# Freshwater Puffers (Not dwarfs)- Where???



## GuppiesAndBetta (Jul 27, 2009)

Hey guys, has anyone seen any freshwater puffers around the GTA stores other than the dwarf? I am not looking for dwarf puffers because they are just too small. I am also hoping that I will not have to convert into Brackish water. Thanks for the help!


----------



## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Menagerie always has a few weird puffers. Give them a call ask Harold. Usually there is just a couple of individuals so they are hard to spot if you just quickly browse the fish section.


----------



## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

BA at NY has green spot puffer


----------



## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

I'm pretty sure green spotted puffers are brackish. At least, they eventually need to go brackish as they grow.

I think dwarfs are the only fully freshwater puffers out there.


----------



## GuppiesAndBetta (Jul 27, 2009)

I hope not. The pufferfish forum has a list of these:

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/?g2_page=1


----------



## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

Oh wow, I've seen that before but didn't think twice. Let me rephrase then, the dwarf puffer fish seems to be the only -readily- available freshwater puffer out there in the GTA.


----------



## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

I got my turgidus at Dragon Aquarium...
And Green Spotted Puffers do best in marine as adults 

Carmen


----------



## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

Other than pea/dwarf puffers, all freshwater-in-the-wild puffers are best in brackish. I have not seen a puffer forum user recommend full marine for GSPs ever. They should tolerate it fine, but I doubt they need it. Just because the pufferpedia says "freshwater", you should not keep them in fresh water. In aquaria, all puffer species do better with the addition of marine salt.

Salt is not so hard. If you want a cup or two of free marine salt, come get it from me. You will need very little of it at first. Add one teaspoon of it to 20g, per weekly 25% water change, then two teaspoons, then three from that point forward. And the get yourself a salinity meter. A hydrometer is not very useful for brackish tanks, but it is very good for your "premix" bucket. I mix my premix buckets of water to about three times normal seawater salinity, and then I use fractions to figure out how much to add. It's not hard. (I added two gallons, and salinity is too low still, so add one cup of my salty-water.) This avoids the problem of reacting the salt in your tank, where a mistake can over-dose the tank. Two or three cups of salt into one 10 gallon bucket of water creates my starting salt-reaction mix. Several days later (with aeration) and whatever chemistry was going to happen, has happened.

My puffers live at 1.005 specific gravity. When my electric salinity meter borked itself, I got a refractometer, because the hydrometer is not precise enough. It's SO easy I can't believe I didn't just get one right away.

W


----------



## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

I'm not being argumentative, I really would like to see what info you have on the addition of salt to "freshwater" puffer tanks. I hadn't heard this before...

GSP's can be kept in high brackish or marine, with marine usually being easier and less expensive since a skimmer and live rock help manage the large bioload with fewer water changes (salt $$) than would be required in a brackish environment...

Carmen (with Frankie the FW turgidus and Zephyr the full marine GSP)


----------



## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

looks like I spoke (typed) too soon. A quick check of puffer forum's pufferpedia shows me that yes, the GSP shows "high brackish" to "full marine" as recommended at 1.015 which is a very high brackish indeed.


W


----------

