Setting a semi saltwater tank

Deku

umm well i got a question i have a 40gallon that i want to use for my spotted puffer but i need to introduce him slowly...um how do i make the saltwater instantly cycled? does the biospira work for saltwater too? i also want to add some live rock....can i add coral? idk it might be a brackish water tank D: or might be fully saltwater depends idk i really dont know what to do i dont want to kill my puffer by putting him into a fully saltwater tank...i also dont want to buy skimmers and all that other stuff just like with a basic saltwater tank im kinda in a budget and already have the puffer >< so yeah....like i know if you get a pound of live sand and mix it with normal argonite sand then itll make the other sand as well live...you know? like simple....and maybe a pound of liverock as a biofilter...as long as it doesnt harm the puffer thats all i care about... >< and no i will not be stupid enough to put other fish with a puffer i love my puffer and im happy just with him :3 so i just want help on this....also will i really need a quaranteen tank? because its just one fish....also. for just the green spotted puffer other than the filter(wait can i use filters ived used for freshwater?) the heater the sand and the live rock wat else is needed? im also going to see if i can put an ornament in there for him to hide in eventually xD maybe i can use some kind of flat rocks and use a aquarium glue(the one that doesnt harm fish) and glue the rocks together to make a house xD as simple as that xD i dont want him to be stressed also though i shouldnt even ask...but what else like any other invertebrate that the puffer wont really bother? so it sifts the sand and you know prevents deadly gas bubbles and such? anything that the puffer will just leave alone? like bottom feeders also if a tank must be cycled for months umm what happens when u put a fish in dont you still have to do gradual water changes a week? but wont that disrupt the cycle? it gets confusing...but i one day want to be a marine biologist so i must know all thats needed to with saltwater aquariums >< so please help ;-; i dont want bumblebee to die on me ;-;

Pasfur

I can't follow your posts. Hopefully somebody else has the patience to try to help.

Deku

sorry im kinda just jumpy and afraid that my puffer might die if i dont put him in a brackish tank right away ;-;

Deku

and umm sorry.. i just dont deal well with stress...though atleast the good thing out of this... i saved the life of a fish...

Deku

well i bought a shrimp(ghost) and for that they let me take all the pond snails xD i was going to buy the shrimp anyways

Cody

I honestly cant read it as well. Sorry.

Could you try to explain it better?

iamntbatman

Let me try to explain a little better.

He bought a Green Spotted Puffer that was sold in freshwater and is currently being housed in a 10g freshwater tank. Deku was informed that this is a brackish fish that eventually needs nearly full marine conditions. So, he's asking what he must do to turn his 40g tank into a suitable environment for the fish, and if he'll need something like a FOWLR setup.

I wouldn't mess around with any of that "instant cycle" stuff. I've heard of it working just fine, but I've also heard of it being a complete waste of money. Personally, I would set up the tank as a low-level brackish (i.e. with a specific gravity of maybe 1.003-1.005) and do a fishless cycle. Then, you can add the fish and slowly (as in over at least several months) increase the salinity of the water to high-end brackish.

I doubt you'll find any invertebrate that can survive with a puffer. Since you'd be starting with such a mildly brackish environment, you won't be able to use live rock or live sand. At that point, you treat the tank as if it's a freshwater tank.

I'm no expert on saltwater, though, so I can't help you with what sort of setup would be appropriate for a high-end brackish tank or at what salinity you can start adding things like live rock and sand.