Dwarf puffers

Tommy Gun · 12-20-2006, 07:05 PM

Hey everyone!

I have a couple of questions for you dwarf pufferfish enthusiasts out there! The other day at work, during the routine 'pre-work' gossip and chat time that I get roped into with a few of the ladies I work with, the subject of fish and some fish problems came up. A lady that I work with quite a bit had stated her son was big into fish tanks all of a sudden and was buying fish and new tanks too quickly, in her, and my, opinion. The main reason for concern was that her son had bought a 'dwarf puffer' and was told that it was a "figure 8 spotted puffer". This was the LFS's labeling, which also came with the instructions to slowly increase the salinity of the tank until it becomes a full saltwater fish tank for the puffer to live in.

So, my feeling, from reading tons of posts like this one, was that no 'freshwater puffer' was ever truly a saltwater puffer, only brackish water puffer. I started researching some pictures and sites for her so that her son could exactly ID the fish he had and then go from there. He is 99% sure that what he has is a 'spotted puffer": t. nigroviridis

Knowing that experience is the best teacher, I wanted to ask what you guys thought about how this fish should be kept. I have done some research, and will be doing more tonight (in my 'spare' time, HA!) about how things should be delt with as far as keeping this fish alive and healthy. My current thinking is that it should be kept in a tank with mostly freshwater and just a little bit of salt added to the water for the duration of its life, unless he wants to breed it, which he doesnt, and wont need the brackish water at all.

Cichlids4Ever · 12-21-2006, 12:20 PM

Hi TG...
I can help here.
I kept Figure 8's for 5 years with no fatalities.
Most certainly needs to be brackish water.

If I remember right, 1.003 was the gravity

Tommy Gun · 12-21-2006, 04:50 PM

Ok, that is good to hear then. This fish should be ok for the short term, as a juvy in freshwater, correct? I am going to give her some of my old salt that I dont use for my SW tank anymore and they can take it from there. Would you say that it would be ok to just add a little bit of that salt right to the tank until it gets up to 1.003 or so as far as salinity goes? Or is there a better method? How long do you think it would take to acclimate this fish to the brackish water completely?

Cichlids4Ever · 12-21-2006, 08:24 PM

I would add it slowly TG like everything else.
Like when you treat for Ich, what is it, over a 12 or 24 hour period??

They are fine for the short term in the fresh water, and they will acclimate nicely if you just go slow.