New To Puffer Fish Need Some Help

HI there I'm getting into puffers and I'm deciding between two. The avacado puffer and the figure 8 puffer. Ive asked my local LFS and they said the avacado would do ok and be on his own due to agression. But the figure 8s are kept in freshwater. I have the option to buy a 20 gallon long or a 29 gallon tank and have a 60 gallon sponge filter on a 55 gallon air pump. If I do get the figure 8s I was told 2-9 in a 29 gallon is this true? Also how would I go about acclimating a figure 8 to brackish should I get them out them in fresh water and slowly add salt over a couple weeks or a month? Sorry this is long trying my best with my favorite type of fish

 

2-9 is a big spread and seems excessive honestly.. I would think in a 29 they would be cramped
And lead to agression.
In a 29 I wouldnt put more then 2 honestly. Puffers have big personalities you will definitely enjoy them and if you have 1 or 2 you can really focus on them instead of worrying about aggression in the tank. You could also put clouded archers with them or some other brackish fish if you like but watch for clashes, I would probably add the puffers last tbh which would mean setting a qt brackish tank too. .
The more I learn about puffers in general the more I agree with a species specific tank

 

I thought figure 8 puffers prefer a brackish tank. I could be wrong I'm sure puffer keepers will chime in and let you know

 

They do 100%

 

They do 100%

I thought so. Thanks! I guess I missed reading the posts above lol.

 

I thought so. Thanks! I guess I missed reading the posts above lol.

If I read properly the lfs currently has them in fresh and they would need to be moved into brackish

 

If I read properly the lfs currently has them in fresh and they would need to be moved into brackish

Ah ok. Must of where I thought op was putting them in fresh lol. Gotta read slower I guess!

 

To acclimate you can do it slowly over like 2 days...changing out a few gallons every few hours You can not add the marine salt to the tank you have to incorporate it into the water then add the water to the tank

 

Thanks so much for the advice! And yeah the figure 8s are being kept in fresh water at my LFS lol. So I think a species specific is a good idea so I'm thinking 29 gallon with 2 figure 8s. And how long should I keep them in freshwater before cycling to brackish? Right when I buy them or give them a little bit? Also food wise I plan on buying bloodworms mysis shrimp and the half clams I see at the store at the time is this ok?

 

I would ask if they know how old they are but personally I would move them to brackish right away they will be happier honestly you can start with a very low salinity in the tank then add more they don't need a high salinity honestly, I had mine at 1.012 but I'm moving them to 1.0. I feed my orange saddlebacks:
Kril, shrimp, clams on half shell, blood worms, ghost shrimp and they love it all.

 

Thank you for the info put me more at ease to what's available atm due to the growing teeth making me a little nervous. So my tanks atm is freshwater as I was told at a different lfs to start them on fresh and move them into salt over several weeks (which seems a bit excessive) will adding salt kill my beneficial bacteria or am I ok?

 

Okay, so, definitely just keep 1-2. They're aggressive fish, and will be best enjoyed either singly or in small numbers. I'd vote for single for most puffers, but it's your tank.

I'd start and cycle the tank at 1.008. If the puffers are coming in at full freshwater, you can acclimate them pretty quickly through a drip system in a separate tank. These fish swim back and forth between brackish and freshwater in the wild (although they spend very, very little time in full fresh), and can adapt quickly. I'd think you'd probably be okay to do a full drip acclimation in 24 hours, as long as your keep an eye on water quality and run an airstone.

Adding salt all at once would definitely kill your BB. What you can do is acclimate the BB by upping the salt content of the water by 1.001-1.002 a day. Some will die off, but the goal is to have some bacteria acclimating and also for any new bacteria to be growing. I'm pretty sure the bacteria is the same/similar for fresh and low brackish, but it'll still die with an immediate increase/decrease in salt.

 

Brackish is not just salt, make sure you buy the proper thing. You want instant ocean, it has salt and minerals to make the tank brackish, not aquarium salt...just want to be clear as your lsf, much like mine, seems to be a bit confused

 

Ok instant ocean got it. Luckily I have a 2-4 weeks is when guy at the lfs said the fish are ready for sale as they're beginning treatment now I believe. And for drip acclimation would it be ok to use a 5 gallon with an airstone? And to keep perameters ok I'd use fresh water or brackish for w/c ? Also if it's better for the fish to keep it singly then I'm completely ok with just having the one puffer love the personality on them!

 

Id add the instant ocean now and work through a fishless cycle get it the salinity you want and then drip acclimate them when you get them but get the bacteria going as soon as possible, I ended up with my guys very fast and ive been chasing the cycle for 5 weeks

 

Ok so I'll add the instant ocean and start the brackish cycle! Should I use seachem stability for the conditioner or prime? Or does it matter and I'm overthinking it lol

 

I use prime

 

Thanks I'll use prime.thank you guys again for the advice I'll be starting my cycle for brackish tomorrow hopefully

 

I love my figure 8. You won’t regret it.

 

Sheldon13 what salinity do you keep him at? My plant died in 3 days, fell right apart durring a water change

 

Right now he is young, only about half grown, so he’s at 1.004 but I will double that gradually as he grows. May even knock it up to 1.01. If I get it to 1.01 the great thing is there are several marine plants and animals that can still do well at that salinity so I can have more diversity.

 

Right now he is young, only about half grown, so he’s at 1.004 but I will double that gradually as he grows. May even knock it up to 1.01. If I get it to 1.01 the great thing is there are several marine plants and animals that can still do well at that salinity so I can have more diversity.

Ya I had hornswort that broke right apart and disintegrated with the first water change, I'm not having any luck finding plants for in there

 

I’m starting to wonder if it wouldn’t be worth a shot to try some different kinds of marine algae...

 

Some macroalgae might do okay, but stay away from anything calcified. You might be able to get something like Caulerpa Prolifera going in there, but it won't do great. It'll have to be dripped, too.

 

C.S.Aquarium

How is the brackish cycle coming along?

 

Sorry for such a late response I've been a bit busy the cycle finished about a week ago! Everything was great I picked up my puffer and the first few days went smoothly until my dad noticed his entire back fin was turning white. We used general cure at first but it didn't do much so we got melafix and pimafix to try and combat whatever was on his tail and sadly he didn't make it☹☹ thank you all for your help though

 

Sorry for such a late response I've been a bit busy the cycle finished about a week ago! Everything was great I picked up my puffer and the first few days went smoothly until my dad noticed his entire back fin was turning white. We used general cure at first but it didn't do much so we got melafix and pimafix to try and combat whatever was on his tail and sadly he didn't make it thank you all for your help though

Oh no! A lot of puffers don’t do well after capture (as I’m assuming he was wild caught). They come in with parasites and all sorts of ailments. Are you getting another one? Maybe from a different source?

 

I was debating it for a little while but I plan atm to try something a bit simpler of course I will try again but I want to do a bunch more research and save up more before trying again so for the moment I'm going to try and setup a community till I can get another tank setup

 

I was debating it for a little while but I plan atm to try something a bit simpler of course I will try again but I want to do a bunch more research and save up more before trying again so for the moment I'm going to try and setup a community till I can get another tank setup

Aww. Sorry it didn’t work out like you planned.

 

HI there I'm getting into puffers and I'm deciding between two. The avacado puffer and the figure 8 puffer. Ive asked my local LFS and they said the avacado would do ok and be on his own due to agression. But the figure 8s are kept in freshwater. I have the option to buy a 20 gallon long or a 29 gallon tank and have a 60 gallon sponge filter on a 55 gallon air pump. If I do get the figure 8s I was told 2-9 in a 29 gallon is this true? Also how would I go about acclimating a figure 8 to brackish should I get them out them in fresh water and slowly add salt over a couple weeks or a month? Sorry this is long trying my best with my favorite type of fish

Hello
Avacodo puffers are totally freshwater, figure 8 puffer is brackish water(semI saltwater fish). Avacodo puffers are harder to find, but will be easier for you to care for if you don’t want to do the saltwater tank. I had green spotted puffers & Amazon puffers for years- 2 separate tanks. IMO You can put either of them in 20 gallon on up, 29 is fine. I used instant ocean & hydrometer & slowly acclimated my GSP over time, cause if their swimming from fresh to saltwater- the salinity gradually changes. Keep their water immaculate, if their bellies turn black, their sick. Keep in mind, with the figure 8 , you’ll have to add salt every water change, measure salinity on regular basis, water test, etc. I kept my GSP with mollies, no problems.
the freshwater puffers are a little bit easier to keep.