The Puffer Forum

Hey, so I'm new here and I have my first question. I just got my green spotted puffer and he was in freshwater at the store and I added a little salt to my water. But I need to know how much and how to slowley add the salt he needs over time? The puffer is about 2 inchs long so he's not a baby. Also do I need marine salt? I have aquarium salt. And do I need a hydrometer? Thanks for any answer!

You need marine salt and a tool to test the sg ie hydrometer. Raise the salinity by 0.002 per week until you hit marine conditions. This is on the basis that the tank was properly cycled, if not you need to get the tank stable first. Welcome to the forum

Thanks for the reply! And yes the tank is cycled. Maybe I'll know when I get the hydrometer so sorry if this question sounds stupid but how much salt will make it rise to .002 per week?

What size is the tank? Mix up enough water at 0.004 to do a 50% waterchange and job done. That will leave your water at 0.002.

Start here: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
BW mixing: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19348

Another thing to watch for is an ammonia spike as you raise salinity - you'll get some die off of nitrogen processing bacteria as you go from fresh to marine conditions. Hopefully enough will survive and grow quickly enough so that you don't have a mini-cycle during the conversion.

No reason to be concerned about Yael's warning, if you go slow. Unless the tank wasn't cycled to begin with?

Its a ten gal. And yes its cycled, no amonia or nitrites. Thanks for the information!

I would not raise the salinity too much in the 10g as he will outgrow it in a couple of months. I would set up his forever home as marine and drip acclimate him to it.

+1 to Bertie; this is probably the best way to handle your GSP. He will outgrow that 10 gallon tank in a hurry.

bertie 83 wrote:I would not raise the salinity too much in the 10g as he will outgrow it in a couple of months. I would set up his forever home as marine and drip acclimate him to it.

I'd say at 2 inches he's already outgrown it. I do hope you can get him into a bigger tank Even though I went slowly when I added salt, I unexpectedly got a nitrite spike (wasn't expecting that, because my tank was cycled etc) but it's such a delicate balance as you make that transition, so don't overfeed

I'm getting a 30 gallon tank very soon, will that be enough for just him? I'm gunna get him used to the added salt by raising it .002 every second week, is that okay? And then I'll get the new tank and cycle it and make it marine, then add my puffer. Does that sound good? Thanks for all the help btw

Set the new tank up as a marine tank and drip acclimate him to it. Small tanks with high bio load can be incredibly unstable hence the reason I would leave it as is for now

He will be okay in the small tank until the big tank is set up? Cause it might take at least a month to get it all rready?

He will, just get as much filter media from the tank he's coming from for the tank you are putting him into now. Any substrate & decor will add helpful bacteria, too.