Freshwater Puffer??? Need help!!!

[Stephen]

I did some impulse buying tonight. I purchased 2 very small puffers. The are a 1/2" long. The tank was labeled "Freshwater Puffers". I think I screwed up. I am placing them in my 30 gallon tank and my nephews are taking the guppies. Should I add salt to this tank to make it brackish? If so how much? I have some instant ocean on hand and can add salt if needed. What's the salinity I should shoot for however? I'm also posting this in the brackish forum...

[andruboz]

well its possible they sold you a congo puffer, or a red eye. but also possible they sold you a green spot or a figure 8.
check out
http://chunkypuff.net/projectpuffer/pavilion.htm

and maybe you'll be able to tell which one you picked up. i wouldn't go brack until you are sure what you have.

[Stephen]

They are so small I really can't tell much about them. They are a really light olve greenish color. Almost fade yellow to white. They do have spots on them however. All over thier bodies.

From the pics on that site they look like more like the congo puffer. But the green spotted puffer looks similar. I guess with age I'll be able to tell. What salinity range should I shoot for?

[mwood322]

Do they look anything like this??

http://www.petresources.net/fish/misscel/pics/dwpuff01.jpg

or like these??

http://puffernet.tripod.com/travancoricus.html

If yes. Your new puffers are completely freshwater, and no salt should be added. They are often sold as Dwarf Puffers, or Freshwater puffers, and are around 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch when sold. i had some for a while, and had a bit of trouble finding food they could eat, as they were quite tiny.

--Mia

[rockhead44]

I had a couple in the past(Green Spotted Puffer )
and they ate the same food I feed my other fish.I liked them alot but they grew and I gave them away.I think I had added a little salt to their tank.Just thought I would add to the post good luck with them!

[Stephen]

mwood...

They look just like that pic you put in here? Now for some info about them???

[mwood322]

Best link I found for them...

http://puffernet.tripod.com/travancoricus.html

--Mia

[rjl420]

Freshwater dwarf puffers are some of the most peaceful of the puffers. but like all puffers, tempermant varies from fish to fish. these are some of the few puffers that can be kept in small groups and with other fish. they still need to eat small crustaceans like snails to keep their teeth from getting too large. but the ones I've kept in the past have eaten bloodworms (frozen, but prefer live), FD krill and planton and occasionally flake food.

they still tend to be fin nippers and shouldn't really be kept with long finned fish. but I've kept a group of 4 in a 10 gallon tank with cories and a single male dwarf gourami with no problems. after a while I lost 2 of the puffs because they wouldn't eat (they are typically shipped in with internal parasite problems) and I added 3 khuli loaches, again no problems. it was heavily planted and I think that may have helped with the non-aggression.

[Stephen]

I added 2 more puffers to my previos 2 today. So far they are seeming to get along fine. I'm going to add 2 more and a couple of weeks if the shop has them again.

I also added a small cory to the tank to clean up the stuff floating on the sand and a "freshwater flounder". Of course the 2 guppy fry got to hang around.

When I went back to the store that girl that waited on me had great info about the puffers. She's been keeping 2 for a while now evidentally. She suggested feeding them live black worms and forzen bloods worms and they loved them both. I was having trouble getting the first 2 to eat anything I offered and was begining to get a little worried. All over now. :D

I also replaced the 280 with a tetra 60. It's a tall tank so the bottom layer isn't moving very much with the 280. It's better with the 60 but not too strong.