Green Spotted puffer questions

[turtleescape]

First let me start with saying thank you for allowing me to join this forum.There is so much great info hear.
I just purchased my first spotted puffers today. I have three about 1inch puffers in a 35 gal hex. I will move them to a 75gal when they are larger.
My first question is the lfs they came from had them in fresh water.So that is what I started them out in.Will they be ok in fresh water for a few weeks as I increase the specific gravity?
Second they had them at 70 deg. I know that is to cold but how sensitive are they to temperature? Can I take a few weeks to warm them up? Last what would be the best foods to start them on. I did feed brine shrimp just to see if the would eat and the did. Thanks for any help,Bob

[onebadpuffer]

Start them in fresh and raise the salinity with marine salt by .002 a week, using a hydrometer for accuracy.

You can raise the temp slowly over a day or so.

Start feeding them with frozen bloodworms, krill, shell on shrimp, mussels, snails, crab legs, etc. Brine shrimp have no nutrition.

[Jayhawk]

Snails are also readily taken (pond snails or european ramshorn - both are often nuisance snails on plants at the LFS), and they're one of the better foods for keeping puffer teeth ground down.

Eric

[Pufferpunk]

Make sure to read the great info on them here in the Library.

[puffergeek]

All great advice!

I have almost nothing to add except to highlight the "go slow" with the salinity increase. It helped me to keep a written record... I started out with a spiral notebook, moved to an Excel spreadsheet, and after finding that took to much time, switched to a hanging wall calendar I keep by the tank... it's all about ease of use

[turtleescape]

What temp would be safe on the low end?Thanks

[Pufferpunk]

76 would be lowest I'd go, but 78-80 would better for their immune system.

[Pamela]

I raised the salinity for my F8s veeerrrryyyy slowly, taking five weeks to take it up to 1.004. I just added small amounts of salt, getting gradually larger, at every water change - at this time I was doing two changes a week.
It's so important not to knock out large numbers of bacteria, so take as long as you want.
Pami.

[turtleescape]

One more question if I may. How many feedings need to be snails?thanks

[RTR]

While they are young/small, many (the majority) of my feedings are snails. As they mature and grow, that beomes more impractical and feeding shifts to grocery store/fish market shell-on critters.