Staring Brackish Tank

[sabbott1877]

I am interested in starting a brackish tank, not just getting brackish fish and putting them in FW. I have a 20gal Long tank. Basically, is it worth it and what is different about it?

Thanks

 

[WaterPond]

Most brackish fish need 30gal or more. It is not worth it IMO, The only thing you could keep pretty much are mollies, a 20gal is just too small for alot of fish. Maybe a few mollies would be nice. You could probly keep a fe bumblebee gobies, even though they should be house in 30gal or more. IMHO, i think it is just not worth it. It would be better to just set up a SW, or FW. That way you have more possibilities.

 

[Tong]

I am not an expert on brackish tanks but I don't think you don't need a 30 gallon tank. A 20 gallon long tank will work just fine as a brackish tank. With a smaller tank, your options for fish will be severly limited though.

Also, many fresh water fish (and plants) do okay in lightly brackish tanks with a SG of 1.005 or less. There are a few of them but right off the top of my head I know platies and guppies will work.

Here's a link to a good starting page. Although I don't completely agree with thier stocking ideas...its a good general start though. Click Here

 

[MurfQ]

Total noob question but what's a brackish tank?

 

[Guest]

brackish is "semi-salt"

it is environments you find near salt water bodies that are connected to freshwater bodies, like the tributaries in florida, and the mississippi delta

 

[MurfQ]

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks.

 

[catfishattack]

How about figure 8 or spotted puffer? Do they do well in a 20 gallon?

 

[penpitt]

The F8 will do good in a 20 but the green spotted needs at least 30 gallons.

 

[dymium]

I just finished setting up a 20Long brackish tank. Right now it's not planted but I have one mollie and 4 bumblebee gobies. They all get blackworms as food once every 2 days. The SG of my tank is at 1.008 and all of my fish are doing just fine! The gobies are extremely entertaining to watch dart around the tank.

To the gentleman that said bumblebee's need a 30 gallon tank, I would like to respectfully disagree. They may be territorial, however the largest of their species gets to be 2-3 cm IIRC, which you should have no problems with in a 20 Long. I agree on the puffers and most other brackish though. F8 would fit (and I'm planning on getting one), GSP's may be a bit too big, but not by much, and monos, scats, and archers etc. will all get to easily the size of full grown angels, which could benefit from a 55 gallon or so. Note that none of this is from experience, but research I've been doing for a few months.

My experience thus far is that the brackish tank is not that much more difficult to operate than a regular FW tank, it just requires a little extra salt preparation, and my choice of fish requires live feeding. I enjoy my tank very much though and I'm looking forward to planting it in the future.

 

[Reefmonkey]

I've done it in a 20 gallon high . Bigger is always better, but can be done; just depends on the fish you keep (I even successfully kept a 10 gallon brackish). Get a hydrometer, and keep the specific gravity between 1.010-1.018. I can't give you a specific mixing equation as it will vary practically every time, but start with about 2 tablespoons/gallon and play around with it. Don't try to mix directly into the tank, make sure the salt is fully dissolved before putting water in tank. Instant ocean works great, but you could make due with non-iodized table salt. The silica in it shouldn't hurt brackish fish.

I loved setting up an indopacific brackish, one of my favorite setups in the entire hobby - figure 8 puffer (yes, they are nippy, but can be handled), both argenteus and sebae monos, various gobies, scats, even a bullrout once.

Good luck and have fun!