The Puffer Forum

hi all well today I ended up coming homing with a ceylon puffer*pet store had him marked as a topaz puffer* but he didn't look like the pictures of the topaz in my book,the ceylon care is not in my puffer book and I've not found much online about them so i need some help please....
hes come home into a well cycled tank,ph about 6.8-7.0,temp at about 80 degrees C,with a high powered filter which should cope with the puffer waste I hope,I've previously kept dwarf puffers*fresh* and figure eights*which I now know should have been brackish sadly the store sold them as freshwater,although they did live for about 4 years in fresh,not sure what their lifespan would be in brackish* before so i know a little about the species but not much about the bigger ones.
His belly has gone almost black,I know in figure eights this a sign of illness or stress,is this also the case with ceylons?,he also puffed a little when the guy caught him,he has deflated now and has been swimming around in puffer fashion checking things out,he has also taken some food,hes been home about 12 hours and i just fed him a bit of cockle to see if he was stressed or not,with my figure eights,they wouldn't eat if stressed,he took it and shredded it up,hes hanging out near the bubbles in the tank behind some big rock.
So how does his care differ from the smaller puffers what size tank should he be in,what sort of decoration,I have in there at the moment,bog wood,tufu rock and some real plants,is this going to be suitable,also I now have read he is a brackish puffer so how do I go about changing the water,the fish place told me to stick some aquatic salt in the tank as thats what he was in at the store? I thought brackish had to be marine salt? Is there any big dos or don'ts for this guy,I'd appreciate any advice or links anyone can give me,I'm just off to search the net for ceylon's,anyway sorry about the really long post and thanks

shimmer wrote: hes come home into a well cycled tank,ph about 6.8-7.0,temp at about 80 degrees C,with a high powered filter which should cope with the puffer waste I hope,I've previously kept dwarf puffers*fresh* and figure eights*which I now know should have been brackish sadly the store sold them as freshwater,although they did live for about 4 years in fresh,not sure what their lifespan would be in brackish*

Your F8's could have lived to 18 years given proper care.

His belly has gone almost black,I know in figure eights this a sign of illness or stress,is this also the case with ceylons?

Yes.

So how does his care differ from the smaller puffers what size tank should he be in,what sort of decoration,I have in there at the moment,bog wood,tufu rock and some real plants,is this going to be suitable

Not the bogwood. Live rock and a skimmer should be added at full Salt Water SG. These guys need a minimum of 40-gallons of water. Nominal tank sizes are not reliable, so if you can please post dimensions of your tank.

also I now have read he is a brackish puffer so how do I go about changing the water,the fish place told me to stick some aquatic salt in the tank as thats what he was in at the store? I thought brackish had to be marine salt?

Yes, marine salt is what is needed. They are full SW as adults. You will need a refractometer to measure the amount of salt in the water you add to the tank with water changes. Raise the SG no more than .002 per week as to not kill your bio-filter. This article is about Green Spotted Puffers, their care is the same, but ceylons get larger (8", not including tail).
http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/ ... togsp.html
also, go to http://www.pufferlist.com to identify your new arrival.

Welcome to the forum.

We need to make sure you actually have a ceylon puffer. Chances are, he's probably a GSP. Can you post a picture, or find a picture that most resembles him?

Ceylon info: http://www.pufferlist.com/puffer/brackp ... ?puffid=14
GSP info: http://www.pufferlist.com/puffer/brackp ... ?puffid=15

Not to make you feel bad, but 4 years is nothing for a figure 8, they can live for 15 years or more in brackish conditions.
Info on F8s: http://www.pufferlist.com/puffer/brackp ... ?puffid=13

How do you know the tank is cycled?

What other fish are in your tank?

How big is the tank?

GSPs and ceylons are brackish fish and will need marine salt. They are very agressive and likely will torment and kill any tankmates. Plants will not survive in brackish water.

I'd suggest returning him until you can get a tank setup specifically for him.

EDIT: Dang lisa, you're always one click ahead of me.

Okay thanks for the replies
I now know about the figure eights care but saying that it was nearly 12 years ago I kept them and in the u.k it was very hard to find decent info on puffer care then*thankfully now we have the net* my dwarf puffers lived for about 5 years and one reached seven years old so I was happy with that,everything i have read puts their lifespan at about 5 years,I have kept various fish over the years and lost most of them to old age rather than anything else,apart from the f8's which I think was because of the wrong kind of water so I've been lucky really but now only have many bettas and a large handsome green terror.

I actually went to the store*and probably will not use it again,not my usual fish store* today to buy figure eights for this tank but they had none,they had some spotted puffers,a very sick looking mbu puffer which I have complained about,he was cramped up,very pale,dark black belly and showing signs of ich in a 18 inch tank with about 20 other small fish,not suitable at all really and two ceylon's squashed in a 18inch long tank together,returning him is not really an option as he was kind of a rescue fish,hes probably going to be better off here on his own,his water there tested at ph 7.0 so same as mine and I had them test the saline level even though they had used aquatic salt in his tank so I've recreated his poor water conditions and now need to know how to adjust them to full brackish,as I guess this will have to be done gradually? and I know maybe he will not survive all this and I shouldn't have brought him home on impulse as I usually plan these things very well but I felt sorry for him and I'm a sucker for the poorly and injured fish with a high success rate of making them better.

the tank was cycled with biospira and anti chorine stuff,all water levels were testing safe,it is a tank that holds 32 us gallons of water,so i realise i may have to get him a bigger tank and it will house only this ceylon puffer.I used to do 50% waters changes every week for my dwarves,what ratio of water changes should I be performing and how frequently?,I'm aware most puffers are species or single fish tank residents,I think he is definately a ceylon as he looks nothing like the greenspotted puffer in the link,in fact he looks similar to a figure eight except much bigger,hes about 5-6 inches,his belly colour seems to be getting lighter now and he seems much more relaxed and puffer like now,I can replace the plants for plastic and remove the bog wood and purchase some more suitable tank decorations and am just looking into what equipment i will need to adjust his tank to brackish and how to do so,many thanks for the helpful replies,sorry to be a pain with so many questions but i want to try and give this guy the best chance I can.

Read the GSP article that Lisa linked you to. Their care & feeding are identicle.

I've just finished reading most of the articles and have bookmarked the rest to read tomorrow,am going to bed now then off tomorrow to my usual store to buy a hydrometer and some marine salt so I can start adjusting his water levels straight away but will slowly increase them so as to not shock him,thanks once again.

Sounds like you're set.

Do get some pictures for us, we'd love to see the little guy.

Also, if you intend to keep him around for a while, I highly recommend you invest in a refractometer to replace the hydrometer. They are far more accurate and easier to use. They can be found on ebay for very cheap now too. So much so, that they basically make hydrometers obsolete, and honestly, more of a liability than anything, as they are notoriously inaccurate over time. Just something to keep in mind.

well Phaedrus I plan on keeping him around am currently sat working out sorting out a lovely big tank just for him and am very tempted to go back and rescue the other poor ceylon for my spare 30 gallon in the kitchen,basically I asked around yesterday and heard some horror stories about this store flushing sick fish so they don't have to medicate them!! but I'll look into getting a refractometer today if thats what is best to use,hes swimming around this morning looking quite happy apart from his belly is still very dark but he is eating,he has eaten most of a cockle and muscle this morning and sat and begged for a while when he realised my hand meant food while i was cleaning,I'm going to put some more tank decor and some fake plants in today as its a bit sparse for his size,all the hidey holes etc were set up for figure eight size puffers lol
I will see if i can get some pictures of him as well.

but just a few more questions,the article said to only feed him every few days,I'm guessing he is close to being an adult as he is about 5-6 inches long,how much should I feeding him when he is fed,is one cockle and a prawn too much or is that about right?he also has some plant snails around his tank but not as many as he did have yesterday lol I know most puffers are pigs and will eat as much as they can so I don't want to overfeed him and how frequently should I be doing water changes for him?
I'll be testing the nitrates and ph level again later today.

50% waterchanges per week.

Feed him until his belly is slightly round, not huge and lumpy.

thanks Lisalisa thats fine as I used to change my f8's and dp's like that,they are such messy lil things lol but just wasn't sure on the percentage of water i should be changing and I am feeding him about right I think,he doesn't look bloated when fed but his belly gets a little rounder and bigger,he seems quite happy now,is cruising the tank looking for any snails he may have missed and playing in the bubbles from the airstone feature,have tested all water parameters today and they all were suitable.

the only other thing is he is currently on aquatic sand in the bottom of his tank,will this be suitable or should he be on stones or gravel?

shimmer wrote:the only other thing is he is currently on aquatic sand in the bottom of his tank,will this be suitable or should he be on stones or gravel

He should be fine with either sand or gravel.

Just remember, if you use sand, you have to stir every inch (even under all decor) every week, before WC.

I'd consider losing the airstone as you increase salinity as they will spray salt all over the place.