Plant-master Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 I have always been curious about keeping a brackish water tank. I have seen The aquarium co-op blog post on keeping them but want to know from anyone who is experienced. Are they hard to keep and maintain? What are some brackish fish I could put in a 29 gal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 I have not yet tried brackish tanks. My introduction to marine tanks was when a buddy moved in college, and gave me a tank and some saltwater fish. I had to very quickly learn to mix marine aquarium salt with my local water in a bucket. I would test with a specific gravity meter, but after some practice, I could do it by feel, along with the tap temperature. Go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biotope Biologist Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 (edited) A few of us are joining the dark side, so should you! I have a red mangrove setup in early planning stages and I hope @Patrick_G doesn’t mind me sharing his ongoing journal for green spotted puffer: I have a solid list of fish on my red mangrove page. Although I don’t suggest following it as I haven’t even built the tank and I’m tanking a hiatus on growing red mangroves, others know I have been struggling (mostly my incompetence). Here: Also @Zenzo has a pair(?) of tophat blennies. Here is one of many videos he has done on brackish tanks. This ond is in reference to mudskippers but has good insight. I realize I haven’t really contributed and just compiled other’s experiences, but without fresh firsthand experience I want to limit my opinion on the matter. But I definitely think it’s a worthwhile adventure! Edited June 11, 2022 by Biotope Biologist 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plant-master Posted June 11, 2022 Author Share Posted June 11, 2022 On 6/10/2022 at 8:05 PM, Biotope Biologist said: A few of us are joining the dark side, so should you! I have a red mangrove setup in early planning stages and I hope @Patrick_G doesn’t mind me sharing his ongoing journal for figure 8: I have a solid list of fish on my red mangrove page. Although I don’t suggest following it as I haven’t even built the tank and I’m tanking a hiatus on growing red mangroves, others know I have been struggling (mostly my incompetence). Here: Also @Zenzo has a pair(?) of tophat blennies. Here is one of many videos he has done on brackish tanks. This ond is in reference to mudskippers but has good insight. I realize I haven’t really contributed and just compiled other’s experiences, but without fresh firsthand experience I want to limit my opinion on the matter. But I definitely think it’s a worthwhile adventure! Very cool, thanks I was really interested in a green spotted puffer! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 It's definitely not as difficult as it seems. The big thing for me that I didn't do was pre-mix the saltwater and have it on hand for use. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 It was very easy to do brackish when I lived near tidal floodplains and just hauled water in to put in the tank. It's not as difficult as full marine (ime). It's not as easy, or as inexpensive as freshwater straight out of the tp, probably a bit closer to using RO for neo and caridina shrimp, depending on which area of the world you are trying to recreate. Zenzo is best source for excellent videos on brackish tanks that I have found so far. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plant-master Posted June 11, 2022 Author Share Posted June 11, 2022 On 6/10/2022 at 8:55 PM, Torrey said: It was very easy to do brackish when I lived near tidal floodplains and just hauled water in to put in the tank. It's not as difficult as full marine (ime). It's not as easy, or as inexpensive as freshwater straight out of the tp, probably a bit closer to using RO for neo and caridina shrimp, depending on which area of the world you are trying to recreate. Zenzo is best source for excellent videos on brackish tanks that I have found so far. Thanks, I have been watching his videos! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 Mangrove, salt cedars, some sedges, and a few rushes were the only plants I successfully got growing for brackish. Keeping nitrates under control requires some engineering, @eatyourpeas has some good mechanical filtration recommendations on their Puget Sound tank blog on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plant-master Posted June 11, 2022 Author Share Posted June 11, 2022 Great, thanks for the tip. I will look into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Zenzo Posted June 11, 2022 Administrators Share Posted June 11, 2022 I actually just filmed a video about a brackish fish that will air on the More Aquarium Co-Op channel in a couple of weeks. On 6/10/2022 at 5:35 PM, Plant-master said: I have always been curious about keeping a brackish water tank. I have seen The aquarium co-op blog post on keeping them but want to know from anyone who is experienced. Are they hard to keep and maintain? What are some brackish fish I could put in a 29 gal? Easy to maintain (like with most tanks though, it depends on the fish). Harder part is plants. I personally have only had success with Java fern and mangroves. Because brackish water is ever-changing in the wild due to tides and rainfall, you don't have to be exact with the specific gravity/salinity. Some fish/inhabitants that you could try in a 29: - Bumblebee gobies - Blennies (as mentioned) - Indian mudskippers (requires land area/island) - Mollies - Guppies - Nerite and MTS snails - Amano shrimp - Fiddler crabs (also requires land area) - Figure 8 puffer (will eat shrimp/snails) - Knight gobies (will eat smaller fish) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plant-master Posted June 11, 2022 Author Share Posted June 11, 2022 On 6/10/2022 at 9:08 PM, Zenzo said: I actually just filmed a video about a brackish fish that will air on the More Aquarium Co-Op channel in a couple of weeks. Easy to maintain (like with most tanks though, it depends on the fish). Harder part is plants. I personally have only had success with Java fern and mangroves. Because brackish water is ever-changing in the wild due to tides and rainfall, you don't have to be exact with the specific gravity/salinity. Some fish/inhabitants that you could try in a 29: - Bumblebee gobies - Blennies (as mentioned) - Indian mudskippers (requires land area/island) - Mollies - Guppies - Nerite and MTS snails - Amano shrimp - Fiddler crabs (also requires land area) - Figure 8 puffer (will eat shrimp/snails) - Knight gobies (will eat smaller fish) Thanks for the fish recommendations. And I will have to watch that video. Would a green spotted puffer work in a 29? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Zenzo Posted June 11, 2022 Administrators Share Posted June 11, 2022 On 6/10/2022 at 8:19 PM, Plant-master said: Thanks for the fish recommendations. And I will have to watch that video. Would a green spotted puffer work in a 29? Technically, if you were keeping a GSP solo without other fish, a 29 "could" work. I would suggest a 40b for a GSP though, as some of them can grow to 6". They are also active swimmers, so a 29 may be a little tight. if you wanted a similar puffer that doesn't get as large, I would go with the figure 8. You could keep a figure 8 with some other fish in a 29. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plant-master Posted June 11, 2022 Author Share Posted June 11, 2022 On 6/10/2022 at 10:22 PM, Zenzo said: Technically, if you were keeping a GSP solo without other fish, a 29 "could" work. I would suggest a 40b for a GSP though, as some of them can grow to 6". They are also active swimmers, so a 29 may be a little tight. if you wanted a similar puffer that doesn't get as large, I would go with the figure 8. You could keep a figure 8 with some other fish in a 29. Awesome, I will have to look into the figure 8 puffers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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