Frustrated w/misinformation

Rowangel

Rowangel

I like fish with tarter sauce
Jan 20, 2006
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Champaign, Illinois
Hello,

Over the weekend I decided to switch-out a 10g I was using as a grow-out tank for fry into my first attempt at a brackish tank. My lfs had some brand-new, baby dwarf puffers in a tank with what they called a leaf fish. I fell in love with them both. Problem I'm having is getting a straight answer on how to properly maintain this tank for these fish. From what I've researched so far some people say dwarf puffers are FW and should not be kept in brackish water, but then others say they are brackish and need salt in the tank to flurish...ARG! Which is it?

Also, if I'm supposed to be using salt, what type of salt should I be using? Some sites says aquarium salt is fine and actually better for the fish, while another adamantly insists that aquarium salt can not provide the necessary requirements needed in a brackish tank. My understanding was sea salt (marine salt?) was not necessary, at least that is what my lfs said...then again we all know how knowledgeable lfs are...:rolleyes:

Then there is the question of how much salt to put in...sorry, I know this is an annoying question for the well-experienced people so I do apologize...but again each site states a different amount, 1 tbl per 5 gallons, 1 tbl per gallon, so-on-and-so-forth and I'm frankly frustrated with it all!

So I guess I'm just looking to clear the air a bit and get some straight answers from the more experienced, I just want to do this right!
Thank you all who respond!
-C
 
Dwarf puffers are freshwater fish, they do need or want any salt of any type in their water.

http://www.pufferlist.com/

But for the other question you asked, if you were doing brackish water, you would need to use marine mix. Brackish water is found where freshwater and sea water mix in nature such as estuaries and bays, so it is exactly that - a mix of seawater and freshwater. It is not ever a mix of salted water (with just sodium chloride) and freshwater, never, does not happen.

http://www.thepufferforum.com/
 
hum, ok. So, then the leaf fish probably isn't truly brackish either, they had them together in the show tank. Well, that's fine with me, they are adorable and brackish or not I love them! Thanks everyone for the clarification!
-Chris
 
Yes, exactly like that. So my lfs is off with the whole brackish thing then huh?
-C
 
i have a leopard and figure 8 puffers, they are in the categories of being in either brackish or freshwater but prefer mostly freshwater. i also have dwarf puffers and those are definitly freshwater but i almost always put a little of aquarium salt in the water just for anti preventative treatment. and they are doing just fine.

now for the dwarf puffer they need enough moving space and mainly eat live foods. you can feed them frozen foods. they are no fans of pellets or any flakes. in the beginning i used to hand feed them until they got used to their environment.

what tank size do you have? depending on how many you have they should be in a 20 gallon tank and maturity size is approx 1in gave or take a few centimeters.

if you still have any more questions we are here for you.
 
AMETHYST212 said:
i have a leopard and figure 8 puffers, they are in the categories of being in either brackish or freshwater but prefer mostly freshwater.
Click to expand...
Leopard, or Green Spotted Puffers are born in freshwater, spend their juvie years in brackish and live as adults in marine water. They are not "mostly freshwater" puffers. They are considered "high end/marine" puffers:

http://www.pufferlist.com/puffer/brackpuff.php?puffid=15

F8 puffers are brackish water puffers, not freshwater. They need low-end brackish water:

http://www.pufferlist.com/puffer/brackpuff.php?puffid=13

i also have dwarf puffers and those are definitly freshwater but i almost always put a little of aquarium salt in the water just for anti preventative treatment. and they are doing just fine.
Click to expand...
Salt, in any FW tank is not good on a long-term basis:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=408223&postcount=6

Roan
 
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I just bought three babies for my well-cycled 10g. I had a few common snails already in the tank and they, in less than a day, have already made quick work of them. So I'm planning on setting up a smaller tank to start raising snails for crunchies. How oftern should I offer them? Oh, where can I find ramshorn snails? I can only find commons that come in on plants and the ramshorns look like they get a bit bigger.

Currently I am feeding bloodworms, I tried a little flake food but they have stuck-up thier noses at it so far and most likely will never really take to it, which dosn't bother me. Now these guys are so little what other foods are safe to feed at this point? I understand that a well-rounded diet is preferable but I don't think these guys could take down a gost shrimp or any of the other live foods mentioned in the links listed above.
 
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