dwarf vs green spotted puffers

I have a 29 gal tank that I have been wanting to setup (I just need to get a stand for it first). After reading tons of articles and posts on the web, I have decided that I want to get a pufferfish. However, I have a few questions that I would like to hear others' opinions on:

1) I was thinking about either getting 4 dwarf puffers or 1 green spotted puffer or 1 figure 8 puffer- any suggestions?

2) I know the figure 8 and GSP are brackish fish (and I have read that GSP prefers Saltwater as it gets closer to fully grown)- besides a hydrometer is there any other equipment that I would need for a brackish setup (that I wouldn't need for FW)?

3) I was also considering setting up a small (maybe 5 gal) tank with feeder snails for the pufferfish. Are there any small tropical fish that I could also keep with the snails, or is it best to keep the snails alone?

Any advice would be well appreciated and thanks in advance!

 

I would get a plant that has some snail on it, and possible start a snail infestation and then throw the puffer in it =)

 

I have both dwarf puffers and a figure 8 puffer. I have my F8 in a 29 gallon and I considered getting a GSP but I didn't want to have it in a tank that was minimal in size and I didn't want to deal with high end brackish to full marine SG. I keep 2 bumblebee gobies with my F8 and I want to pick up 3 more. I also keep 6-8 ghost shrimp and they really keep things tidy. My F8 could care less about the shrimp as he never eats them. I also have a 10 gallon snail breeder setup with ramshorn and pond snails. This is about 90% of his diet and he does get an occasional millworm and some bloodworms when the BBGs get fed. I also keep 2 dwarf puffers in a 15 gallon and I like them as well but I prefer the F8 in a 29g.

Good luck

 

Thanks for your input JRC3!
How do you do the water changes for your brackish tank? An article I read said to put the new water in a bucket and mix the salt in, before you put it in the tank.
Also, what specific gravity do you keep your figure 8 puffer tank at?

Thanks again!

 

You want to let it mix for 24 hours ahead of time with a powerhead or airstone. I cheat a little; I add enough salt to treat 50% of my tank water into a 2 gallon jug of water and I put an airstone in the jug on a piece of rigid line and let it mix for 24 hours. then I add the concentrated saltwater somewhat proportionately to the water I'm returning to the tank.

My plan this week is to add a 5 gallon water bottle to the compartment under my stand to premix water. In it I'll have a small pond pump to mix the salt and water with a heater set to the same temp as the tank. Then I can use the same pump to pump the mixed water into the main tank during a water change. At the end I'll make a new batch of water and it can mix for the entire week for the next WC.

I keep my SG around 1.005 but it can fluctuate between 1.003-1.008 as long as it doesn't change more than .002 at one time or it will crash your bio-filter.

Here is a site that is dedicated to puffers and the best sites I've found specifically for them. This link is for the brackish forum.

 

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