Starting A Brackish Aquarium

[The Big Fish]

Well as the title suggests, I'm creating my first brackish aquarium. I recently upgraded my angels to a 100 gallon tank so it freed up my 60 gallon tank. Right now i have sand and pea gravel, all the proper equipment, driftwood, java fern, java moss, and Anacharis. The salinity right now is at 1.006, and i'd like to keep it around 1/3rd seawater or the plants may start dying. The main thing is fish compatibility. I really don't want to order fish, but there's plenty of brackish species around where i live. I also know one of the store owners pretty well so he might be able to import some fish if i request it.
The list of species available to me are (i really don't want to pay the 35 dollar shipping online , but feel free to suggest other species along with plants that do well in moderately brackish conditions)

Mono Sebae
Mono Argentius
Pike Livebearer
all of those common livebearers, eg mollies and guppies
archerfish, toxotes jaculatrix
orange chromide
tiger scat
target fish
dragon goby
bumblebee goby
south american puffer
figure eight puffer
sleeper goby
freshwater moray
spiny eel
common glassfish (no neon injections)
glassfish, parambassis pulcinella. The one with the big bump.
gar
rainbow fishes

There's alot of cichlids at one of my local stores is selling claiming to be brackish and catfish too, but i'm not really sure or they only tolerate very light brackish conditions.
There's plenty of invertebrates but i don't know which are brackish.

I'd really like to mix puffers with maybe monos and archers? I don't really know, new to the brackish aquarium.

It's currently at a pH of 8.2 and i'm using an african cichlid conditioner to harden the water

form what i've heard, glassfish aren't really brackish. I guess you guys are the expert so thank you for your help.

 

[nmonks]

I'd suggest you browse my FAQ before going with any of these species. Or better yet, look over my book or the Aqualog book. Some are quite demanding (e.g., the pike livebearer) or have awkward personality "quirks" that will need to be understood (e.g., the puffers).

Since you want plants, you'll do much better if you keep the salinity below SG 1.005; I'd recommend SG 1.003 tops while the plants settle in. That's fine for any low-salinity fish, and will also be much cheaper in terms of water changes.

At SG 1.003, you could easily keep either puffer species (and SAPs are gregarious, so keep them in at least threes); any brackish water cichlid; any livebearer; any goby or sleeper; any glassfish; and Toxotes microlepis (one of the most common archerfish and easily confused with the Toxotes jaculatrix).

Options you haven't mentioned for a tank at SG 1.003 are catfish such as Hoplosternum littorale and Hypostomus plecostomus (the real thing, not the "common plec" Pterygoplichthys spp.); wrestling halfbeaks Dermogenys spp.; hardy Australian rainbows such as the brackish-tolerant species Melanotaenia nigrans; Florida flagish; the Persian killifish Aphanius mento; Asian killifish Aplocheilus spp.; and even some barbs, such as Puntius ticto and Puntius vittatus and loaches, such as the horseface loach Acantopsis choirorhynchos.

At SG 1.003 most algae shrimps should do well, including cherry shrimps and Amano shrimps. There are also some shrimps that will do BETTER in slightly saline water than otherwise, notably the red-nose shrimp Caridina gracilirostris. Most Macrobrachium should do well too (though whether you'd want to add one to your tank is another question...). I have no data on fan shrimps (Atyopsis spp.) in brackish water, and would recommend against them, even though juveniles of some species are said to mature in brackish water. Among the snails, Nerites can be expected to thrive, as will Malayan livebearing snails.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Loony Fish]

Get archer fish, they are peaceful and cool.

 

[The Big Fish]

I'd suggest you browse my FAQ before going with any of these species. Or better yet, look over my book or the Aqualog book. Some are quite demanding (e.g., the pike livebearer) or have awkward personality "quirks" that will need to be understood (e.g., the puffers).

Since you want plants, you'll do much better if you keep the salinity below SG 1.005; I'd recommend SG 1.003 tops while the plants settle in. That's fine for any low-salinity fish, and will also be much cheaper in terms of water changes.

At SG 1.003, you could easily keep either puffer species (and SAPs are gregarious, so keep them in at least threes); any brackish water cichlid; any livebearer; any goby or sleeper; any glassfish; and Toxotes microlepis (one of the most common archerfish and easily confused with the Toxotes jaculatrix).

Options you haven't mentioned for a tank at SG 1.003 are catfish such as Hoplosternum littorale and Hypostomus plecostomus (the real thing, not the "common plec" Pterygoplichthys spp.); wrestling halfbeaks Dermogenys spp.; hardy Australian rainbows such as the brackish-tolerant species Melanotaenia nigrans; Florida flagish; the Persian killifish Aphanius mento; Asian killifish Aplocheilus spp.; and even some barbs, such as Puntius ticto and Puntius vittatus and loaches, such as the horseface loach Acantopsis choirorhynchos.

At SG 1.003 most algae shrimps should do well, including cherry shrimps and Amano shrimps. There are also some shrimps that will do BETTER in slightly saline water than otherwise, notably the red-nose shrimp Caridina gracilirostris. Most Macrobrachium should do well too (though whether you'd want to add one to your tank is another question...). I have no data on fan shrimps (Atyopsis spp.) in brackish water, and would recommend against them, even though juveniles of some species are said to mature in brackish water. Among the snails, Nerites can be expected to thrive, as will Malayan livebearing snails.

Cheers, Neale

I have read both books (they were the only ones i found that were really helpful). Since i have an angel tank, i just love the shape of angels and i was thinking maybe four monos? Can i mix mono argentius and sebae? I wasn't sure so i was planning to keep it sebae. I really want to maybe add two archers, but is that crowding the tank? From what i've read even though you may entertain your puffers with other puffers, they may still fin nip and i really don't want them to hurt my other fish. That is my bigest concern with puffers. On the other hand they just sound like amazing fish. There are other fishes like the halfbeak, except i don't have access to them locally.

My ideas right now are
4 mono sebae
2 archers
4 figure eight
2 dragon/violet goby
8 bumblebee goby
Well..that's all i can really think off that may work. i don't know if the pike livebearers (always wanted unique livebearers) would work with the archerfish or how many to keep possibly for breeding due to their handedness..etc...

Wouldn't some of these fish eat the crustaceans? I don't know how practical it is to have puffers and crustaceans together aside for the benifits of the puffer.

i don't think the plecostomus would make it if i keep increasing the salinity.
This is my idea of the tank, but please improve. I really need help.

 

[nmonks]

My list above was expressly for a low salinity (SG 1.003) system where plants are a feature. Catfish, barbs, etc. wouldn't be options above SG 1.003.

In all honesty, I wouldn't recommend wasting time with plants in tanks above SG 1.005. Yes, some species will survive, but most will not, and at least some (e.g., Scats) are very herbivorous. If you have a high salinity system, i.e., SG 1.010, then you have the flexibility to add the oddball stuff that appears infrequently: Neovespicula depressifrons; scorpionfish; Rhinomugil corsula; Butis butis; big catfish like Mystus gulio and Sciades seemanni; brackish water damsels; oddball/mystery gobies and sleepers; and so on. Right now Wildwoods in London has two fish I've never seen in the hobby, a pike-conger eel Congresox talabonoides, and the eel-like goby Taenioides cirratus. Coming across these bizarre fish -- and knowing you have somewhere to keep them! -- is what makes brackish water fishkeeping most fun.

Puffers will view any invertebrates as food. So obviously you can't combine them! The two species we call "green spotted puffers" (Tetraodon nigroviridis and Tetraodon fluviatilis) are reported to eat scales/fins of other fish in the wild. Unless you have a big (many 100s of gallons) tank, they just tend to be a liability in community settings. Figure-8s are much better, and SAPs even more so, though both will nip if they get hungry (or just out of curiosity). Fine with fast-moving things, but not so good with gobies, mollies, etc.

You can mix both Mono species without problems. Monos, scats and (brackish water) archers all mix well together.

Two archers will fight; they are very hierarchical, and work best in large groups. Singletons are easy to keep, though shy. Twos and threes just bicker.

Archers will eat BBGs. In fact they will eat any small fish/shrimp. They are predators, and the whole spitting insects malarkey is very much a bonus on top of their normal feeding behaviour. Knight gobies are better tankmates for largish fish, and arguably among the most attractive in the trade. Butis butis is a stunning fish when fully grown, and I have a soft spot for Dormitator maculatus, a big but docile sleeper.

Cheers, Neale

 

[The Big Fish]

My list above was expressly for a low salinity (SG 1.003) system where plants are a feature. Catfish, barbs, etc. wouldn't be options above SG 1.003.

In all honesty, I wouldn't recommend wasting time with plants in tanks above SG 1.005. Yes, some species will survive, but most will not, and at least some (e.g., Scats) are very herbivorous. If you have a high salinity system, i.e., SG 1.010, then you have the flexibility to add the oddball stuff that appears infrequently: Neovespicula depressifrons; scorpionfish; Rhinomugil corsula; Butis butis; big catfish like Mystus gulio and Sciades seemanni; brackish water damsels; oddball/mystery gobies and sleepers; and so on. Right now Wildwoods in London has two fish I've never seen in the hobby, a pike-conger eel Congresox talabonoides, and the eel-like goby Taenioides cirratus. Coming across these bizarre fish -- and knowing you have somewhere to keep them! -- is what makes brackish water fishkeeping most fun.

Puffers will view any invertebrates as food. So obviously you can't combine them! The two species we call "green spotted puffers" (Tetraodon nigroviridis and Tetraodon fluviatilis) are reported to eat scales/fins of other fish in the wild. Unless you have a big (many 100s of gallons) tank, they just tend to be a liability in community settings. Figure-8s are much better, and SAPs even more so, though both will nip if they get hungry (or just out of curiosity). Fine with fast-moving things, but not so good with gobies, mollies, etc.

You can mix both Mono species without problems. Monos, scats and (brackish water) archers all mix well together.

Two archers will fight; they are very hierarchical, and work best in large groups. Singletons are easy to keep, though shy. Twos and threes just bicker.

Archers will eat BBGs. In fact they will eat any small fish/shrimp. They are predators, and the whole spitting insects malarkey is very much a bonus on top of their normal feeding behaviour. Knight gobies are better tankmates for largish fish, and arguably among the most attractive in the trade. Butis butis is a stunning fish when fully grown, and I have a soft spot for Dormitator maculatus, a big but docile sleeper.

Cheers, Neale

I guess one archer would be fine. No bumblebee gobies then. For SAP's, i'm worried they'll outgrow the tank. How much more fierce are figure eights? Should i just feed them more to prevent fin nipping? How many mono's can i keep in the tank? Is there even enough room for pike's and can they work with archers? what other what other gobies can you reconmend? Sorry for so many questions. I think in your book when setting up tanks, there should be specific numbers of fish or how many inches of fish can be stocked. Since you use small school..but how many is that? Sorry for criticizing. I actually designed the angelfishtank with specifics like preferably 10 gallons per angel or 5 when young etc...
One last thing, what fertilizers can i use for rbakcish plants?