Brackish - Ended

[Gill]

Ok So I am Starting the tank Shortly.

Equipment So Far:

Do I Need this:
Berlin Airlift 60 Internal Protein Skimmer - Its Only 5GBP and is 12 Inches High, Just higher than the Tank.

Lighting:

Filter:

Hydrometer:
http/www.fingercross.net/amazonindo/aquariumhydrometer.jpg

Tank is a Triangular Corner Tank t go next to the PC or above on teh corner shelf.

Plants bought from the pinned topic and what i already have.
will get some more java fern though and some Vallis.
Stocking will be 2-3 Pipe fish and a Sailfin Molly Pair - Probably Orange.

Anyhting Else i Am Missing.

 

[nmonks]

Hello Gill -

Protein skimmer: useful, but not essential. Won't work if the salinity is too low; needs to be SH 1.010 or more for it to be worth having.

Lighting: obviously depends on the plants. At a low SG, you choice of plants is surprisingly good. Doesn't matter what lights you use, so long as you have ~ 2 W/gallon. Anything less tends to require slow growing plants (e.g., Java fern) and these won't combat algae. For the plants you want (Vallisneria and so on) your upper SG will be 1.005, which is too low for the protein skimmer to be terribly effective.

At a higher SG (which you'll need if you use the protein skimmer) regular plants won't grow at all. Mangroves and seagrasses will, of course, but they need masses of light.

Filter: I'm not a fan of those hang-on filters, though they can work very well. I find them overpriced for what they are. Regardless, you will need a filter with about 4x volume of your aquarium in turnover. In other words, a filter with 150 lph turnover will be suitable for a tank of about 30-40 litres capacity. The best value filters are undergravel filters, in the sense of being cheap but effective, while canister filters usually do the best job in terms of efficiency, being relatively capacious and easy to maintain.

A hydrometer is essential.

Pipefish are extremely difficult to maintain and should only be kept in single species aquaria. They need live foods every day. You may be able to wean them onto frozen foods, but this takes time, and for the first few weeks you will need brine shrimps, daphnia, etc.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Gill]

Hello Gill -

Protein skimmer: useful, but not essential. Won't work if the salinity is too low; needs to be SH 1.010 or more for it to be worth having.

Lighting: obviously depends on the plants. At a low SG, you choice of plants is surprisingly good. Doesn't matter what lights you use, so long as you have ~ 2 W/gallon. Anything less tends to require slow growing plants (e.g., Java fern) and these won't combat algae. For the plants you want (Vallisneria and so on) your upper SG will be 1.005, which is too low for the protein skimmer to be terribly effective.

At a higher SG (which you'll need if you use the protein skimmer) regular plants won't grow at all. Mangroves and seagrasses will, of course, but they need masses of light.

Filter: I'm not a fan of those hang-on filters, though they can work very well. I find them overpriced for what they are. Regardless, you will need a filter with about 4x volume of your aquarium in turnover. In other words, a filter with 150 lph turnover will be suitable for a tank of about 30-40 litres capacity. The best value filters are undergravel filters, in the sense of being cheap but effective, while canister filters usually do the best job in terms of efficiency, being relatively capacious and easy to maintain.

A hydrometer is essential.

Pipefish are extremely difficult to maintain and should only be kept in single species aquaria. They need live foods every day. You may be able to wean them onto frozen foods, but this takes time, and for the first few weeks you will need brine shrimps, daphnia, etc.

Cheers,

Neale

Thanks Neale

The Pipe fish I am Looking at have been weened onto Frozen bloodworm and mixed with other brackish fish.
It does really depend on which fish they stock.
I have always Loved Sailfins since seeing them on That David Attenborough Prog. An now know why they always Look Dishevelled in LFS' as they are Brackish Fish. I may just go for Sailfin Tank depending on my mood.

I am trying the hang on as never had one before and LFS' Never have them so want o see hw good they are.
The LFS Does Bracksih water nad Ro water in Large Water Containers so water will not be a problem.


Are there any Bottom Dwelling fish I can Keep - the LFS has Adolfi Cories in the Brackish with Discus and some plecs (think they were Starlight and Royal Panaques.)

 

[nmonks]

While there are some plecs that naturally occur in brackish water, like Hypostomus plecostomus, they aren't the commonly traded ones. Keeping plecs in brackish water is something catfish aficionados disapprove of. One of my local shops has a royal plec in with brackish water stuff, and that tank has been going for several years, but on the other side of the coin, this certainly isn't "optimal".

If you wanted bottom dwellers, I'd look at gobies and freshwater soles. Neither of those will pose much threat to the pipes.

True giant sailfin mollies, if you can find them, are very impressive. Poecilia velifera, if you can find it, gets to 15 cm in length; they are really big fish when you see them! I have mixed feelings about pipes with livebearers over the long term, but if you're happy that the pipes get enough food, then why not give it a try? If nothing else, the pipes will certainly eat the livebearer fry!

David Sands, the a well-known catfish expert, said that a little salt did Corydoras no harm at all, but a lot of hobbyists disagree. I have no idea the degree to which the "salt allergy" myth comes from experience or simply repeating what other people have said. But I probably wouldn't bother, and would stick with species I know to be brackish water, like gobies, perhaps even a few shrimps, olive nerites, etc.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Gill]

While there are some plecs that naturally occur in brackish water, like Hypostomus plecostomus, they aren't the commonly traded ones. Keeping plecs in brackish water is something catfish aficionados disapprove of. One of my local shops has a royal plec in with brackish water stuff, and that tank has been going for several years, but on the other side of the coin, this certainly isn't "optimal".

If you wanted bottom dwellers, I'd look at gobies and freshwater soles. Neither of those will pose much threat to the pipes.

True giant sailfin mollies, if you can find them, are very impressive. Poecilia velifera, if you can find it, gets to 15 cm in length; they are really big fish when you see them! I have mixed feelings about pipes with livebearers over the long term, but if you're happy that the pipes get enough food, then why not give it a try? If nothing else, the pipes will certainly eat the livebearer fry!

David Sands, the a well-known catfish expert, said that a little salt did Corydoras no harm at all, but a lot of hobbyists disagree. I have no idea the degree to which the "salt allergy" myth comes from experience or simply repeating what other people have said. But I probably wouldn't bother, and would stick with species I know to be brackish water, like gobies, perhaps even a few shrimps, olive nerites, etc.

Cheers,

Neale

Thanks again Neale.

Yep they are - True giant sailfin mollies- Poecilia velifera, I have been eyeing them for ages. The Males are amazing.

I will Prob go for Sailfin and Pipes to see how it goes. With BBG's for bottom dwellers.

 

[Gill]

I Got RO water @ 1.05sl an a Box of marine salt to do up to 60 litres - cheapest 1.

Forgot that My Hydometer has not arrived yet - So will the RO water be ok in the Drum they gave it me in. Hydrometer should come in post tommorrow.

I got a Lovely Peice of Bogwod and some Silver Sand - Though that would look better against there colors.

 

[nmonks]

Why do you need RO water? The sailfins certainly don't need it, and I can't imagine the pipes care much either way. Brackish water fish live at the ends of rivers where nitrate levels tend to be quite high (though admittedly not as high as in an aquarium). They aren't like stream fish or reef fish, used to oligotrophic habitats.

Say "well done" to your LFS: it's been a long time since I've seen real giant sailfins for sale. They are awesome fish, but for whatever reason, sadly out of fashion. Everyone seems to want those awful balloon mollies or similar.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Gill]

Why do you need RO water? The sailfins certainly don't need it, and I can't imagine the pipes care much either way. Brackish water fish live at the ends of rivers where nitrate levels tend to be quite high (though admittedly not as high as in an aquarium). They aren't like stream fish or reef fish, used to oligotrophic habitats.

Say "well done" to your LFS: it's been a long time since I've seen real giant sailfins for sale. They are awesome fish, but for whatever reason, sadly out of fashion. Everyone seems to want those awful balloon mollies or similar.

Cheers,

Neale

Though it wouls be easier - as i j=then just need to make the Sl up to the same as there tanks instead of trying to do the whole tank of Dechlorinated water.

 

[nmonks]

What's SI? Salinity? If that's the case, it doesn't matter either way; be definition, brackish water fish have evolved to handle salinity changes. Many can be take from freshwater to seawater in an hour or two, some even instantly (though I wouldn't do this personally).

Cheers,

Neale

Though it wouls be easier - as I then just need to make the Sl up to the same as there tanks instead of trying to do the whole tank of Dechlorinated water.

 

[Gill]

The Tank is up and Running.

Put in an old canister filter till the Hang On arrives.
Put in some nice peices of wood a same Vallis And Java, Rest of plants to arrive Later.

 

[Gill]

I put in Some Lovely Bogwood today.
Plants from Greenline arrive tommorrow - Bought too Many.

Fish will Go in on Thursday/Friday.
Light and Filter should arrive by then.

Will Post Pix once everything is in.

I added the Fry from the Water butt to give some bio to it. They are loving Exploring the tank whatever they are.

The Sailfin's are still @ the LFS and they will keep them for me.
1 Large Male - Orange Blu White
1 Female - Matching Colors
1 Silver Lyretail Female.

Will Prob Get 3 Pipes - LFS said they have not lost a single 1 since hey came in.

Put Daphnia and Mozzies in aswell for some Live fod for them.

 

[Gill]

Been a while,

I decided against Pipes - I tried 1 and it simply did not do well was Ok for about a wek and then just stopped eating and i tried getting it to eat using Live Daphnia-Blodworm-Mozzies. But nothing.

I have still kept the Pipe, It Died in a Spiral Shape so i dried it out as a keepsake.
It will Join My Birchir and Whiptail that Jumped out years ago and Dried out on the Carpet.


But on the + side, the Sailfin Mollies are doing Excellent - The Female has already given birth Twice. The first batch turned silver an then died but the 2nd Batch are doing Really Great and are a lovley bright orange color like the Father.

I'll try to get some pix tonight as the Veranda is tooooo Bright to take pix in the Day.

 

[Gill]

2 Sailfins Dissappeared along with their Fry. Dunno what happened, just werent there. No Skeleton left behind no mouldy lump in tank.
It Might have been a cat or magpies as the tank was open top and in the Conservatory.

Remaining Sailfin Male - Saffron,Blue,Black,White Colors in it. Has been acclimated to the freshwater tank.