38gal Brackish Tank Planning

[RedWagGirl]

Hello! I just joined the forum. I've had many freshwater tanks in the past and even one saltwater, but I haven't had any tanks in two years as I got interested in frog keeping instead. But a new friend got me interested in aquariums again, and I was thinking about bringing my old 38gal tank from the basement and starting a brackish aquarium.

I decided to start a thread just to ask for advice in planning the tank. My main concerns are stock. I would like to have both mollies and bumblebee gobies. Are those fish compatible? Besides invertebrates, I'm not sure what other brackish fish I should keep. I've looked at lists of potential specimens, but I'm unfamiliar with most of the options.

Besides that, I'd like some general advice about keeping brackish tanks. What sort of filtration is recommended? What would be the best way to decorate the tank to make it look like a natural brackish environment? Also, I'm not 100% dead set on the brackish, so if anyone could think of any other cool, unique setups to do, I'd be interested to hear it. I'm just looking to do something new. Thank you! Sorry my questions aren't very specific.

 

[Mar23]

How about puffers? I have a brackish tank with 2 figure 8 puffers. I keep a low salinity of about 1.006. The good thing about brackish tanks is that the salinity can fluctuate a bit, so you don't have to keep checking it. I add 1 tbsp. of marine salt per gallon of water. Everything else is exactly the same as a freshwater aquarium.


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[Mar23]

As for decorations, I cannot help because mine is my 7-year-old son's tank and Sponge Bob is present. That kind of ruins the "natural" look. Lol


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[RedWagGirl]

I was interested in puffers, but aren't they too territorial to coexist with other fish well?

 

[Mar23]

I kept mine with mosquito fish briefly and there was no aggression at all. It may depend on the particular fish, like with bettas. Normally, they are recommended to be kept alone.


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[RedWagGirl]

If they can coexist with mollies and/or bumblebee gobies, I'd definitely consider adding a puffer to the stock list. Are there any brackish puffers that tend to work better with others?

 

[Mar23]

I don't know. I only have experience with figure 8. Mine are social and do not bully each other at all.


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[RedWagGirl]

I decided not to get a figure 8 puffer, as I read on multiple sources that it's recommended they live in species tanks.

Would mollies, bumblebee gobies, and a knight goby be compatible? Also, is it true that knight gobies must be the only one of the tank?

 

[Pseudomugil]

I kept a figure 8 puffer with Indian glassfish (a good brackish fish) and zebra danios (I find these do fine in brackish.)

 

[Mar23]

I kept a figure 8 puffer with Indian glassfish (a good brackish fish) and zebra danios (I find these do fine in brackish.)

Zebra danios are too hyper to get caught by any fish. Lol


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