New here! PUffers??

[qpmomma]

Hello everyone! I'm new here, but I'm not new to keeping freshwater fish. I currently only have one tank up and running (55 gal) that has nothing but schools of tetras in it. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with my 10 and 20 gal tanks. My 10 gal used to be a breeder tank for my live bearers. And my 20 gal used to be a semi-agressive tank.

I went to the petshop I used to work at and they just got in some mini-puffers. I've never had a brackish tank before and I've never cared for brackish fish. I did grab a caresheet for them.

I have 2 concerns: 1) salinity of the water, 2) eating habits. The caresheet says they eat frozen which I don't have a problem with considering I alway feed my fish frozen about once a week. But the thing is I know with some fish they are finicky eaters. How well do puffers eat? Has anyone had any problems getting puffers to eat? Also, about adding salt to the tank. How much should you add for a brackish tank?

Also, I know that you can aclimate mollies to brackish water. Do puffers get along with other fish like mollies? Or should they be kept in a species only tank?

Sorry for all the questions. Any and all info would be great! Thanks!

Christina

[Purrbox]

You need to find out for sure what type of puffer you are dealing with. Some puffers are strictly FW and shouldn't be put in a brackish environment. Others as you've mentioned need brackish water.

From everything I have read, you are best off keeping puffers in a species tank. They can a will kill fish much larger than themselves. Occastionally you can get away with tankmates, but this depends in part of the personality of the puffers.

If you do need to keep them in a brackish tank, you will want to buy a refractometer. This will measure the level of salinity. You will want to use quality Marine Salt and follow the dosing instructions for the salt. Not all salts are the same concentration. A little research should turn up the appropriate salinity level.

If the puffers you are considering are actually FW puffers, here's a great site to read up on them.

i have 2 leopard spotted puffers(brackish) and they have NO problems eating at all, they will eat pretty much anything that gets thrown in there. i had 3 mollies with mine(before i knew they puffers were agressive, but it was to late)