G152
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I have had reg. fish, but I was thinking about having a oddball fish. Are there types of puffer fish that live in freshwater? If not are there any like it?
Freshwater puffer fish
- Thread starter G152
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bkiggy
Aquarium Advice Addict
Figure 8 and Dwarf Puffer are FW
G152
Aquarium Advice Newbie
bkiggy said:
Are they harder to take care of? What are there needs? Anything I need to know?
BozziniINC
Aquarium Advice Activist
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How big of a tank do u have? If its 125 or bigger i would do a fahaka puffer. They get big and look stunning
bkiggy
Aquarium Advice Addict
Dwarf only 1, figure 8 - couple
G152
Aquarium Advice Newbie
bkiggy said:
I have a 55 gallon tank , is was more or less an idea. I can't get anything bigger then 55 gallon though. What would my options be?
bkiggy
Aquarium Advice Addict
Get figure 8 !!! Or green spotted puffer.
Very expressive and friendly
Very expressive and friendly
G152
Aquarium Advice Newbie
bkiggy said:
I've heard of a dwarf puffer. What requirements do they need? What care? Please help.
I love my dwarf puffer! They are very interesting and curious fish. The website below has a lot of great information. I would also check out some YouTube videos.
http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/
http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/
Figure 8 are light brackish fish. freshwater is not good for them in captivity in the long run.
Green spotted puffers are best suited for saltwater.
If you keep a freshwater puffer then you are better off keeping a species tank. You could keep dwarf puffers. Probably a grooup of 11. There is a huge problem of them having internal parasites upon purchase. this problem gets worse if you buy a group of them. IMO they are not beginner fish. Just keep a 1 or 2 of them in a small tank.
There are a few other puffers you can keep in freshwater, but they are hard to come by. what is available in your area? Also this is not puffer season, so your lfs might not carry much of a variety besides the ones mentioned already.
the figure 8 is my favorite option if you can handle light salt mixing.
Green spotted puffers are best suited for saltwater.
If you keep a freshwater puffer then you are better off keeping a species tank. You could keep dwarf puffers. Probably a grooup of 11. There is a huge problem of them having internal parasites upon purchase. this problem gets worse if you buy a group of them. IMO they are not beginner fish. Just keep a 1 or 2 of them in a small tank.
There are a few other puffers you can keep in freshwater, but they are hard to come by. what is available in your area? Also this is not puffer season, so your lfs might not carry much of a variety besides the ones mentioned already.
the figure 8 is my favorite option if you can handle light salt mixing.
bettaowner
Aquarium Advice Addict
The amazon puffer is a peaceful freshwater puffer.
bettaowner
Aquarium Advice Addict
The species isn't as aggressive as pea puffers.
G152
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Terrance said:
I would like to get a dwarf in a 5-10 gallon as I've heard this is ok. I live in the lower part of Ohio near Cincinnati , i believe a LFS I go to sells them but I'll just take my time with it.
In addition to reading the dp website, search this forum about them. You will find lots of good info here.
There are lot of mixed info on the south American puffers online. I will write up a profile for them if there is enough interest.
There are lot of mixed info on the south American puffers online. I will write up a profile for them if there is enough interest.
I used to be a puffer fanatic (trying to not stare at them at the lfs as to avoid buying them again) I had a 55 gallon that I started out as freshwater and put in figure eights and green spotted puffers. Love love love love green spotted puffers. Unfortunately they never did well in freshwater conditions, and I slowly changed over to low brackish, and then higher end brackish (ph 8.2 and 1.012 SG). They did pretty well in those conditions and eventually I had a tank full of GSPs. They are extremely extremely personable fish that "beg" to be fed. Very important to keep their beaks trimmed: I did this by feeding them a crayfish once a week as well giving them Hikari half shell clams. The figure eights prefer low brackish and as the figure eights grow from juveniles they do need to become full saltwater fish (the colors look AMAZING). The thing is as with all puffers is that they are extremely aggressive fish and do need very good water conditions: they are scale-less so pristine water conditions are crucial. I tried the amazon puffer and the dwarf puffer fish but they were never "color-full enough for me. But also very personable and great fish. Good luck!!
You put f8 in marine water? They are best kept in light brackish water. If you kept them in marine water, then just wondering how long you were able to keep them in saltwater?
The gsp are meant to be in saltwater in captivity since it would not be economically sensible to keep them in moderate-high end brackish water.
The gsp are meant to be in saltwater in captivity since it would not be economically sensible to keep them in moderate-high end brackish water.
The figure 8 puffers did well until 1.018 SG and then I began to worry about them (although they did not show any signs of stress) so I gave them away. The freshwater to saltwater transition took 8 months to complete and from several studies it was shown that puffers are capable transitioning from fresh to salt an vice-versa. (Theres a term for it but I cannot remember it). In any case at the time I did experiments of shrinking and blowing up red blood cells and I could not stand to know that the figure eight is low end brackish so I gave them away. The figure eights lived in 1.010 + salinity for about 3-4 months. After that I gave them away and then transitioned to a higher salinity. The GSPs then later lived with a Valentini Puffer and a yellow boxfish in 1.021 SG.
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