Brackish Aquarium Question

[Trynitey]

I am going to set up a brackish water aquarium (eventually) for either a Figure 8 Puffer or a Green Spotted Puffer. I had read that they like Brackish water but can live in Freshwater. I would like to start a Brackish water aquarium if possible. My few questions would be:

How much salt per gallon would I put in?? Is it measured like that or what?

What kind of filter system would I need for it?

Would it be best if I put them in freshwater first and eventually add salt to it and make it a Brackish water slowly - since all the pet stores here dont have "brackish water aquariums"?

 

[Sati]

I've never had a BW or SW tank so I don't know much, you'll need a hydrometer to measure the salinity of the water. And water evaporates, salt doesn't, so as evaporation occurs the salinity will increase in the tank. I know Pufferpunk knows about keeping these fish in BW, so she'll probably have some good advice. And I imagine a slow introduction to salt would be wise if they were in FW. Those fish really need to be in BW to be healthy and long-lived, or so I have read.

 

[Nydiroth]

Your best bet is to find out what the water parameters the fish is kept in now and either setup a intermediate tank with those parameters or prepare the tank the fish is going to stay so it is close to the water it's in now. I do not use a hydrometer too often as brackish water's specific gravity fluctuates in nature. Mine is in 1.008sg and it varies between 1.004-1.012. I use marine salt at 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. I went from full FW to Brackish over 6 weeks. I took a 1gallon pitcher and using 80degree water I added 5 tablespoons of salt and stuck a small powerhead to mix the salt as marine salt takes much longer than table salt to dissolve. I slow dripped the concentrate by syphoning the water through an airline tube with a knot in it over the course of 10-12hours. Let the tank sit for a day or three to let your fish acclimate and test the water's SG. Keep this up until you reach your desired SG. Remember NEVER to add salt to your evaporation top off water as the salt remains in the tank and does not evaporate. Only add the salt during water changes.

Hope it goes well and let us know how things are

 

[madasafish]

Keep in mind that you do not need to have a brackish water tank if keeping puffers. I'm *not* advocating keeping F8s and GSPs in FW, but I am suggesting that you consider the few other FW puffer species. (How's that for alphabet soup?)

I've got dwarf puffers (Tetraodon travancorius) and know of several other neat species, such as the South American Puffer (Colomesus asellus) and Pignose Puffer (Tetraodon suvatti) (also known as Arrowhead Puffer, though there are some differences btwn the two). These are all beautiful, though aggressive (SA puffer is less aggressive). And there are a few other less-readily-available species out there, too.

FW puffers give you much more flexibility, as you can (if their temperament allows, and it usually does) keep algae-eaters such as plecos and otos with them. They also take all the salt problems away.

My dwarf puffers are the light of my life--and they are tolerant of Otos. Consequently their tank is immaculately clean!

Just a thought. A lot of ppl end up regretting limiting themselves by going brackish... and a lot of ppl wish, after a while, that they had gone for a less well-known species of puffer.

 

[tkos]

It was mentioned above but I will say it again, Make sure to buy Marine Salt and not Aquarium salt. Aquarium salt is basically NaCl and that is no good. The marine salt contains a mixture of different compunds and buffers.

 

[Pufferpunk]

madasafish, Good point! Many folks don't even realize there are FW puffers. My lfs insisted there weren't any! Although I wouldn't put any tankmates w/most BW or FW puffers except the F8, dwarf or SAP. Especially not w/a pignose (suvattii).

If a F8 or GSP is the puffer you just gotta have, keep in mind, F8s are mildly aggressive & can have some tankmates, grow to 2 1/2-3 ", need at least a 10g/fish & prefer low-end BW (1.005-10). GSPs are extremely aggressive, very few fish can live w/them, grow to 6", need at least 20g/fish & prefer high-end BW & SW as adults (1.015-23).