Brackish Tank Advice

[MojoDex]

hi im gonna be setting up a brackish tank sometime next week, ive aquired myself a really odd size tank its 85cm long 55cm wide and 50cm high (33½ x 22½ x 19½ in inches). ive worked it out that it holds 52 imp gallons or 61.82 us gallons probably slightly less when sand and decor has gone in.

the fish i really want are an archer fish and a dragon goby but i dont beleive this tank is anywhere near big enough for those 2 fish. so im looking for some advice on what is suitable for this size tank and there salt requirments

many thanks in advance

 

[DarkEntity]

What do you have experience in keeping?

Puffers are not for beginners, and need a mature tank (not just cycled). Other than that there are gobies, mollies, mudskippers, Archerfish.....erm

 

[MojoDex]

ive kept pretty much everything didnt like marines they bored me so i stripped it down i have to say i like weird oddball fish i currently keep bichirs, knife fish, dwarf puffers , tanganyikan shell dwellers, 6 types of tetra, bettas, snipy eels, few species of plecs and to many types of catfish to mention probly have more that im forgetting this will be my ninth tank lol

i kinda figured archers would be to big for this tank as i currently have no plans to upgrade it at any time, i dont really want any puffers as i already have a tank of dwarf puffers. would mudskippers be alright in that tank i heard there territorial?

 

[MojoDex]

heres a pic of the tank

 

[ac106]

hi im gonna be setting up a brackish tank sometime next week, ive aquired myself a really odd size tank its 85cm long 55cm wide and 50cm high (33½ x 22½ x 19½ in inches). ive worked it out that it holds 52 imp gallons or 61.82 us gallons probably slightly less when sand and decor has gone in.

the fish i really want are an archer fish and a dragon goby but i dont beleive this tank is anywhere near big enough for those 2 fish. so im looking for some advice on what is suitable for this size tank and there salt requirments

many thanks in advance

Using Nmonks FishTankTool I came out with 63.63. Regardless, i think you could certainly have a dragon goby and archer fish in a tank that size. At least for quite a long time. At some point you maybe have to upgrade or rehome but it won't be for a long time

Make sure it's fully cycled, have a soft sand substrate for the Dragon, and you should be ok. I say go for it.

 

[MojoDex]

seriously you reckon they would be ok! if thats true i will be your best friend forever lol!

i have a week off work coming up as of thursday so im gonna use that week to hopefully get this tank up and running

i may just go for it then 2 fish ive always wanted

 

[MojoDex]

just had a thought what ph do i need to keep this tank at ive just assumed its a ph of around 8.2 as ive just ordered some argonite sand to keep the ph up without even checking what it should be

 

[nmonks]

A tank of 200 litres should be adequate for a violet goby and a single archer, especially if the archer is T. microlepis, one of the smaller species. The other two archer species in the trade can *potentially* get rather large, though I've not seen many in home aquaria above 20 cm long. T. microlepis seems to get around 12 cm or so in captivity. If you did get one of the other species, T. jaculatrix or T. chatareus, you'd probably need to upgrade the tank eventually, but archerfish don't grow very quickly.

Violet gobies and archers should get along in another way, too, in that they won't compete for food.

Your main problem is that if you half fill the tank to create "spitting space", a 100 litre tank won't really be good enough. I trained my archers to spit during water changes... I'd half empty the tank, get the fish spitting, and when I'd played enough, topped the tank up again. Makes water changes much more fun!

Your fish should be happy at anything from pH 7.5-8.2. Neither needs marine conditions or anything close, and SG 1.005-1.010 will be more than adequate (T. microlepis prefers 1.005 or less, the other two archers up to 1.010). The aragonite sand and the hardness in the marine salt mix should take care of pH without any other fussing. Periodically (6-12 months perhaps) you might want to take out the sand and give it a deep clean with hot water to wash away the algae and bacteria, especially if you see a pH drop, but otherwise all should be fine. Your goby will keep the sand clean at a more general level.

Cheers, Neale

 

[MojoDex]

thank you i appreciate everyones help and thank you nmonks u seem to be a bit of an expert ill get on with my new little project next week