New Tank

[JJ1234567]

I currently have a 45tall freshwater tank that I would like to tear down and redo as brackish. I would like to do BB gobies and F8's. The question is since the tank is taller rather than longer how many F8's would be comfortable in that space?

 

[nmonks]

A good question, and one I can't answer. As you realise, fish tend to measure territories by surface area of substrate not volume. In this case, I would suspect a couple of puffers would be fine if introduced together and as juveniles. It can help to divide the tank up with visual markers, in otherwords, have two piles of rocks, one at each end, and an open space of sand in between. Hopefully, the fish will use that sandy space as the boundary between their territories.

Realistically though, almost no aquarium is as big as the territory fish hold in the wild. Even something as small as dwarf cichlid will hold the equivalent of a space 60 cm by 60 cm (about 4 square feet). So most aquaria end up being 'cramped' by the standards of what fish expect in the wild. Possibly exceptions might be some gobies and killifish, but puffers, like cichlids, probably don't find home aquaria nearly big enough.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[JJ1234567]

Well if 2 would most likely be safe, then I shall endevor for two. Where can I find rock, such as the rock that I have seen in some of the other tank pics? I dont want to use my 7$/lb live rock for it (joke, you should laugh) so where do i find good stuff?

 

[jkrekord]

i have a nice huge piece of quartz that i got for £5 in an LFS in my freshwater setups most lfs do a big variety of rocks

 

[nmonks]

Even better are garden centres.

The art to getting rocks is simple: choose non-calcareous rocks and ones without obvious seams of metal. The calcaerous contents isn't critical if you're keeping brackish or hardwater fish, but I personally prefer inert rocks so that I can control hardness more easily by adding and removing stuff from the filter as required. But that's just my opinion.

The seams of metal bit is critical. Many fish are intolerant of high concentrations of things like copper or iron in the water. The safest thing is to opt for rock that doesn't have metal in it at all, things like granite and slate. Flint is also ideal chemically but I find it a bit ugly. A surprise for many people is how well coal works. Washed coal is completely clean, doesn't turn the water black, and works really well with dark substrates for making moody aquaria for things that like the darkness (obviously mormyrids and eels, but even things like cardinal tetras and glowlights!).

I always get gravel and sand from garden centres as well as useful things like bamboo for creating "reed beds" for the background to the tank. Tonnes of fun stuff for a fraction of the cost at your LFS.

Cheers,

Neale

i have a nice huge piece of quartz that i got for £5 in an LFS in my freshwater setups most lfs do a big variety of rocks

 

[JJ1234567]

That is a good idea, Ill see what lowes might have in stock. What about drilling holes in driftwood? Good idea or bad? I only ask because I just find find any driftwood pieces that will gotogether and make caves and such of the size I want.

 

[nmonks]

Drilling holes in wood should be fine, but why not use silicone sealant instead? You can create wonderful structures that way. One trick is to attach the wood to a big piece of slate or flat stone that you can bury in the gravel or sand. That way, the wood structure will be fixed in place. Plecs and cichlids tend to move wood about, either directly, or by undermining the gravel around it.

Cheers,

Neale

That is a good idea, Ill see what lowes might have in stock. What about drilling holes in driftwood? Good idea or bad? I only ask because I just find find any driftwood pieces that will gotogether and make caves and such of the size I want.

 

[JJ1234567]

silicone sealant huh? I will have to pick a tube up tonight or tomorrow to get this driftwood to stay where i want it. Im currently soaking the dark stuff to get it so it doesnt stain the water quite so bad when I get it in the main tank. I wanted to drill holes because I have a really wide flat peice that would be cool with a peep hole or two. Im currently trying to find some cheap 4" or 6" PVC pipe so that I can silicone it in and make a cave for the violet goby that you can see from outside the tank. IT would close off the inside and let you see outside, would cut the tube in half.

 

[AMS]

A surprise for many people is how well coal works. Washed coal is completely clean, doesn't turn the water black, and works really well with dark substrates for making moody aquaria for things that like the darkness (obviously mormyrids and eels, but even things like cardinal tetras and glowlights!).

I believe that clean coal makes a good planting median also.