Converting A Freshwater Tank To An Archer Brackish Tank.

[edgun88]

Hey gents,

I currently have a 55 gal freshwater holding some guppies, Silver Dollars, and some Giant Danios. I've had the tank for about a year and a half now and I really want to convert it to brackish. My tank perams are fine. I'm just looking for something new and more difficult to keep.

I'm just curious about how to go about converting the fresh to brackish. This will be an Archer fish only tank. Keep that in mind. A couple points:

1. I'll need to drop my current fish off at my LFS. How will I maintain ammonia levels for sufficient bacteria growth so I don't need to re-cycle?
2. How do you go about converting fresh to brackish without killing beneficial bacteria? How long does it take?
3. I've done some research on salinaty for Archers. I've seen 1.005-1.010. What is the best? Are they pretty hardy fish?
4. I'm not sure where/if they sell Archers in the USA, so will I have to go online to buy them? What sites are reliable?
5. Any Archer keepers...give me some guidance! And anyone who knows about converting to brackish, please help me out.

Thanks, guys.

 

[scotslasszoe]

Hey all i would be very interested to find out also. for future ref every time i see brackish fish i am like

would so love to have them

Zoe

 

[TammyLiz]

Hey I know this is a really old post but since I have a tidbit of relevant info I thought I'd go ahead and add it anyway in case it could be of help.

I don't know if you have a Petco near you or not but they do sell archers there, and I'd be willing to bet they'd order some for you if you asked them. At least, the guys at the Petco near me would. That way you wouldn't have to pay shipping.

I saw a couple of them there just last week and they looked great.

To answer your cycle question: if I were you I'd just return the fish in your tank at the same time I got the archers and start the archers in fresh.

EDIT: Wait, I just saw you're from Fredericksburg. Ha! So am I. The Petco down Rt. 3 towards Culpeper, on the right as you're coming from 95, next to the new Home Depot, is the one that had a couple of archers in last week. I've talked to Derek there a couple of times and I bet he'd set it up so they could order some in for you. They keep things real clean there.

 

[Colin_T]

If the tank is going to be for archers only, why bother making it brackish. Archers can live in freshwater all their lives.
As mentioned above if you put the archers into fresh and then start adding a small amount of salt, the filter bacteria will develop over time and you shouldn't have to worry about the tank cycling again. If you do want to go brackish tho, then set the tank up without fish and let it run. Drop a piece of white bait or river prawn in it for the first week or so. This will produce heaps of ammonia and then you can remove it and leave the tank to run until the ammonia and nitrite levels have gone up and down. You can also use ammonia/ This is called a fishless cycle. Check the forum for fishless cycle. It is the same procedure for fresh, brackish or saltwater tanks.

As for where to get them, ask your LFS to order you some in. Most wholesalers always have them but the shops hardly ever get them because they aren't big sellers.

 

[Fella]

If the tank is going to be for archers only, why bother making it brackish. Archers can live in freshwater all their lives.

Depending on teh archer this may or may not be true. Toxotes microlepis certainly could live in low brackish/freshwater for it's life, but the other archers, T. jaculatrix etc, definitely benefit from saltier water.

As mentioned above if you put the archers into fresh and then start adding a small amount of salt, the filter bacteria will develop over time and you shouldn't have to worry about the tank cycling again..

Certainly don't add salt directly to a tank! mix in freshwater, then add as you do water changes. And don't use any old salt either, use a marine mix.

 

[edgun88]

Hey I know this is a really old post but since I have a tidbit of relevant info I thought I'd go ahead and add it anyway in case it could be of help.

I don't know if you have a Petco near you or not but they do sell archers there, and I'd be willing to bet they'd order some for you if you asked them. At least, the guys at the Petco near me would. That way you wouldn't have to pay shipping.

I saw a couple of them there just last week and they looked great.

To answer your cycle question: if I were you I'd just return the fish in your tank at the same time I got the archers and start the archers in fresh.

EDIT: Wait, I just saw you're from Fredericksburg. Ha! So am I. The Petco down Rt. 3 towards Culpeper, on the right as you're coming from 95, next to the new Home Depot, is the one that had a couple of archers in last week. I've talked to Derek there a couple of times and I bet he'd set it up so they could order some in for you. They keep things real clean there.

No kidding?? You are from the F'burg too?!?! haha wow what a small world. Well thank you so much for the info. I had given up on the idea of an archer tank, just from the scarcity of the fish. Now that I know that Petco has them, I'll go check it out. Do you by any chance know what type of Archer it was??? That would help. But no big deal because I'll just head over there tomorrow.

Thanks so much for info, again. You have brought my dream back to life.