Moving fish from SW to FW?

[GallonsOfFun]

So here's the situation I'm in, I'm getting Green Spotted Puffers tomorrow (they are brackish fish in their early years; need to be moved to full marine when older) and my lfs keeps the juveniles in full saltwater. I've cycled my tank in freshwater and plan to eventually bring the salinity level to ~1.006 (recommended for juvenile GSP's).

Will I be ok drip acclimating them to freshwater? If so, how long should I spend doing it? I could potentially bring my salinity level to 1.002 by tomorrow but I'm not even sure if that's worth it because I wanted to add Tetra SafeStart to make sure the GSP's don't overrun my filters bioload (the salt may kill the SafeStart bacteria).

Please offer your advice!

 

[Sniperhank]

Don't drip acclimate them into freshwater. When changing a fish like this over into a different salinity it needs to be gradual and over time, not all at once. That is most likely going to kill it.

 

[melosu58]

Yes That`s what is bothering me is the beneficial bacteria in FW is not the same for SW. You could have a spike in ammonia or nitrites from losing all your beneficial bacteria as soon as you go SW. I definitely think slow is better.

 

[Rivers2k]

It might not work. They are designed in nature to go from fresh to salt as they age. Nobody can really answer this unless they have tried. I have had GSP's for years they do best in brackish at any age. If you are set on trying it bring your tank up to brackish conditions at least.

 

[GallonsOfFun]

Hey guys, thanks for the advice. The store recieves the fish in brackish so I'm just waiting till they get some in.