Archerfish in Mangrove Swamp

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Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Sep 27, 2005
Messages
227
Location
Hacienda Heights, CA
Hi everyone! I just got this tank situated and I'd like to share it with you all. It's brackish water and designed after a mangrove swamp; more specifically Northern Australia. Here's a couple pics:

Shoaling_2.jpg

Large Malaysian Driftwood Stump on the Left, 2 smaller pieces of Malaysian Driftwood in the Right corner, Synthetic Hairgrass extending out of the water

Shoal_Archers.jpg

Here you can see 3 of my 4 Toxotes Jaculatrix/Archerfish

Equipment
HOB Aquaclear 110 (480gph)
Visa-Therma Stealth Heater (150W)
Coralife Digital Thermometer
24" T8 5000K Fluorescent (Home Depot/$6)
Black Background

Decor
20G/1.003 SG Brackish Water (Water Level of 10")
XL Piece of Malaysian Driftwood Stump
(2) Small Pieces of Malaysian Driftwood
SeaGarden Synthetic Hairgrass (S/M/L = 4 Total)
Approx. 30-40lbs Play Sand (Home Depot/$3)

Livestock
(4) Toxotes Jaculatrix - Archerfish (approx. 1.5-2")

Food
Live Baby Crickets
Live Mealworms
Frozen Bloodworms

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The archers have only been in the tank for about 30hrs, but they're already displaying natural hunting behaviors. They're pretty hungry but I'm told not to feed them until my NH3 levels zero out(bio-spira hassle/long story) so I haven't seen them jump or spit yet. These particular specimens have a great amount of yellow in their fins that don't show up too well in the photos because of the tannin being released from the driftwood. I purposely did not soak or boil the tannin out of the driftwood to give the water a more natural mangrove swamp feel and make the fish initally more comfortable and at home. Archerfish are all wild caught.

I will be setting up a moonlight w/Lunar Controller to simulate an actual lunar month. I will also change the SG of the water based upon the times of year where their natural habitat experiences droughts or heavy rain.

Future plans are to move them all into a 180G tank, 1/2 or 1/4 full of 1.010+ SG Brackish Water with live mangrove trees and filtered by a sump system. The new tank will also feature shallow "beach" areas in case I feel like trying out mudskippers and fiddler crabs.

Ultimately I think it would be great to try to get lucky and spawn some fry to recirculate back into the LFS. That would mean slightly fewer archers being taken from the wild. However, I'm not getting my hopes up on that.

I hope this helps anyone who might be interested in keeping archerfish. If anyone has any question feel free to email me at: MidniteRPS13@aol.com

I'll post more pictures soon.
 
NH3 level is spiking through the roof and I wasn't sure how'd they'd last in there but they are actually doing very well.

Thanks for all the compliments. I couldn't have done it without the help of everyone on this forum. When I get enough care info together I'll post a Species Profile.
 
Pretty cool!

Have you ever thought of adding live mangroves? Do a search and find some places that sell them. There is a site that sells them at good prices, the only bad thing is that the mangroves are usually 36 inches when they sell them so theyre pretty big.

Nice to see it's working out for you!
 
flamingonhot said:
Pretty cool!

Have you ever thought of adding live mangroves? Do a search and find some places that sell them. There is a site that sells them at good prices, the only bad thing is that the mangroves are usually 36 inches when they sell them so theyre pretty big.

Nice to see it's working out for you!

Actually the tank is taking a dive for the worst and making everyone very sick. Live mangroves will be in the next tank... not sure either Red or Black depending on how I want the roots to grow.

Live Mangroves require acrylic tanks in most cases or the roots can get between the silicone and cause leaks... or so I hear.

Anyone with info on this, please let me know.
 
help

hi sent you a msg just now but figured i should just post it here too...
i need help one of my archers that i bought two days ago died last night it seemed to have been gasping like he had a stroke or something and lying of the subtrate before it died
need advice on how to better keep my other archer alive
advices eg.water conditions,salt,lighting,filters,pump
 
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