Noob At Brackish

smashtime105 · Sep 20, 2007

Hey guys I have had my 35 gal for a while and it is a FW. I recently wanted to start a brackish tank. I know the setup and such from research, but not sure quite what fish I need to stock. First of all, I think I'm going to get a bigger tank soon, and am not set on the 35 gal. I really really really like archer fish but am not COMPLETELY set on them. I realize they require a bigger tank but I was wondering if there is any way possible that I can keep them in this tank until I get a new one in a month or two. I guess it is a question of how fast they grow? I am going to cycle the tank with some mollies for a little while before purchasing any other fish. I still have to get used to adjusting salinity and such. However, if I could get archer fish, would it be better if I just had one and had it less crowded, or two so they have company? Last but not least, I am asking for anyone who has or had archers, are they a hardy fish? Will they be a pain in the butt to keep alive? I do have a lot of time to spend on my tank, but I would also like to do other things. I know that was kind of long, but I don't want to make a huge mistake.

p.s. does anyone know if petco or petsmart or any big pet supplies company makes special orders? They currently don't have any brackish fish the stores near me.

DarkEntity · Sep 20, 2007

Ive never kept Archers but i can tell you that Brackish fish in general are hardy due to them moving between salty and fresh water etc. Do a search on this section as there have been questions re Archer fish and tank sizes before

nmonks · Sep 21, 2007

Greetings,

Archers aren't difficult to keep. People make one of three major errors with them. Firstly, they keep them with small fish. Archers are very talented piscivores and will eat anything they can swallow. Secondly, people keep them in small groups. Archers are pretty mean spirited towards one another. Either keep alone or in a group of at least four specimens. Finally, people keep them in too-small a tank. There are three common species in the trade, the low-end brackish/freshwater Toxotes microlepis (~12-15 cm in aquaria) and the middling brackish T. jaculatrix and T. chatareus (both ~20 cm in aquaria).

So long as you give them broadly appropriate conditions (i.e., fresh to 1.005 for T. microlepis, and 1.005-1.010 for the other two) you'll find them adaptable and tolerant fish. They aren't especially sensitive to nitrate, but as with any big fish you still want to keep on top of water changes.

They grow fairly slowly, but don't underestimate their needs. They are quite active animals. I wouldn't recommend T. microlepis for a tank less than 1 m in length, and the other two species should be given an aquarium around 1.5-2 m in length. Depth isn't important, but it's nice to have a reasonably deep tank because you can then lower the water level for half an hour or so, and get them to spit at bits of food stuck to the glass. If the tank is too shallow, this won't work so well.

They mix fine with mollies. Archers are basically peaceful towards other species. They will, of course, eat molly fry. Adding some mollies (something big, like sailfins) is a very good idea in fact. The mollies will act as dither fish, making the archer(s) less nervous.

Archers are excellent jumpers -- do not leave the tank uncovered for long!

They'll eat most foods, but chunky seafood is a favourite. Buy a bag of mixed seafood (squid, mussels, prawns, etc.) and use that. They also like pellets (Cichlid Gold for example) and carnivore flake. Obviously they *adore* live insects, so feel free to throw in crickets, houseflies, etc.

I don't know where you are, so can't answer the sourcing problem except to say that in England at least Wildwoods regularly gets in Toxotes microlepis, and they've now started doing mail order. If you want the smallest archer, then that's the species to go for. While it's a freshwater fish, it tolerates low-end brackish very well, and can be mixed with mollies, knight gobies, orange chromides, etc.

Cheers, Neale

smashtime105 · Sep 21, 2007

nmonks said:
Greetings,

Archers aren't difficult to keep. People make one of three major errors with them. Firstly, they keep them with small fish. Archers are very talented piscivores and will eat anything they can swallow. Secondly, people keep them in small groups. Archers are pretty mean spirited towards one another. Either keep alone or in a group of at least four specimens. Finally, people keep them in too-small a tank. There are three common species in the trade, the low-end brackish/freshwater Toxotes microlepis (~12-15 cm in aquaria) and the middling brackish T. jaculatrix and T. chatareus (both ~20 cm in aquaria).

So long as you give them broadly appropriate conditions (i.e., fresh to 1.005 for T. microlepis, and 1.005-1.010 for the other two) you'll find them adaptable and tolerant fish. They aren't especially sensitive to nitrate, but as with any big fish you still want to keep on top of water changes.

They grow fairly slowly, but don't underestimate their needs. They are quite active animals. I wouldn't recommend T. microlepis for a tank less than 1 m in length, and the other two species should be given an aquarium around 1.5-2 m in length. Depth isn't important, but it's nice to have a reasonably deep tank because you can then lower the water level for half an hour or so, and get them to spit at bits of food stuck to the glass. If the tank is too shallow, this won't work so well.

They mix fine with mollies. Archers are basically peaceful towards other species. They will, of course, eat molly fry. Adding some mollies (something big, like sailfins) is a very good idea in fact. The mollies will act as dither fish, making the archer(s) less nervous.

Archers are excellent jumpers -- do not leave the tank uncovered for long!

They'll eat most foods, but chunky seafood is a favourite. Buy a bag of mixed seafood (squid, mussels, prawns, etc.) and use that. They also like pellets (Cichlid Gold for example) and carnivore flake. Obviously they *adore* live insects, so feel free to throw in crickets, houseflies, etc.

I don't know where you are, so can't answer the sourcing problem except to say that in England at least Wildwoods regularly gets in Toxotes microlepis, and they've now started doing mail order. If you want the smallest archer, then that's the species to go for. While it's a freshwater fish, it tolerates low-end brackish very well, and can be mixed with mollies, knight gobies, orange chromides, etc.

Cheers, Neale

Thanks so much for the info. I could not find this info anywhere on the web. I think I will trade some of my FW fish for some of my friend's mollies. I will then use these to cycle the tank. Then in a week or so I will get an archer. I might have to get my LFS to order it, but oh well. I'm going to make a stand to raise the hood up about 4 feet. I will then cover it in mesh so the fish can't jump out. This will make it easier to feed them the "natural" way. Once again, thanks for the info.

Peace,
Smash

piranha_trader · Sep 22, 2007

Gotta feel lucky theres a board like this and Neale. Thank your lucky stars for the internet too.

Aloha from Hawaii

smashtime105 · Oct 19, 2007

okay so I have my tank cycled and over filtered. I have the mollies in there and was wondering if I might be able to keep the archer in there until I get a bigger tank in a couple of months. The species I ordered was T. Microlepis but I'm not sure if that is what it is going to be. I will further identify it when I pick it up. However, would I be able to keep it in my 35 gallon long? I have one marineland biowheel 150 and another marineland 300+ (cannot remember the exact number but I know it is above 300) with two biowheels. The salinity is at 1.007 and I havsome rocks in it along with a couple plants. I have a visitherm heater that seems to be doing well and I'm thinking about re-adding my 5-minute sponge filter (thanks to the thread) I will probably remove my mollies if the water gets too polluted. I'm going to be adding some floating plants to make the archer less nervous and I might be getting a knight goby along with him ( then I would definitely take out the mollies) to clean up the mess. I have a play sand substrate and lots of marble rock in it. I know this was rather long, but I want to make sure that my tank is ready and that I am making a good decision. This is not permanent however, seeing as I am getting a 75 gallon in a couple of months. Thanks again for all the help setting up this tank. Feel free to ask me any more questions about my setup.

Sorry the tank is a little cloudy I just moved some sand around but it should settle in a little while. There is also some salt drip residue on the glass that makes it look a little dirty. I didn't get any pics of the left side of the tank because my camera ran out of memory and also my mollies wouldn't go over there.

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