I think my LFS is screwy

[NateNBeckie]

Ok, so I moved my 2 damsels from my 29 gal upstairs to the new 30 gallon hex in my kids play room to start the cycle. So I had to restock my one 29 gal.

We went to the LFS. We love puffers and were looking at those, but they were a little too expensive, and they've raised their prices on clowns. They had a good sized Arc Eye Hawkfish for $25 so we picked him up. So we wanted a couple of the cheaper puffers.

But they sold us what seem to be Green Spotted Puffers, which not until we got them home and in the tank did we find out they are brackish fish, not full SW. The guy, who has been very good in the past, didn't seem to think anything of it when he sold them to us knowing it is a SW tank.

The fish seem to be doing very well. They are very playful already. Very friendly and appear to be in good health. They are eating well too (they loved the frozen snow crab chunk I dropped in for them, they went right for it). In fact, they "fought" with the Hawk over it (wasn't much of a fight, the Hawk woosed out).

Am I missing something here? I'll try to post a pic of them when my wife gets the pics loaded.

For now, they look very much like this:

Nate

 

[seacat]

ive heard that they can be fully converted over to sw over a period of time. so maybe the lfs had done that already, anyway for you to know how long they have had them. that would be the easiest way to find out if they converted them.

 

[NateNBeckie]

Well, he told me how to acclimate them and how he does it, and he said it works fine for him. It takes very little time his way.

So I did it how he said...But I'm going to go in and ask tomorrow.

Nate

 

[dianeww]

He sold you a hawkfish and two puffers for a 29 gallon tank? What is this "little time" acclimation process, just out of curiosity?

 

[Bhunsucker]

I'm interested in hearing about the acclimation process also.

 

[malkore]

I'm always in favor of a slow, drip acclimation, especially if you aren't quarantining. At the end of the acclimation, you can add a few drops of Organi-cure and give a quick dip. Its certainly no guarantee against parasites or diseases, but it's better than not doing anything. Of course a QT is best.

 

[NateNBeckie]

The process was putting the fish in a 5 gal bucket, then start a siphon with a small airator tube from the tank to the bucket. Wait for it to fill, dump most of it out and do it again. It took about 2 hours or so.

The puffers we have grow to 3-4" including the tail when they're fully grown. By that time we'll have a bigger tank (75 gal or bigger). Right now they're about an inch. The hawk is fully grown (a bit bigger than 3").

The puffers are really neat. They help each other out, protect each other, and will come and greet you if you sit in front of the tank. We had the hawk come to our finger today as well.

I know the 5"-6" rule for the 29 gallon tank.

Nate

 

[seaham358]

I read somewhere that those puffers get real nasty and will kill other fish!! keep a close eye on these guys with your other fish..

 

[NateNBeckie]

That seems to be how most puffers are. If it can fit in their mouth, they will eat it. Luckily, these guys grow to be a bit smaller than my Hawk.

Nate

 

[fireman26m]

I've got a figure 8 puffer and a green spot puffer that I got for my son and fully converted them over to SW. I've had them for about a year and are growing by leaps and bounds with no aggressive issues at all. I converted them by raising the SG by .01 a week until I reached 1.023. Only issue is you have to replace the snails fairly frequently after fully converted...lol. They tend to leave hermits alone though and haven't bothered the CC star I have in with them. You have to watch your feeding with these guys....they'll eat and eat until they can barely swim if you let them. Not sure how they would be with another fish in the tank though.

 

[penpitt]

greenspotted puffers (tetraodon nigroviridis) get to be about 6" and can be quite aggressive towards conspecifics as well as others. The recommended tank size for them is 30 gallons apiece. They start as a BW but as adults they do quite well in marine conditions. Here is a link for some more info on them.

http://www.pufferlist.com/

 

[NateNBeckie]

I have found that yes, they will eat and eat until they look like they're ready to explode. They will eat all of the "blender mush" I put in there leaving very little for the hawk (although he does get some). I have found the Hawk will eat flakes and the puffers won't, so I can at least get the Hawk what he needs.

As I've said, before they start getting too big, we will be getting a bigger tank. I'm thinking like a 75 gallon. Tanks and stuff go so cheap on Ebay. This is by far the cheaper of my hobbies, but requires just as much maintenance (my signature explains it).

They are doing very, very well though. The hawk has a personality too. He will watch us, and does all kinds of cool things. The kids love both the puffers and the hawks. They're a lot of fun to watch. You can almost play with them through the glass.

Nate

 

[elke]

tell me if i'm wrong but is the green spot puffer brackish as a juvy then full sw as an adult