Mimic A Natural Brackish River

[zephi]

Does anyone here own a tank which holds native fish/invertebrates they collected from a brackish river? I want to create a community tank to mimic a brackish river close to where I live. I want it as natural as possible.

I was thinking of going down to the river to collect substrate(sandy mud), water, plants(sea grass) and some organisms to put in a tank. I want to mimic the habitat of the river, so I want to add some rocks and driftwood(mangrove). The river has some interesting specimens.
Listing a few;
crustaceans - crabs, yabbys, hermit crabs, shrimps,
large array of gastropods - periwinkles, nerites...
fish - river goby, livebearers, toadfish/puffers, mudskippers, swamp eel,
All of these were found around the mangroves and mudflats.

I'm planning on getting a 50g+ tank for this setup, but I'm still unsure about this idea. I just want to create a unique tank, because I've noticed when searching these forums, everyone makes their own brackish water and purchases plants and organisms for their tanks.
I want to hear people's thoughts on this idea.

 

[SirMinion]

It's something that I looked into about 5 years ago and also a tidepool tank, full of the things you find in rockpools at the beach.
The reason I didn't go ahead in the end was an issue of temperature. In a household enviroment it would be very difficult to keep the tank cold enough to maintain the creatures for very long.

However, with your mention of swamp eels and mangroves, I take it you live somewhere pretty warm anyway, yes? So perhaps it wouldn't be such an issue if the creatures are already aclimatised to warmer waters.

 

[zephi]

However, with your mention of swamp eels and mangroves, I take it you live somewhere pretty warm anyway, yes? So perhaps it wouldn't be such an issue if the creatures are already aclimatised to warmer waters.

Well currently it's summer in Australia. I visit the river quite frequently and I see these organisms pretty much all year round.

What I want to know is, what are some of the things to avoid while creating this tank setup. All these organisms were found in the same habitat, should they should be okay mixed in a tank together?

What I plan to do is, fill the bottom of the tank about an inch thick of sandy mud. Cover about 1/3 of the tank with rocks for hiding, place a few mangrove branches on the opposite side to the rocks. In the middle will be the plants.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Just because they are found in the same natural habitat doesn't mean they'll coexist in a tank. Take wimple piranhas and neons for example. Same habitat, but they will not live together in an aquarium.

The tank decor sounds good, if you get it set up I would love to see it.

Ryan

 

[Colin_T]

not many plants will survive in a brackish water tank and marine plants are a lot more difficult to keep than freshwater. A lot of people use plastic plants in brackish setups.
Have a layer of sand in the bottom but not mud. The filters will kick it up and so will the fish making the tank look mirky.
Crabs will try to eat gobies or any other bottom dwellers and the shrimp might have a go too but it depends on the type of shrimp. Small glassshrimp will be fine but if they turn out to be king prawns they will eat whatever they catch.
Yabbies are the same as the crabs.
Most Australian puffer fish are horrible things in tanks and they eat everything including crustaceans and fish. Many will tame down very quickly but some will bite you everytime you go in the tank.
Eels can get big and will often go over the edge and end up dry and crispy on the floor. Make sure the tank is well covered to help prevent this from happening.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Some plants like java fern will survive in low (maybe even mid) level brackish.

Ryan

 

[BracKeeper75]

not many plants will survive in a brackish water tank and marine plants are a lot more difficult to keep than freshwater. A lot of people use plastic plants in brackish setups.

I dont think the plants will be an issue. He is talking about gathering them from naturally brackish areas, so they would already be growing in brackish water.

 

[zephi]

Crabs will try to eat gobies or any other bottom dwellers and the shrimp might have a go too but it depends on the type of shrimp. Small glassshrimp will be fine but if they turn out to be king prawns they will eat whatever they catch.
Yabbies are the same as the crabs.
Most Australian puffer fish are horrible things in tanks and they eat everything including crustaceans and fish. Many will tame down very quickly but some will bite you everytime you go in the tank.
Eels can get big and will often go over the edge and end up dry and crispy on the floor. Make sure the tank is well covered to help prevent this from happening.

So far I've noticed that the crabs and yabby's share burrows with each gobys. (Mutualism). But those yabbys..... are like those pistol shrimps... I think I'll leave them out.
The puffer fish, I might consider keeping a single small one. They dont grow too big, max size i've seen is about 15cm in length.
As for the eels, I've done a little research, the swamp eel grow to about 20 cm.

So far, all there is left is to collect a few and see how they go together as soon as my tank is cycled.