can handle brackish water so the adjustment wouldn't be a problem. Can anyone help me?

Check out the Pufferpedia (it's under the learn tab) that we have on this site. You may also post a picture and we can help

Both the puffers you have mentioned require the identical BW conditions. Whatever site you visited is totally incorrect.

Strong +1 to PP's comments.

The web is loaded with poor to bad info on most puffers, and some of it is entirely imaginary.

I am not sure that pleco can handle brackish conditions for long, what kind is it?

And I am seeing some concerns with what you have said that make me want to ask...what size tank do you have? If it is a large tank..most people would not have it understocked with 2 mollies and a pleco.

As for the puffer..

Does it look like these-
ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Fluviatilis/

or

ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Nigroviridis/

or

ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Biocellatus/

sea chelle wrote:I just bought my first puffer. The tank labelled it a Leopard Puffer, but in doing some research online, when I search for a leopard puffer 99% of the hits are about Green Spotted puffers. One website I found differentiates between the two, with leopards as Tetraodon fluviatilis and green spotted puffers as Tetraodon nigroviridis. So obviously they are not synonymous common names, and the problem I am having is one requires freshwater and one requires brackish water. I need to properly identify the fish so that I can make the necessary adjustments. It's tank mates are 2 large male mollies and a pleco, and the tank is freshwater. All of these fish can handle brackish water so the adjustment wouldn't be a problem. Can anyone help me?

If it ends up being a Ceylon (tetraodon fluviatilis) you can expect those mollies to be "gone" one morning. Mine doesn't tolerate a single tankmate. Attacks anything/everything until he catches it. The pleco should last a while, but not long once you start introducing salt.

From my experience, a Ceylon puffer can be kept in fresh water for the first year of so of its life. Make sure the PH is high, (8+) and it will be fine. Once you start moving it to brackish, increase the salt no more than .002 per week. Also, make certain that the salt/water is mixed for a good 12 hours before entering the tank. This will make sure the salt is completely dissolved. You do not want to add salt directly into a tank, as it is costic (almost like poison/acid to the fish). This puffer will eventually need a marine environment. Mine has the salt in his tank at 1.023. He is about 5 years old.

Good luck with your puffer!