F8 can't think of a title

[Dr. Orifice]

Hey,
As some may have seen I have kept DPs in a 13g awhile back. Now I'm wanting to change that tank to a brackish tank for one F8. He would be alone, and I would do a 50% water change every 3-4 days, the tank has a Penguin Biowheel 100, heavily decorated, and will be cycled with Bio-Spira . I know that the minimum tank size is a 15g I thought I should ask though since I would be doing more frequent water changes on the tank. I don't mean to sound ignorant at all if it sounds like it, I'm just curious.
Thanks a ton

[Dr. Orifice]

Sorry I should have added that this will be a temporary tank. I will have the puffer in this tank for a year and a half at the most probably a year. I am going to upgrade to either a 29g or 20g long once I have a good amount of money that's free( I just bought the 49g). Still I don't know if that would be okay.
Thanks

[Myaj]

What are the dimentions of the tank? If its a tall tank without much swimming room, I'd say no.. but if it works out to be a longer tank, with more swimming distance, maybe.. IF you can commit to not adding any tankmates and keeping the water quality up.

[Dr. Orifice]

Hey,
My tanks dimensions are 24"long 13"deep 11"high. If this is ok how long would it be ok for it to be in the tank? Yeah I'd definately would keep just the one puffer and do WCs every 3-4 days. Right now I have the other community tank so really I just want a tank intended for a wetpet. Brackish seems a little bit more interesting than fresh too I think (I'm no were near ready for SW).
Thanks

[Boxermom]

That comes up to 14.86 gallons.

[Dr. Orifice]

Hmmm I just used a calculator and it said my tank is 14.8g, I bought the tank as a 15g I thought I should add but once I got it I used an aquarium calculator and it said 13g maybe I gave the wrong numbers the first time? Sorry I didn't know if it'd make a much of a difference if I posted this it's only a little bit.
Thanks

[Dr. Orifice]

Oh sorry I must have been typing while you posted that. Sorry about that. From the threads I've been reading it seems that I've read in smaller tanks than this even, that a puffer would be ok in the tank at the most a year and a half. I'm definately am going to get a 20 long in at the most a year now I've found, so from what I've found this would be ok for a period of time. Am I wrong about this? I really don't want an unhappy fish that's not thriving in my tank.
Thanks again

[Boxermom]

15 is the minimum we recommend but with faithful water changes and good maintenance, its doable. Its just shy of 15 but when you take into account substrate, decor, etc., there's less water volume than that.

[Myaj]

I'd say its good but any fish always appreciates a larger tank . The dimentions give good swimming room too, a lot of 15 gallon tanks are really tall and not very suitable.

[Dr. Orifice]

Thank you very very much. The puffer will not be in there for more than a year for sure. If you don't mind me asking one more question I'd really appreciate it. The place were I'm going to get this puffer from adds one Teaspoon of sea salt per gallon, I was wondering if this too little to much or just right?
Thanks again I really really appreciate it

[Boxermom]

You need a hydrometer or refractometer to measure the specific gravity, or salinity. You need to keep it at SG 1.005-1.008. Be sure to post a picture here once you get it so we can verify that it is indeed a Figure 8. There are often misidentifications in the stores.

[Myaj]

And you need Marine Salt (such as Instant Ocean), not "aquarium salt". There's a big difference, namely in the blend and balance of minerals.

When you do start adding the marine salt, do it slowly, a little at a time. Adding too much can crash your biofilter. That's why its important to get a hydrometer or refractometer, so you don't throw it off by too much. Starting off with a tablespooon dissolved in some warm water, then added to the replacement water when you do a water change will be a good start, if you don't have the measuring device right at the moment. But getting him the correct salt is your first step.

[Dr. Orifice]

Hey,
Thanks guys, I have a hydrometer and a bag of Instant Ocean salt. I am 100% positive that the puffers in the store which I'm buying them are F8s. They are in a tank with GSPs also, and are sold as GSPs. I'm sure though that the ones I'm looking at are F8s though due to the visible eye-spot on them. I was wondering though I called the store earlier and the puffers are in brackish and have 1 teaspoon of sea salt per gallon, and they said that the readings don't show up on their hydrometer. I was wondering then should I put the teaspoon per gallon in my tank, then rise it up by .002 each week until it is up to 1.005? Also my Bio-Spira is freshwater Bio-Spira can I add this straight into a brackish tank or do I have to feed the bacteria with pure ammonia and take up the SG by .002 each week before getting the fish?
Thanks

[Myaj]

You can use the freshwater biospira, I believe it is good up to 1.008 or somewhere in that range.

It sounds like the puffers at the store are in freshwater with some salt added, but not nearly enough, so I would start with a smaller amount, such as a quarter cup of salt for your entire tank, and just start working up from there as you do your weekly water changes. And keep in mind, you don't HAVE to raise it the full .002 each week, that's just the maximum you can raise it without harming the bacteria. So if you go slower, its not a problem.

[Dr. Orifice]

Alright I think I've got it now I was quite confused there.
Thanks you very very much I'll post pics once everythings up and running.