Can someone explain "High-end brackish" conditions for a Spotted Pufferfish?

Question

My daughter brought home a Spotted Pufferfish and requires "High-end brackish" conditions as it grows to an adult. She has a 10 gallon tank and the fish is about 2 inches.

Answer 1

Be sure to use marine mix salt, and not simply aquarium salt, because the aquarium salt lacks the minerals necessary for your puffer’s good health. Marine mix salt provides these essential minerals, which raise the water’s hardness and pH.

In order to make brackish or salt water, the following items are required:
A hydrometer is a relatively inexpensive device that is easy to use and measures the specific gravity (s.g.) of your water. The term "specific gravity" refers to the ratio of the density of the water that you are testing as compared to the density of pure water. Pure water is defined as having a specific gravity of 1.000, so water with an s.g. of 1.020 is 2% more dense than pure water. If your water has lots of dissolved metals in it, it might have an s.g. of 1.010 or more, even before any salt is added. However, for the purpose of aquariums, one usually ignores other solids and assumes that the specific gravity value is due to the salt alone.
My recipe for mixing up brackish water is 1.5 tablespoons of marine salt for every one gallon of water and this keeps the specific gravity (s.g.) at about 1.015-1.017. Mix the marine salt, water and water conditioner at the proper dosage in a bucket. Be sure that the bucket that you are using is new and dedicated for the purpose of mixing up salt water With brackish water set-ups, the salinity does not need to be constant. In fact, a bit of swing back and forth is good because this mimics the natural ebb and flow of the tides.

A

Answer 2

I had a green spotted puffer, not too long ago. And I would definitely get a bigger tank sometime soon, because it should be in no less than a 30 gallon tank.
If you keep the fish long enough it could get to 5-6 inches, and that would be one huge fish in a small tank.
And this fish when a full adult will need to go to full saltwater tank. High end brackish just means he needs salt in his water. It's a certain amount of salt in the tank, I would buy a hydrometer so you can measure how much salt is in the tank.
And these fish eat meat, primarily brine shrimp, blood worms, shrimp, ocean plankton, krill, and snails are a must. Because this fish has teeth and they never stop growing so giving him a snail once a week will trim his teeth down.
And there are a great deal of threads about green spotted puffers. They don't do well with tankmates. If you have any tankmates they'll most likely pick at them or eventually eat them.
Definitely type in Green Spotted Puffer into yahoo and register at a forum where they'll know all the questions you'll have for them.
And another thing you'll need a heater with this fish because their water has to be between 75-82 degrees f. And have plenty of rocks and plants in the tank because they get "bored" very easily. You want to break their line of sight because they are very inquisitive.
I would personally recommend taking this fish back, if indeed it is a green spotted puffer, because they are very fragile and are hard to keep alive unless you know what you are doing. This fish is not a beginner fish, trust me I have learned quite a few lessons with this fish.

Answer 3

All but a very few of the puffers are marine fish when they become adults. High end brackish water is the water that is VERY close to the actual ocean at the entry point where a river meets the ocean (almost total saltwater).

Go to "About.com" and do a search on spotted puffers (or Google it) to see how big they get (I think it is around 8 inches) and how long it takes them to get there. You will need to get a bigger tank as a 10 is not big enough for an 8-inch fish. Also, you must use salt that is meant for marine aquariums as regular salt does not have all the chemicals and additives that keep saltwater fish healthy and happy. Most pet stores carry sea salt and a tester to make sure the salt content stays where it should be..

Brackish water fish tolerate sea water much better than freshwater (they eventually sicken and die in freshwater). Most brackish fish can live quite happily in total saltwater.

Did you get instructions on what to feed it, most puffers are carnivores....

Answer 4

The "high-end" part is something I'd have to guess at, but "brackish" is a well defined term.

People tend to think of fish as freshwater or saltwater fish. In fact, these are two ends of a continuum. Freshwater (in theory) has no dissolved salt (sodium chloride) in it. Saltwater has a considerable amout of salt (sodium chloride) in it.

Brackish water would be saltier than freshwater, fresher than saltwater. Brackish water fish are characteristically found near where rivers empty into the ocean or in brackish swamps on the edge of bodies of saltwater.

Most brackish water fish can tolerate freshwater, IME, but they prefer that the salinity of the water match closely the average salinity of their native home. Of course, wild brackish environments tend to vary widely in salinity over time. Tides, snow melt, and other factors can influence it.

My guess is that "high-end brackish" means that the salinity should be closer to actual saltwater than to fresh. I've never kept brackish water fish myself, but my reading on the subject suggests that the fish aren't as picky as, say, a saltwater angel.

Answer 5

High-end is probably 1.012-1.018 specific gravity (SG). Low end would be about 1.005.

If your puffer is in fresh water increase salinity no more than 0.002 SG per week until target SG is achieved (use marine salt as opposed to aquarium salt). Over time, green spotted puffers can be acclimated to full salt water conditions (1.020-1.025) if desired.

You'll need a refractometer or hydrometer (to measure salinity) and salt on hand for subsequent water changes.

If kept in fresh water long term, your green spotted puffer won't thrive or live as long as it would in brackish conditions.

Answer 6

"High-end brackish" conditions means very specific, carefully monitored, salt water environment. If you don't have any salt water aquarium experience, this is not a good species to start with. My best recommendation would be to take it back to where you got it and choose something a little easier to care for...That is if it is still alive.