Questions of cichlids, dwarf puffers and heaters take 2

[zippity]

I am about to introduce African cichlids to a 29 gal tank, can you tell me approx. how many I can house in this tank? Also do I need to do anything different for testing or adding to the water before I introduce? Secondly I stupidly broke a marineland heater inside the tank, is this harmful to the water? Also I have a 5.5 gal tank to put 2 dwarf puffers in, is this good? I added salt to the water, when do I add more.....during the next water changes? There kept it shorter.

Thanks, Terry

[repeej]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_29g.php

[Mettle]

On the note of the dwarf puffers. There's no reason to add salt to their water, period. They're a fresh water species of fish and don't require any salt.

[darkdep]

"How many african cichlids" depends a lot on which ones.  You want to stick to smaller ones for a tank of that size, ideally ones that are 4-6" or less, and only about 6 of them.  Again that's a generalization...

Do you have any idea what species you're interested in?  If you can post that, we can help give a better suggestion.

[zippity]

As for the dwarf puffers, i am told by all pet stores they are a brackish fish and must be kept with some salt intake in the tank, so now i am more confused than ever.

As for which species i do know there are 3 types from the lake malawi region but god knows if i can pronounce them as of yet let alone spell it, so i will go back to the store and write the names down to get back to you on that one.

Thanks.

[darkdep]

hehe Don't worry about pronounciation...when I got into this hobby I thought everyone was nuts for using the scientific names of the fish!  But then, slowly over time, I realized I was doing it too.

Just get the second part of the names if you're writing them down; the African guys on here will know what you're talking about

[mseguin]

Dwarf puffers are definitely not brackish, they're fresh. Greenspot and Figure 8 puffer are brackish (among others)

[sarahbella]

http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/

everything you need to know about dwarf puffers

[zippity]

Sarahbella, thanks for that awesome link about puffers, repeej, same to you about the info on cichlids and my 29 gal, and mettle you too were right about puffers, hence why i look to better answers off this site than joe schmo's working in local pet shops.

[Jim]

:lol:

well mettle works at super pet.

Not all are shmoes  

[zippity]

Well now dont i feel like a schmuck, for it was a superpet representative that i got most of my info from, ooops better watch what i say from now on, lol.

[Jim]

Well now dont i feel like a schmuck, for it was a superpet representative that i got most of my info from, ooops better watch what i say from now on, lol.

I'm sure they won't mind!

[Mettle]

I've caught a former co-worker of mine trying to tell someone they needed salt in the water with the puffers. :? I was annoyed and promptly set him straight.

And Matt - the only true brackish puffer to my knowledge is the figure 8. GSPs need to transition to full marine eventually to live out a healthy life. (But this comes down to my 'surviving' versus 'thriving' rants, I guess.)

And yes - I'm one of those schmoes from the pet store. :lol: Don't worry though, there's tons that I have no clue about. (But I always tell customers that. Honesty is the best way to conduct yourself. I never worry about sales targets.)

[mseguin]

Fair enough, although I think there are a number of African puffers that live in brackish/marine water, and a few S. Americans that will sruvive in brackish.