The Puffer Forum

Hi i'm loving this website i think you're all brilliant .
After weeks of researching puffers on here and setting up my 72litre tank i have bought 2 baby figure 8's - baby jack and spotty phallus or Jack and spot for short lol !!

Now I'm struggling to work out how to increase the salinity?? I bought them from my lfs in freshwater so i want to increase by 0.002 a week but my hydrometer doesnt read untill 1.000 so i'd like to know how many teaspoons of salt per week can i add via my water change to make 0.002 ??

Make sure that you have marine mix (like Instant Ocean) and not just aquarium salt. You want marine mix to change the SG (specific gravity) of the water, as in contains additional minerals and things that aquarium salt does not.

Your hydrometer shouldn't read below 1.000 -- 1.000 is freshwater, with no salt. It's hard to say how much salt to add to increase by .002. It's not an exact thing, as each mix varies. It will take some experimentation on your part (don't do this to the tank itself and subject the puffers to the stress of changing salinity as you try to get it right -- do it separately, in a bucket or extra container).

I personally wouldn't have two F8 puffers in 72 litres, as that's less than 20 US gallons. The general rule of thumb is 15 gallons for the first F8, and 10 gallons for each additional -- and that's at minimum. I have one Figure 8 puff in 29 US gallons, and she uses every inch of the space.

Congratulations on your new puffers! Just a warning: They're addictive.

If you want to work out how much marine salt to use start off with 1 litre of water in a bucket and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix it until the salt desolves and test it. if it reads 1.002 then just add 1 teaspoon of salt to every liter your tank is. If it's not reading 1.002 then add another teaspoon, mix and test again.

I want to say "awww... just dump the bucket in the tank." but Arny and Pufftastic have it right. You missed the sticky at the beginning of this forum:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19348

that has a chart to guide you.

Thank you I will try that Arny

And thank you Pufftastic yes I have marine reef salt mix and i plan on expanding to a bigger tank as they get older and i was addicted before i even bought them

Thanks J-P i read the chart but found it a bit complicated lol

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19348#p204706

that has it all spelled out for you.

Thank you I have it sussed now and just increased my salinity by 0.002 yay

I would not mess with the salinity too much before the upgrade. You will need to do this soon anyhow. Not a dig btw, when you get the larger tank you can measure the actual volume whilst filling. Makes salinity increases really easy.