Do Puffer Fish Really Need Salt?

[nelya]

do puffer fish really need salt. do you think they could live w/ out it?

 

[Fella]

do puffer fish really need salt. do you think they could live w/ out it?

Depends entirely on the species. What did you have in mind?

 

[eschaton]

do puffer fish really need salt. do you think they could live w/ out it?

read all about it here

 

[k.o.d]

Some, like the Mbu and the fahaka puffers are true freshwater, some need varying amounts of salt, it depends on the species as said above

 

[nelya]

i don't know what it's called. i know that it is brownish and likes people. (i heard that some eat out of the owners hand!)do you think if they needed a little salt they would still live in a freshwater?

 

[Marine/Freshwater?]

If you can't id your puffer then i can not tell you definitavley. It infuriates me that people keep Green spotted puffers in freshwater. make sure you do not keep that species in freshwater. The that you even had to ask this question means you are not ready for puffers. You should do a bit more research first. Ill give you some good links. Also, the most important thing to know is puffers are extremely extremely aggressive. Their jaws are designed to crack open shells, imagine what that does to soft flesh. Also fish can detect vibrations in the water through thier lateral line. Since puffers don't use their tail they do not produce much vibrations and thus they can sneek up on thier victums. Thank god they aren't nocturnal!

To Identify your puffer go here:
http/www.fishbase.org/identification/spe...8&areacode=

Then go to the oddbal fourum and look at the "pinned" topic Puffer Central

 

[Fella]

If you can't id your puffer then i can not tell you definitavley. It infuriates me that people keep Green spotted puffers in freshwater. make sure you do not keep that species in freshwater. The that you even had to ask this question means you are not ready for puffers. You should do a bit more research first. Ill give you some good links. Also, the most important thing to know is puffers are extremely extremely aggressive. Their jaws are designed to crack open shells, imagine what that does to soft flesh. Also fish can detect vibrations in the water through thier lateral line. Since puffers don't use their tail they do not produce much vibrations and thus they can sneek up on thier victums. Thank god they aren't nocturnal!

To Identify your puffer go here:
[URL="http/www.fishbase.org/identification/spe...8&areacode="]http/www.fishbase.org/identification/spe...8&areacode=[/URL]

Then go to the oddbal fourum and look at the "pinned" topic Puffer Central

I don't want to say that you are wrong, but there are certainly parts of your post that I would want to bring attention to.

Since puffers don't use their tail they do not produce much vibrations and thus they can sneek up on thier victums.

Puffers move differently, in a way that I would say probably produces more vibration. Their locomotion via undulating their pectoral fins I would say probably produces more vibration.

Thank god they aren't nocturnal!

Some are.

Also, the most important thing to know is puffers are extremely extremely aggressive.

Not all are. Some can be kept in a carefully selected community.

Their jaws are designed to crack open shells, imagine what that does to soft flesh

Not all puffers are designed simply to eat molluscs. Some feed mainly on the fins and scales of other fish. Some eat mainly aquatic bugs and insects.


The point I'm making is that you really can't generalise about puffers. Each individual species of puffer has individual requirements and needs.