Have you ever (or do you now) had a brackish tank?
- Thread starter f8fan
- Start date
I currently keep a brackish 3 gallon eclipse with a fiddler crab and guppies.
My favorite brackish fish are puffers. Unfortunately, they'll make a meal out of my crab in minutes with their sharp beaks.
I kept a green spotted puffer in my ten gallon kribensis tanks. I made it very mildly brackish and the small GSP thrived. At first I had a helluva time feeding him... then I tried my sun-dried baby shrimp treats I feed my hermit crabs. The puffer loved them and went crazy whenever I dropped one in. He has the strongest mouth of any fish I've seen, and the way he tore up ghost shrimp, I bet he could draw blood if he ever bit me.
He left the kribs alone but the biggest krib terrorized him, but luckily no fin damage was done. The puffer just seemed used to the abuse.
I gave the kribs and the puffer to a nice lfs and then turned the tank into a full marine system. green spotted puffers get large and need bigger systems than ten gallons.
I'd like to get into puffers again, especially the green spotted. Lot of personality and very fun to watch.
My favorite brackish fish are puffers. Unfortunately, they'll make a meal out of my crab in minutes with their sharp beaks.
I kept a green spotted puffer in my ten gallon kribensis tanks. I made it very mildly brackish and the small GSP thrived. At first I had a helluva time feeding him... then I tried my sun-dried baby shrimp treats I feed my hermit crabs. The puffer loved them and went crazy whenever I dropped one in. He has the strongest mouth of any fish I've seen, and the way he tore up ghost shrimp, I bet he could draw blood if he ever bit me.
He left the kribs alone but the biggest krib terrorized him, but luckily no fin damage was done. The puffer just seemed used to the abuse.
I gave the kribs and the puffer to a nice lfs and then turned the tank into a full marine system. green spotted puffers get large and need bigger systems than ten gallons.
I'd like to get into puffers again, especially the green spotted. Lot of personality and very fun to watch.
well i never have, although i really want to but currently don't have the time or money...but i do have a scheme to get a brackish paladrium going in my empty 75g which would consist of puffers(love my DPs, want to branch out to figure 8s), bumblebee gobies, and some crabs. this of course wont happen till the fall when i do have time and money. love the idea of a brackish tank though.
I have a 29 gallon brackish going now. Only have marble and gold dust mollies in there currently, but I have plans to add shrimp, glassfish and possibly either Celebes Rainbows or Orange Chromides (in which case the shrimp would probably be out) The salinity is currently at 1.006 - 1.008 and I hope to get it to around 1.012. (I'm acclimating the fish and plants gradually) If needed, I'll move them over to a 55 I have empty right now. For substrate I have Grey Coast Calcite and I have Java Fern and Hornwort in there. The mollies love swimming in and out of the plants, lava rocks and Malaysian driftwood I have in there. 
I have to tell you, brackish setups aren't any more expensive than freshwater!! Honestly, the only extra cost I have associated with going brackish in my 25 gallon is the salt, and an additional powerhead for the puffers. My brackish tank has been pretty easy! **knock on wood**. My three figure 8 puffers are thriving, my mollies are happy and reproducing, and the only thing I did different when I converted my 25 gallon from freshwater to brackish was to change the substrate from gravel to "playsand" (from Home Depot) and to gradually add marine salt to bring the tank's salinity up to about 1.008 (fluctuates as I hear is healthy and natural for them all). Like sometimes I will add marine salt to the water change, sometimes I wont. But overall the salinity doesnt go below 1.008.
I recommend brackish tanks to everyone who is wondering about them - they are pretty easy to maintain, at least in my experience , and have the neatest tank inhabitants...I LOVE my Figure 8 puffers!!!! They are little charachters
I recommend brackish tanks to everyone who is wondering about them - they are pretty easy to maintain, at least in my experience , and have the neatest tank inhabitants...I LOVE my Figure 8 puffers!!!! They are little charachters
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I love puffer's, but never kept them for long. Used to have a LFS that would get BB's in every now and then, but even in a species tank they would not stay alive. Of course, it was never the cleanest LFS to begin with so that could be a big part of the problem.
I kept a 20 gallon brackish for some crabs and mollies. I would have loved to have kept more fish, but Brackish are just not in demand around here and can't find anything normaly other than the occasional scat or mono.
I kept a 20 gallon brackish for some crabs and mollies. I would have loved to have kept more fish, but Brackish are just not in demand around here and can't find anything normaly other than the occasional scat or mono.
I highly suggest you put that puffer into your 15g tank today!!!
Please read: http://www.thepufferforum.org/viewtopic.php?t=12
Please read: http://www.thepufferforum.org/viewtopic.php?t=12
Resurecting this thread for newcomers and because I thought it was interesting. I currently have 1 brackish tank with 1 each - Mono, Green Scat & Orange Chromide. Hope to eventually get around a 75 gallon to move them into and add more brackish fish (after I move). I really love Monos and Scats and would appreciate having a small shoal of them.
Also have a F8 puffer tank that is still FW (just got the puffs last week) that will be slowly converted into brackish.
I've found brackish to be rewarding and fun and I think the fish are all interesting and diverse - my boyfriend also likes being involved in the water changes since he likes calculating how much salt to add and such.
**Dreaming of a larger tank....................
Also have a F8 puffer tank that is still FW (just got the puffs last week) that will be slowly converted into brackish.
I've found brackish to be rewarding and fun and I think the fish are all interesting and diverse - my boyfriend also likes being involved in the water changes since he likes calculating how much salt to add and such.
**Dreaming of a larger tank....................
I have 4 brackish tanks up and running right now, 2- 10 gals tanks, one for acclimation purposes and one for a hospital/ live foods tank... a 55 gal w/ 1 GSP, 2 green scats (traded 2 of my green scats for ruby scats but they havent come in yet), 2 of my 6 archer fish (the smallest ones), 4 golden wonder killies(1 male,3 females), and a violet goby, ( I lost my other mono over the weekend, Iknew I should not have bought fish from that guy )... A 75 gal which is still cycling(4th week now,, started adding fish this past weekend), with 4 archer fish and some ghost shrimp,The violet goby will soon make this tank his new home,whenever I can get him out of his log and into my net, lol.the 75 gal is on its way to being planted with mangroves, got my seeds in last week and have them floating in their little styrofoam boats... On the drawing board is a 180 gal brackish tank, I have all of the materials to build it with just got to finish some honey do projects before I'm allowed to start building
)... A 75 gal which is still cycling(4th week now,, started adding fish this past weekend), with 4 archer fish and some ghost shrimp,The violet goby will soon make this tank his new home,whenever I can get him out of his log and into my net, lol.the 75 gal is on its way to being planted with mangroves, got my seeds in last week and have them floating in their little styrofoam boats... On the drawing board is a 180 gal brackish tank, I have all of the materials to build it with just got to finish some honey do projects before I'm allowed to start buildingi have a 180gal brackish tank with 5 knight gobies, 7 archers, and 8 orange chromides. im thinking about getting some 4 eyed anelebs. the tank also has 14 mangrove pods floating on styro that are showing massive root growth but still only have 2 leaves.
i will soon be building a 300gal terrarium to sit on top of the tank that will house some geckos or anoles(once i figure out what to build it out of that can stand up to the amount of humidity and salt)
my salinity fluctuates between .008 and .010.
my knight gobies keep laying eggs and i see the babies(larva stage??) but have had no luck in raising them...any tips?
i will soon be building a 300gal terrarium to sit on top of the tank that will house some geckos or anoles(once i figure out what to build it out of that can stand up to the amount of humidity and salt)
my salinity fluctuates between .008 and .010.
my knight gobies keep laying eggs and i see the babies(larva stage??) but have had no luck in raising them...any tips?
