Figure 8 Puffer in Freshwater?

[TypicalAqua]

I have read the figure 8 puffer can live in freshwater as well as saltwater. If they do please tell me some info

 

[BornThisWayBettas]

Gena knows something about figure 8 puffers, she should be able to tell you something.

 

[TypicalAqua]

Gena

 

[MJDuti]

Figure 8's are usually seen in Freshwater in stores because it's probably easier for the store to hold them this way. There is a lot of feedback, mainly from experience but some science based, out there that states they will do much better long-term in low-end brackish water (SG 1.005-1.008). The SG number isn't too important. What is important is that the salt helps with their immune systems, and kills a lot of Freshwater diseases in general. Plus they just seem happier. I don't know if this has any effect on their growth or behavior, but you want to provide the best conditions for your puffer, or any fish. A happy puffer will give you many years of entertainment.

 

[Gena]

I have read the figure 8 puffer can live in freshwater as well as saltwater. If they do please tell me some info

In the wild they mostly live in extremely hard freshwater(near impossible to make water that hard in captivity). But they have to go in higher salinities for food/shelter/mating/etc. F8s have been found in a wide range of salinity. They've been found in the ocean even! I don't think they live there for extended periods of time, maybe to get needed resources or if they get displaced because of extreme conditions inland.

But people forget that what is normal for a fish in the wild, isn't always best for a fish in captivity. Yes, they can be kept in freshwater but they will live unhealthy, miserable, and short lives. The best for them is to be kept in lightly brackish water. 1.003-1.008 roughly. The record for longest living F8 in captivity is 18 years and the fish was kept in lightly brackish water.

IMO, the only way F8s can be kept is in brackish. Salinity makes water hard and that's what F8s need. They need hard water more than they need no salinity. My Sammy was sickly when I got her. She'd been kept in freshwater for sometime. Her colors were dull, fins were frayed, she wasn't very active. It seemed like she was on the way to dying. After acclimating her to 1.005 and putting her in her new brackish tank, she perked up in hours.

 

[lbm5822]

As gena said F8 puffers are mostly found in hard freshwater but do best in a brackish tank, I personally recommend a specific gravity of 1.005 - 1.008 increasing it by 0.002 each week. I also recommend that you keep your F8s in atleast a 15 gallon tank but preferably a 20 long. Additionally I would add that you should make sure that about 75 - 90% of puffers diet consists of snails. To wear down its teeth.

~lbm5822