The Puffer Forum

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

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.

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

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

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

What temp would be safe on the low end?Thanks

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

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.

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

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.