brackish puffer in salt tank

[dixiechicken82]

We got a Naso Tang yesterday and Carlos the pet store guy sold us a $6 brackish water puffer that was converted I guess you could say to saltwater. It's 1" and Carlos said it will get up to 3". From the pictures I've seen online, I think it must be a Green Spotted Puffer. Carlos told us it wouldn't harm anything in our tank (55gal salt, 3 damsels, 2 bl. leg hermits, 1 coral banded shrimp, 1 naso, 1 unidentified star, 1 unidentified anemone, 1 hifin cardinal, few live rock). This morning we found the cardinal dead on the bottom, but didnt look nipped at or eaten. We added iodine to the tank for the 1st time last night but i didnt think that would kill anything.
Now that the brackish puffer is in salt water does his needs change? Does he need different foods now? I'll take all the advice you can give! We are beginners!

 

[ingo_1978]

Same needs

If he is a GSP than he's far to young to be in full marine... GSPs grow to about 6" and get more aggresive as they mature... Once he reaches 4" he would be ready for full marine and I'ld say good bye to most of the other fish.

F8's grow to around 3" and are less aggressive but will not tolerate full marine.

Can you describe him more, is he green with spots or squiggles?

Can you get a pic of him?

 

[dixiechicken82]

he has a white belly, bright green on top, brownish-grey on the sides. The spots on the side are more circular. The ones on top are circular to box-like circles. They are not long, wavy spots. With his tail uncurled he is probably 1 1/2" - 2".
I have a couple pics but they arent that clear, and I'm not sure how to attach pics in here.

 

[ingo_1978]

Sounds more like a GSP... be careful.. they are known for be okay with other fish but then suddenly turning on when they mature.

2" is still a bit small to have him in fully marine conditions, it's not ideal but you will probably get away with it.

 

[SirMinion]

With his tail uncurled he is probably 1 1/2" - 2".

Tail curling is a sign of distress in puffers.
Is it curled all of the time?

 

[dixiechicken82]

No his tail isnt always curled up. We've only had him for a day now. I haven't noticed if there is a certain time or a pattern for when he curls up. He stays near the filter tube quite a bit. The place he stays the most after that is in the big gap b/w the rocks with the tang. We only have like 20lbs of rock and need to get 60-80lbs more. I read that you have to feed puffers foods to keep their beaks trimmed? What foods should we buy? Is there a feeding technique that will keep the puffers aggression down?

 

[Pufferpunk]

What SG was the puffer kept at in the shop? It may well be stressed out from the shock. How was it acclimated?

One of the most difficult aspects of keeping these special fish is their diet. All puffers are predatory fish and need hard-shelled, meaty foods to keep their teeth trimmed. Like rabbits, their teeth grow constantly and can overgrow enough to cause starvation in the fish. Puffers eat crustaceans in the wild. Foods for smaller puffers are frozen/freeze-dried krill/plankton, gut-loaded ghost shrimp, glass worms, crickets, worms and small snails (the size of their eye). Snails are an essential food to a puffer’s diet, especially when small. Many serious puffer keepers breed their own snails. As your puffer gets larger, there are many more crunchy foods for them to eat. Larger GSPs will eat cut-up pieces of scallops, shrimp, crab legs, whole mussels, clams, oysters, squid, lobster and crayfish. Mine love to chase live crayfish, fiddler crabs and gut-loaded ghost shrimp. I gut-load (pre-feed) my live food with algae wafers, so my puffers get their veggies. I buy most of these foods at the fish department of my grocery store, freeze and later thaw in warm vitamin water as needed. Smaller puffers (under 2") need to eat every day, skipping one feeding/week. Feed them until their bellies are slightly rounded. Medium sized puffers (2-4") should be fed every other day. Larger puffers (4-6) should be fed every 3-4 days. You may find this schedule difficult, as puffers are very adept at begging for food! Feeding puffers every time they beg will cause fat, lazy fish and eventually you will be killing them with kindness.

 

[jflowers]

Puffers are also not reef safe, for many of the reasons mentioned above about thier diet. It will love your shrimp and hermits, not sure about the corals.

Jon