New to puppies...er I mean puffers! :)

[Kaiden]

Hi all!

After about a week or so researching and a lot of help from folks here, I finally brought home my first puffers! I originally planned to only get one but the nice lady at my LFS gave me two for free since I gave them my SDs/Red Hook. They're settling in nicely on my 55 gallon tank. I noticed one has a lighter coloring than the other, which makes me wonder if they're both Figure 8 lol. Below are some pics I thought I'd share

Puffer 1

Puffer 2 (Very light markings...not sure if that's just his/her stress colors. Or maybe it's not an F8?)

Has anyone had any luck keeping two of these little guys together? I haven't really noticed any nipping, except when they were feeding on bloodworms. But then again it's only been a few hours. Hoping to start breeding my own snails when I get my ramshorn delivered this week. Thanks again for all the guidance!

 

[Deadliestviper7]

To cut down on agression add some guppy or mollies as dithers

 

[Kaiden]

Wouldn't tank mates that small normally end up being just snack?

To be honest, I'm not too fond of dithers. I've had SDs that I ended up re-homing. I figured I'd give it a day or so and if the aggression gets bad, I'd return one. I would rather have one fat and happy puffer than two tattered fins puffers.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

congrats on the new fish. Just to be sure because I'm that kind of person, are you going to acclimate to brackish?

 

[Kaiden]

congrats on the new fish. Just to be sure because I'm that kind of person, are you going to acclimate to brackish?

Thanks! And yup, I just actually bought a new sterilite tub to dissolve the salt in. Only thing is...the power head I bought hasn't come in yet. Is it okay if I just aerate it with an air pump overnight or is it best to use a power head to mix it? Also, is it safe to leave a heater inside a plastic tub? I have an Eheim 300w heater spare that I can use if it's not too much for a 27 gallon container.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

Thanks! And yup, I just actually bought a new sterilite tub to dissolve the salt in. Only thing is...the power head I bought hasn't come in yet. Is it okay if I just aerate it with an air pump overnight or is it best to use a power head to mix it? Also, is it safe to leave a heater inside a plastic tub? I have an Eheim 300w heater spare that I can use if it's not too much for a 27 gallon container.

ya an air pump will be fine, also no I wouldn't heat it in there

 

[Kaiden]

Can I put the dissolved salt water directly to the tank even without heating it? Not sure how else I can make the temperature match with the tank.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

Can I put the dissolved salt water directly to the tank even without heating it? Not sure how else I can make the temperature match with the tank.

as long as you don't add a ton its not going to bounce the temp enough to effect the fish.

 

[Kaiden]

Great, thanks! I'm planning to do a 40%-50% water change after letting the water sit for 24h.

Is it correct that for every 1 teaspoon salt per gallon, the salinity will raise by 0.001? My plan is to add 55 teaspoons of salt on the 27g container to raise my salinity to 1.001 SG.

Sorry for all the questions. This is the first time I've ever tried doing brackish so I'm still at the trial and error/learning phase.

 

[tlindsey]

Great, thanks! I'm planning to do a 40%-50% water change after letting the water sit for 24h.

Is it correct that for every 1 teaspoon salt per gallon, the salinity will raise by 0.001? My plan is to add 55 teaspoons of salt on the 27g container to raise my salinity to 1.001 SG.

Sorry for all the questions. This is the first time I've ever tried doing brackish so I'm still at the trial and error/learning phase.

Take your time acclimating them to brackish . You can add the salt over a few days use a hydrometer check each day until you reach the desired salinity level.