Looking to get into brackish

[ometh]

Soooo I'm looking to get into this side of the game problem is I really don't know the proper parameters what fish are brackish (I know some gobies and puffers but what else?) and possible tank size (was thinking 55 or 45) and filtration wise could I run just a canister or just a small wetdry with a can?

[ometh]

Oh and what plants could I use and what type of substrate could I use?

[TonyO]

I've heard java ferns do pretty well, but I've never tried it.

[Sea-agg09]

I'll chime in. Basically a Brackish tank is a true freshwater tank with a good chunk of salt in it.

Tank setup; bigger is better. Most brackish fish get pretty big, and the ones that don't get mean. 55 is good. I have a 75 brackish and I think it's a good size. Use regular aquarium gravel. I'm currently using sand blast gravel, and it works well. Gobies can move it around to make burrows, but I can still gravel-vac it. For filtration, use a canister filter. Brackish fish have evolved to deal with fluctuating conditions based on rain/runoff etc etc. My diamond killies I have found as far up at full fresh, but in a salinity of 1.040. What this means is they can also tolerate pretty decent levels of nitrates and swings in salinity.

Livestock; BEWARE - many brackish fish eat plants. BEWARE (2) - if you tell a novice retail person you have a brackish tank, they will point you to the 3 or 4 fish that will survive and say "They will all be good". Like I said before, brackish fish tend to get big, and many are territorial. Watch your stocking and plan ahead.

Fish Ideas:
Any Mollies - good all around, dont kill other fish, and eat algae, but not plants - winner in my book
Most Gobies - knight gobies are the most common, but can be a little mean. Most gobies can live in moderately salty water. Bumblebee are also pretty common. Bumblebee gobies should be kept in either 1-2, or a large group(10+). They can be a little aggressive, like other gobies
Monos - Sebae are always available. They get MASSIVE and devour plants. Argentus are a little less aggressive and don't eat plants.
Puffers - just don't do it. If you put 1 puffer in a tank, just leave it there. They are nightmares
Scats - eat plants, and get pretty big, but aren't all that aggressive. Silver and green are common. Get ruby scats when they are small, and you will have no problem selling them for a good bit when they are bigger.
Archers - eat small fish - otherwise really cool
Dragon gobies - those crazy long, kinda creepy gobies. They are actually full salt, but the babies are caught and sold as brackish. They are a sand-sifter, so they need sand and a good bit of room. Not the best option imo.
Styphodons - Algae eating goby. Awesome. Mine never showed really good colors till I put them in my brackish tank.
Orange Chromide - neat little fishes. Are kinda aggressive, but a pair is fine in a 40 or larger. They don't pick on other stuff as long as they get food.


Plants - As long as you stick to "easy plants", you should be ok. I've grown java ferns, anubias, hornwart, crypts, amazon swords, sagittaria, and valisinaria

[ometh]

I'll chime in. Basically a Brackish tank is a true freshwater tank with a good chunk of salt in it.

Tank setup; bigger is better. Most brackish fish get pretty big, and the ones that don't get mean. 55 is good. I have a 75 brackish and I think it's a good size. Use regular aquarium gravel. I'm currently using sand blast gravel, and it works well. Gobies can move it around to make burrows, but I can still gravel-vac it. For filtration, use a canister filter. Brackish fish have evolved to deal with fluctuating conditions based on rain/runoff etc etc. My diamond killies I have found as far up at full fresh, but in a salinity of 1.040. What this means is they can also tolerate pretty decent levels of nitrates and swings in salinity.

Livestock; BEWARE - many brackish fish eat plants. BEWARE (2) - if you tell a novice retail person you have a brackish tank, they will point you to the 3 or 4 fish that will survive and say "They will all be good". Like I said before, brackish fish tend to get big, and many are territorial. Watch your stocking and plan ahead.

Fish Ideas:
Any Mollies - good all around, dont kill other fish, and eat algae, but not plants - winner in my book
Most Gobies - knight gobies are the most common, but can be a little mean. Most gobies can live in moderately salty water. Bumblebee are also pretty common. Bumblebee gobies should be kept in either 1-2, or a large group(10+). They can be a little aggressive, like other gobies
Monos - Sebae are always available. They get MASSIVE and devour plants. Argentus are a little less aggressive and don't eat plants.
Puffers - just don't do it. If you put 1 puffer in a tank, just leave it there. They are nightmares
Scats - eat plants, and get pretty big, but aren't all that aggressive. Silver and green are common. Get ruby scats when they are small, and you will have no problem selling them for a good bit when they are bigger.
Archers - eat small fish - otherwise really cool
Dragon gobies - those crazy long, kinda creepy gobies. They are actually full salt, but the babies are caught and sold as brackish. They are a sand-sifter, so they need sand and a good bit of room. Not the best option imo.
Styphodons - Algae eating goby. Awesome. Mine never showed really good colors till I put them in my brackish tank.
Orange Chromide - neat little fishes. Are kinda aggressive, but a pair is fine in a 40 or larger. They don't pick on other stuff as long as they get food.


Plants - As long as you stick to "easy plants", you should be ok. I've grown java ferns, anubias, hornwart, crypts, amazon swords, sagittaria, and valisinaria

So puffers are a big no no I guess?

[sunkenmetal]

I would start a brackish tank just for puffers

[mnemenoi]

I think a smaller brackish tank with bumblebee gobies, glassfish and flounders would be awesome

[sunkenmetal]

I think a smaller brackish tank with bumblebee gobies, glassfish and flounders would be awesome

that would be awesome

[Sea-agg09]

So puffers are a big no no I guess?

brackish puffers are just like full fresh puffers. They are very aggressive and need to be kept by themselves in a large tank. With that said, I love puffers, and if I had the room, would definately set up a tank for a GSP or Fig8.

[black_knight]

brackish puffers are just like full fresh puffers. They are very aggressive and need to be kept by themselves in a large tank. With that said, I love puffers, and if I had the room, would definately set up a tank for a GSP or Fig8.

In the end there can be only one...(from the movie The Highlander) GSP and Fig 8 puffers don't play nice. They are cool.

[Totenkampf]

sea-agg did a great write up. i had archerfish eventually by themselves although i did start with some monos, scats, and bumblebee gobies. dont fill the tank all the way and with a bigger tank you can make a plaudarium type deal at one end if you wish, maybe for some unaggressive crabs (if there is such a thing). i used a screen top to keep crickets, flies, and other field plankton in so i could watch the archers work.

[mnemenoi]

Fiddler crabs work well in a brackish palludarium and you can even catch as many as you want on the beaches of Louisianna

[Totenkampf]

but will fiddlers go after the archers? IME most crabs are truly opportunistic. I had a large paludarium with 6 sub adult blue phase white's treefrogs in it and fiddlers as a cleanup crew. i went out of town for the weekend and they had climbed into the branches of the tress during the night and pulled those guys down into the burrows. they were ridiculously rare at the time so those fiddlers had a bad day coming

[mnemenoi]

I've successfully kept them in entirely fresh water 10 gallon aquariums for years when I was younger and they did fine with a wal mart assortment of community fish. It was only when I was older that I realized they were likely not very happy about their conditions. They only ate fish that were sick or dead and Archers are fairly sizable, honestly I'd be worried about them being eaten by the archers especially once they get bigger.

[Sea-agg09]

I think fiddlers are too small for archers and the like. From my understanding, they like small stuff in the sand. I would say if you kept them well fed they shouldn't cause a ruckus.