Setting up brackish water tank for 50 gallon tank

[Puffafish]

Hello, im new to brackish water since I only have 2 freshwater tank for my guppies. I wanted to ask on what canister filter that is good but affordable for a 50 gallon tank? This tank is for my 4 baby green spotted fish that my brother just bought before even doing research because the lfs said that they are fully fresh water and i googled about them and found out they need brackish water. I’m going to buy a 50 gal tank tomorrow and how long do i need to cycle the tank before moving them in. Im planning on putting fine sands with some rocks and decoration caves for the gsp.

Right now is it ok if i do 30% daily water change for the puffer in my 5.5gal while waiting to set up bigger tank tomorrow?

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum Well done for researching these fish and realising what you need to do and making sure you do it!

GSPs are an awesome fish and I'm so glad you are getting them the tank they need. I can't advise properly on brackish set ups as I've never touched salt but there will be other people who can help. But it may be worth starting these puffers and the filter cycle in freshwater and slowly increase the salinity GSPs do best in brackish to marine waters but do live in freshwater through the year.

If you have them in a tank with an uncycled filter you will need to be doing lots of water changes through the week - ideally daily, if they they are small you can keep them in the 5 gallon as it will be easier than the 50 but make sure you start that cycling too. In a few weeks you should be able to add over the fish and the bio media from the 5 gallon tank and then keep an eye on ammonia and nitrites.

Really good job on rising to the challenge of keeping these fish, puffers are a tough group to keep but well worth it! The website is down at the moment but its really worth checking out www.pufferfishenthusiastworldwide.com, their articles are excellent and well researched. I find them a bit on the strict side based on my own experience but it is all with the best intentions.

Wills

 

[Colin_T]

Pretty sure they are territorial when bigger so you will probably end up with one fish.

Cycling a brackish water aquarium is exactly the same as fresh or marine. Set the tank up with substrate, ornaments, filter, etc. Add an ammonia source and let the filter develop the beneficial filter bacteria. It takes about 4-6 weeks like a fresh or marine tank does.

I would return all or most of the puffers unless you can confirm they will live together when mature.

You can't normally keep tank mates with pufferfish because the puffers eat things including other fish. Most pufferfish are also poisonous and release tetrodotoxin into the water when stressed and this can kill everything in the tank, including the puffers.

If you keep pufferfish, it's a good idea to have activated carbon in the filter and be prepared to do big water changes if they look stressed.

 

[Puffafish]

Pretty sure they are territorial when bigger so you will probably end up with one fish.

Cycling a brackish water aquarium is exactly the same as fresh or marine. Set the tank up with substrate, ornaments, filter, etc. Add an ammonia source and let the filter develop the beneficial filter bacteria. It takes about 4-6 weeks like a fresh or marine tank does.

I would return all or most of the puffers unless you can confirm they will live together when mature.

You can't normally keep tank mates with pufferfish because the puffers eat things including other fish. Most pufferfish are also poisonous and release tetrodotoxin into the water when stressed and this can kill everything in the tank, including the puffers.

If you keep pufferfish, it's a good idea to have activated carbon in the filter and be prepared to do big water changes if they look stressed.

Do i need a pump for air stones or use wavemaker for oxygen ?

 

[Rocky998]

Just to throw my bit of advice in... When at the fish store ask what salinity they are kept in. Big changes in the salinity of water can kill the fish.
You will have to slowly introduce them the water chemistry or try to match it to the store salinity (if they keep them in salt water)

 

[Colin_T]

Do i need a pump for air stones or use wavemaker for oxygen ?

Wave makers don't create a lot of oxygen so an air pump with airstone bubbling away is useful in most tanks