The Puffer Forum

Currently I have 2 GSPs in a low brackish tank that I'm considering converting to SW, I've searched these forums and the internet at large and the desire to do so appears common but I never came upon any detailed instructions and still have questions, so I'm hoping you guys can help.

First of all, here's the current setup;
55 gallon tank
1.008 low brackish water
2 HOB Emperor 400 filters
2 150 Watt in tank heaters
48'' florescent strip light with 3 32 watt T8s
Sand Substrate
2 Green Spotted Puffers which I've had for about 10 months, one is about 3'' the other 5'', in the past they've tried to eat any fish I've tried to keep with them(mollies and gobies.)

1. For a FOWLR tank is it okay to have used treated tap water previously or is RO/Distilled water required?
2. Will the process of slowly going from low BR to SW over a few months preserve the status of "cycled" in a tank?
3. Are aggressive GSPs even suitable for LR? I've heard they sometimes nibble and damage the rock and attached flora.
4. Similar to the above question, are there any sand sifting/cleaning tank mates that would go with a couple of GSPs? Snails and small crustaceans would likely be eaten.

I'd like to convert to a 75g tank before hand but I'm not sure it's going to be possible to do so, I only have space to have 1 of the tanks setup at a time. Is it possible to do the following without having to recycle?

Purchase the 75g tank
Move my GSPs to buckets
Drain my 55g tank while keeping the majority of the water, and all the sand/decorations in buckets
Swapping the 2 tanks
Fill the 75g with the previous water, sand and decorations(plus more treated water to make up the difference)
Moving my GSPs into the 75g

Regardless of which tank I'm using, is converting to SW really as simple as slowly raising the SG over time?

If you move them to a 75, you can set it up as marine, and drip acclimate your puffers in the bucket for a few hours.
It is fine for them to nibble on liverock, any corals, anemones, will likely be eaten, but that won't compromise the effectiveness of the beneficial bacteria.
Depending on your tap water, you may choose to use RO/DI, but for FOWLR, it's not necessary, but it's likely to be better in terms of algae/diatoms.
If you want to do the raise the salinity by .02 a week, I'd get a refractometer so you don't have trouble through the transition by accidentally raising the salinity by too much.

Oh, once a killer, always a killer. No tankmates I'd say.

sevenyearnight wrote:If you move them to a 75, you can set it up as marine, and drip acclimate your puffers in the bucket for a few hours.
It is fine for them to nibble on liverock, any corals, anemones, will likely be eaten, but that won't compromise the effectiveness of the beneficial bacteria.
Depending on your tap water, you may choose to use RO/DI, but for FOWLR, it's not necessary, but it's likely to be better in terms of algae/diatoms.
If you want to do the raise the salinity by .02 a week, I'd get a refractometer so you don't have trouble through the transition by accidentally raising the salinity by too much.

Can they really acclimate from low brackish to full SW in hours? I suppose it makes some sense, they might make quick transitions in the wild if they're living right on the edge of the ocean.

Besides that though, won't I be facing a 1-2 month cycle of the tank and an immediate ammonia spike from the LR just going immediately to SW?

Thanks for the welcome and answers.

Yes, with liverock that had not been cured, no if the liverock has been cured.
My puffers were fine with only the hours transition, many people have done it successfully.

If you get LR from a long-established tank & don't expose it to air for long, it can instantly cycle a SW tank.

Sevenyearnight your avatar picture is adorable!

Thanks

Thanks for the help guys, nice to know that a new tank can be cycled so easily with cured LR, fortunately for me the LFS pre-cures their LR in giant in door pond.

Does no one have any suggestions for possible SW tank mates though? At the very least there's gotta be something to big for them to attack but that won't attack them, right?

Elem7777 wrote:
Does no one have any suggestions for possible SW tank mates though? At the very least there's gotta be something to big for them to attack but that won't attack them, right?

haha sorry this makes me laugh, all puffers think they are the biggest thing in the tank and can take on any and all new comers

If they are selling LR out of that pond, they are constantly adding new, un-cured rock to it too.

Pufferpunk wrote:If they are selling LR out of that pond, they are constantly adding new, un-cured rock to it too.

They tag their rocks with zip ties for the date added, I'm guessing I should be looking at month old rocks minimum?