figure 8 puffer

[Michael_G]

yo. pretty soon im getting a 55g to move my blood parrot to and i wanted to get a figure 8 puffer when hes out. some sites say that salt levels need not be high. it would be for my 20g. i currently throw in about 2 tablespoons of non iodized salt about onece a month. i wanted to know if its possible to keep a fig8 in there with a pleco . a pictus and maybe some iddle fish.
also i want to know if they puff up big like the slatwater ones?(this has to be the dumbest question ever)

 

[SCU33ZE]

Are you talking about table salt? That wont do. You need to use artificial marine salt to make brackish conditions (i.e, Instant Ocean). Also F8's do best when kept in brackish water and not freshwater.

Yes F8's puff but they do this as a last defense and get very stressed when it happens so dont induce this in any way.

 

[Michael_G]

Are you talking about table salt? That wont do. You need to use artificial marine salt to make brackish conditions (i.e, Instant Ocean). Also F8's do best when kept in brackish water and not freshwater.


i use the salt they sell at the pet shops for marine aquariums its written non ioded amongst other stuff

 

[Kasakato]

Ok thats good. What SCU is saying that in table salt there is just salt. But in the other salt you get at the fish store there is other stuff in it that the fish need.

 

[RTR]

Marine mix includes iodide. You also need a hydrometer. A couple of tablespoons of marine mix once a month is not brackish water. If you do not want to do brackish water, do not get a brackish fish.

 

[oztun]

Are you talking about table salt? That wont do. You need to use artificial marine salt to make brackish conditions (i.e, Instant Ocean). Also F8's do best when kept in brackish water and not freshwater.


i use the salt they sell at the pet shops for marine aquariums its written non ioded amongst other stuff

I believe you might be mistaken. Pet shops sell two different types of salt for aquariums. One is non-iodized aquarium salt for fresh water aquariums and the other is marine salt. Make sure it really is marine and not aquarium salt. You might have the right stuff but this is very often confused so I wanted to make sure you knew there were 2.

 

[Michael_G]

i guess the tuff is the freshwater salt. the thing is that i have the salt in a bag so i cant check the original box but i remember non ioded was on it. by the way how much salt should i maintain to make brackish conditions?right now i throw in a big handful every month to keep ich at bay amongst other bugs

 

[OrionGirl]

The salt you have will never create marine conditions.

You need to get a hydrometer--it's not a matter of tracking the volume, but the concentration. Without knowing how much salt you've added (handfulls each month sounds scary!), there's no way to know how much is needed.

Personally, I would completely drain the tank, and start fresh with clean water that is the same specific gravity as what the store is keeping the fish at.

 

[Oddball~]

Figure 8's need an SG of 1.005-1.008. You must also dissolve te salt in another container, also... putting the salt right in will burn the fish's gills.

 

[Michael_G]

BIG update on the tanks
the thing is that im getting a 55g to make brackish . i sold the red devil to a guy so im getting a pair of cons for my 20g and im still getting the 55g (maybee bigger). in the 55g ill get some fig 8 puufers ,bumblebee gobies, a dragon gobie and possibly a flounder but that would crowd the bottom . monos are nice too. by the way the aquarium salt i was throwing in was just to keep the ich at bay. if i was going to get the puffers i would have purchased all the nessesary instruments . after the 4 backwashes a month the salt content cant reach a brackish level even with the evaporation factor . im an idiot but not that much. the question of (how much salt do i need to maintain a brackish tank) was only for later reference when i get the puffers sorry for the confusion