Marine Inverts In Brackish?

[dizzied]

I've been wondering about this for awhile. What marine inverts can be kept in brackish water?

I've heard of certain anemones, shrimps, and I know a few members here have kept hermit crabs in brackish.

 

[AMS]

I've been wondering about this for awhile. What marine inverts can be kept in brackish water?

I've heard of certain anemones, shrimps, and I know a few members here have kept hermit crabs in brackish.

There are many "marine" inverts that inhabit brackish waters, problem is that they almost never reach the aquarium trade such as the various species of sponges, molluscs, snails, crabs, shrimp, etc.

If you are looking for a clean-up crew in your brackish tank look for olive nerite snails, certain species of ghost shrimp, blue legged hermits (some have seen them go as low as 1.010), MTS, amano shrimp, and others. Note that some of these are low-end brackish and some are high-end brackish.

The brackish species of anemone you are talking about is Actinia equina.

 

[dizzied]

Not looking for a cleanup crew, this is just a product of my curiousity. I'll probably ask the LFS about this tomorrow too, I remember an employee saying that some marine inverts they sell were actually wild-collected in brackish.

 

[nmonks]

The guy at the LFS is probably right. I've always assumed that apart from obviously reef stuff, like corals and cleaner shrimps, most of the generic and cheap inverts are collected from shallow marine habitats, including mangroves and estuaries, that happen to be close by the exporter's facilities. This is certainly true with the Asian horseshoe crabs and the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopeia spp., and likely true for many of the crabs and snails as well.

As AMS says, the tricky bit is identifying them. The safest bets are the ones AMS listed, of which some, like Malayan livebearing snails, are very easy to obtain. I wouldn't take any of the anemones below 1.018. Actinia equina is incredibly tough, and when settled in will breed almost as quickly as Aiptasia, but it's a rockpool rather than estuary beast.

Anyway, I've a listing of some species and their care in my FAQ.

Cheers,

Neale

Not looking for a cleanup crew, this is just a product of my curiousity. I'll probably ask the LFS about this tomorrow too, I remember an employee saying that some marine inverts they sell were actually wild-collected in brackish.

 

[flamingonhot]

A large amount of inverts, etc. are probably collected in brackish estuaries, etc. like mentioned. Most small inverts, fry etc. grow up in those conditions anyways.

I've seen a lot of inverts go into brackish water, but of course remember, take it slowly! Hermit crabs are some of the easiest to convert.

 

[AMS]

It is also worth mentoning that a lot of the frozen fish food we buy comes from brackish waters, mysis shrimp and silversides for example among many others.

About anemones, aside from Actinia equina they only other brackish species that I know of is Anemonia viridis. I read on Reef Central that some guy kept Anemonia viridis at 1.013 with no problems. I would like to try Anemonia viridis in a brackish tank but these anemones are cool-water species.

 

[nmonks]

I read on Reef Central that some guy kept Anemonia viridis at 1.013 with no problems. I would like to try Anemonia viridis in a brackish tank but these anemones are cool-water species.

Wow, never knew they could go that low. I'd have though 1.018. Those anemones -- known as snakelocks anemones -- are very pretty. Not sure what their temperature tolerance is. Likely quite high: they are warm temperate animals, and you only get them in the UK on the south and west coasts, where the Gulf Stream warms them up. Also, they're photsynthetic, so need a lot of light.

Beadlets, by contrast, are tropical-safe. Kept them in tanks with mantis shrimps. A nice combo, funnily enough, because the beadlets quickly cover all the rockwork, making the tank look very mariney.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[AMS]

I read on Reef Central that some guy kept Anemonia viridis at 1.013 with no problems. I would like to try Anemonia viridis in a brackish tank but these anemones are cool-water species.

Wow, never knew they could go that low. I'd have though 1.018. Those anemones -- known as snakelocks anemones -- are very pretty. Not sure what their temperature tolerance is. Likely quite high: they are warm temperate animals, and you only get them in the UK on the south and west coasts, where the Gulf Stream warms them up. Also, they're photsynthetic, so need a lot of light.

Beadlets, by contrast, are tropical-safe. Kept them in tanks with mantis shrimps. A nice combo, funnily enough, because the beadlets quickly cover all the rockwork, making the tank look very mariney.

Cheers,

Neale

I never knew that they could handle a salinity so low either. I will try to dig up that thread on Reef Central. I remember him telling me that his metal halide kept the tank rather warm, so I guess they do have a rather high temperature tolerance.

When I first registered on Reef Central I was shocked to see how many brackish threads there were. It's a great resource for brackish info (second behind TFF of course )

 

[dizzied]

Right, beadlet and snakelocks anemones. I remember them from some book I had, they were part of a rock pool biotope. I actually wanted some for a mangrove swamp setup (don't ask), but quickly realized you can't get them here in the states.

I remember when I first started fishkeeping, I wanted to fake a reef tank in freshwater using lava rocks, ornaments and inverts. Never went ahead with it, but I'm somewhat tempted to do the same with brackish now.

 

[AMS]

I actually wanted some for a mangrove swamp setup (don't ask), but quickly realized you can't get them here in the states.

Are you referring about the anemones or the mangroves? Because mangroves can be purchased any where in the US.

 

[dizzied]

The anemones of course. Mangroves of course are a lot, lot easier to get your hands on.