"Freshwater" puffers True or False

[PoseidonCichlid]

My fish are Dormitator maculatus (I'm mentioning it because scientific names are very helpful especially to foreign readers who have no idea what fish we're talking about!) known variously as the Jade Sleeper Goby, Fat Sleeper, Spotted Sleeper, Striped Sleeper and Storm minnow etc. They get over 10 inches and are beautiful fish, but are also aggressive carnivores. Right now they are cute babies and most are shorter than the mollies. Like the mollies they swim together in open water in a school (usually a combo of both species) but once in a while they show that unique goby swimming characteristic of freezing in mid-water and turning their heads up at an odd angle and either swimming in place, rising, or slowly sinking. Very fun to watch! As they get older they'll swim in the open less and become more sedentary sit and wait predators. Their fins and iridescent scales are very attractive, I also love the pattern of the stripes like rays of light and their bright eyes. They are destined for a species-only tank unless they can get along with another large brackish species, perhaps a puffer but even if I have to house them alone they are well worth it. Going brackish gives you a whole new wonderful world of fascinating species to explore, pretty amazing stuff!

 

[lindenthaler.9]

My fish are Dormitator maculatus (I'm mentioning it because scientific names are very helpful especially to foreign readers who have no idea what fish we're talking about!) known variously as the Jade Sleeper Goby, Fat Sleeper, Spotted Sleeper, Striped Sleeper and Storm minnow etc. They get over 10 inches and are beautiful fish, but are also aggressive carnivores. Right now they are cute babies and most are shorter than the mollies. Like the mollies they swim together in open water in a school (usually a combo of both species) but once in a while they show that unique goby swimming characteristic of freezing in mid-water and turning their heads up at an odd angle and either swimming in place, rising, or slowly sinking. Very fun to watch! As they get older they'll swim in the open less and become more sedentary sit and wait predators. Their fins and iridescent scales are very attractive, I also love the pattern of the stripes like rays of light and their bright eyes. They are destined for a species-only tank unless they can get along with another large brackish species, perhaps a puffer but even if I have to house them alone they are well worth it. Going brackish gives you a whole new wonderful world of fascinating species to explore, pretty amazing stuff!

I'd love to get a few of these guys as babies. I might have to look into finding them at that size. I'd love to watch their behavior at that size.
The Mono Sebae (Mondactylus Sebae) gets about 8" Although I've also seen 10 and 12" as a max size for them. And they're fast, so that's my current plan to house with them. Although I'm not at all against species only tanks. I actually look for possible oddball candidates for species only tanks. That's where the love for brackish tanks come in, much more variety. At least the kind I like anyways.

 

[Penguin]

Are all the puffer species we see being sold as freshwater fish really much healthier and happier being raised in brackish conditions? Are there freshwater baby puffer species that need salt added as they get bigger? What's the real story about the best salinity (or none) to keep them in, please give species specific examples because there are a lot of species out there labeled "freshwater puffers". Thanks for the information.

IMO I've had 2 different puffers on 2 separate occasions and both were not very hardy. The first was a dwarf puffer (freshwater) was sold to me by my LFS but they were very misinformed about what they were selling us, they told us that they would eat freeze dried blood worms but when we fed him he wouldn't eat any of it and we'd watch him swim up to it and then sniff it then swim back down as we watched the other fish eat the food. Also the workers at lfs i went to said they were peaceful fish but when we got him home he was very aggressive and would nip at the fins of fish that were much larger than him. Also, when we got him he was very sickly but lasted only about 3 weeks to a month at most. Then our mistake was listening to the same employee who had sold us the sickly dwarf puffer who told us that the figure 8 puffer (brackish) was fully freshwater so we bought it thinking we could trust him and that he had just made a mistake. But that's where we were wrong. He said that a fully grown figure 8 puffer doesn't need any salinity at all we bought it thinking he knows what he was doing but less than 6 days later he had passed too even though he was swimming strong and seemed healthy the same day. I knew there was something fishy (pun not intended) when the employee said that Liveaquaria, This site, and many more were wrong when i went back the day after he had died. Then when i went to talk to the manager he had stuck by his lie that all employees are trained and knowledgeable about all fish they have in stock but when i brought up the fact that we were sold a sickly dwarf puffer and sold a figure 8 puffer under false pretenses he said we were wrong for listening to this site and liveaquaria. 2 lessons learned that day. 1) puffers are high maintenance between water quality and feeding and 2) that I'm never going back to petland again!

 

[lindenthaler.9]

IMO I've had 2 different puffers on 2 separate occasions and both were not very hardy. The first was a dwarf puffer (freshwater) was sold to me by my LFS but they were very misinformed about what they were selling us, they told us that they would eat freeze dried blood worms but when we fed him he wouldn't eat any of it and we'd watch him swim up to it and then sniff it then swim back down as we watched the other fish eat the food. Also the workers at lfs i went to said they were peaceful fish but when we got him home he was very aggressive and would nip at the fins of fish that were much larger than him. Also, when we got him he was very sickly but lasted only about 3 weeks to a month at most. Then our mistake was listening to the same employee who had sold us the sickly dwarf puffer who told us that the figure 8 puffer (brackish) was fully freshwater so we bought it thinking we could trust him and that he had just made a mistake. But that's where we were wrong. He said that a fully grown figure 8 puffer doesn't need any salinity at all we bought it thinking he knows what he was doing but less than 6 days later he had passed too even though he was swimming strong and seemed healthy the same day. I knew there was something fishy (pun not intended) when the employee said that Liveaquaria, This site, and many more were wrong when i went back the day after he had died. Then when i went to talk to the manager he had stuck by his lie that all employees are trained and knowledgeable about all fish they have in stock but when i brought up the fact that we were sold a sickly dwarf puffer and sold a figure 8 puffer under false pretenses he said we were wrong for listening to this site and liveaquaria. 2 lessons learned that day. 1) puffers are high maintenance between water quality and feeding and 2) that I'm never going back to petland again!

Puffers should never be described as hardy. They are extremely sensitive. Unfortunately, they're almost always sold that way. Like I said back on the second or third page of this..
Shops will tell you anything to make a sale.
When we bought our Fugu a while back it was sold to us a tropical freshwater puffer. She should've been in full saltwater. Cold water, at that.

However we did know the information was wrong. Most just don't care what happens.

 

[Penguin]

Puffers should never be described as hardy. They are extremely sensitive. Unfortunately, they're almost always sold that way. Like I said back on the second or third page of this..
Shops will tell you anything to make a sale.
When we bought our Fugu a while back it was sold to us a tropical freshwater puffer. She should've been in full saltwater. Cold water, at that.

However we did know the information was wrong. Most just don't care what happens.

we proud aquarium owners should really start a petition about stopping our lfs from mislabeling fish and giving false information to customers just to make a quick buck. I'm tired of being sold fish by uneducated employees who just care about the money and not about the fishes health or the customers happiness. This is a growing epidemic.

 

[lindenthaler.9]

we proud aquarium owners should really start a petition about stopping our lfs from mislabeling fish and giving false information to customers just to make a quick buck. I'm tired of being sold fish by uneducated employees who just care about the money and not about the fishes health or the customers happiness. This is a growing epidemic.

And on top of that, a petition against selling Walmart selling fish. Ever.
I don't care what shops say, employees aren't trained about what fish they get in. Nothing against anyone that works at a pet store, I spent 8 months at a Pet Smart myself. But there's not many that actually care enough to actually learn about the fish.

 

[Penguin]

And on top of that, a petition against selling Walmart selling fish. Ever.
I don't care what shops say, employees aren't trained about what fish they get in. Nothing against anyone that works at a pet store, I spent 8 months at a Pet Smart myself. But there's not many that actually care enough to actually learn about the fish.

@lindenthaler do you honestly think that on this site we could possible start a petition because I'm willing to do that

 

[lindenthaler.9]

@lindenthaler do you honestly think that on this site we could possible start a petition because I'm willing to do that

I think it's been done before. I mean I'd be happy if Walmart never sold fish again.
Although it should be a requirement that anyone who works in a fish store at least owns a fish tank. Let alone actually know about the fish they're selling.