Going Brackish

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To go from FW to BW, you need a hydrometer and marine salt. Brackish environments in nature have quite a range and are considered anything between FW and SW.
 
You really want to aim for 1.010 to 1.015 in my opinion. What fish are you considering and what tank size? I really recommend Mono Sebae for bigger tanks, theyre beautiful.
 
Its a 29 gallon and my brother got a dragonfish and plopped him in. Hes so ugly hes cute. Now I have an excuse to get a bigger tank right. Heh heh :) I just found out today though that he needs to have his tank brackish. Also their are some platys barbs and a swordtail in there. I've heard they tolerate brackish and that the Platy even like it. Is this true before I go and pop in the salt?
 
Of the livebearers, Mollies are best known for enjoying a BW tank; you'll have to do some research on the others.
 
Oh I know the dragons can get to be huge. The largest one in captivity on record was 27" long and lived to be 5 yrs old. A bigger tank for him is definetly on its way. He's so cute! I did some research and found that swordtails and platys are in fact fond of brackishwater.

It's on this page

http://user.aol.com/cebrezzi/aquarium/index23.html

I'm reading up on barbs right now. Be back later with findings
 
I have two dragon gobys and the one thing you will need tofind out before you add the salt. You need to ask the LFS .
1.Where they got it from?
2. If it was raised in freash water or brakish?
Alot of the dragon fish found at your LFS have been bron and raised in freash water never ever seeing brakish set ups. If it's from a fish farms in the western U.S. it's never seen brackish water and there for that set up will kill it. If they have got the goby from the eastern area of the U.S. { I beleave most of the florda fish farms } are raised in abrakish hatchery. I found that if they've come from the western states adding them to salt of any kind. Will cause them to turn a ungly gray color and dyi shortly after.
I tryed returning him to the LFS that's when I found out. That there is a differnts in them andwhere they come from means alot. But I'd thank your being in Connecticut. That your area would get them from the eastern states.
 
His color was turning an ugly gray and he'd lost his iridescence in the freshwater. That's why I was looking up info on him and found out if he doesnt get brackish water this will happen and if you let it go he will die. So last night I put in one tablespoon of aquarium salt and this morning he has some of his golden glow back. Not as slimy looking and he's more active. I will continue to up it a tablespoon at a time over time so that I can acclimate him and the platys and swordtails and barbs slowly to the brackish environment so they don't gointo shock from sudden large salinity change. It is supposed to be 1 tablespoon per 5 U.S. gallons of tank water. So I need 3 and a quarter more tablespoons before the tank is completely Brackish. Oh and I found out that barbs can livein Brackish conditions ONLY if you acclimate them to it slowly first. I really wouldn't pour all the salt in any way even if all the fish in the tank were truly brackish. If they've been living in fresh acclimazation is neseccary as I said before they will go into shock and die if you add all the salt at once. I have a question now as to what would be a good small brackish tank cleaning fish?? anyone have any suggestions?? I did have mystery snails in my tank but I had to move them due to the salt.
 
For a brackish tank, you'll need marine salt rather than aquarium salt.
 
Regardless of where the goby was raised, evolutionarily, they need to be in brackish water during their adult life.; although, if I remember correctly, they spawn in fresh water. The nature of their natural habitat, the estuary, is to go from freshish to heavily salted. It’s true that a goby used to being in FW will get sick if salt is dumped into the tank, but if done slowly and properly over a period of weeks (I converted a 30 gal over a period of two months), the bacteria in the filter converts over nicely and the fish is not stressed.
 
I know that I should be using marine salt instead of aquarium salt. But as it was all I have right now until I get paid again I had to use it. This page said it was good to use aquarium salt for brackish fish as the marine salt will actually higher your PH and aquarium salt wont.

http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/brackish_water/brackish_p2.htm

So since it is ok to use I will just be using it for right now until me check comes in.


I will let you know of my progress and how my finned friends are doing, I'm also needing a brackish cleaner fish so I need suggestions on that as well.

thanks again for all of your continuing help
 
How much salt did you add? What is your current salinity? It may be a help right now, but will not be a solution for the future, just so you know. You'd have to add ALOT of aquarium salt to even get the salinity to 1.003 which is barely brackish conditions. Also, about the pH, most brackish fish are accustomed to a more alkaline pH, due to the fact that they are in brackish conditions. A brackish fish won't mind the pH at all. Even true saltwater conditions don't raise the pH above 8.2 - 8.4 and even most fw fish can tolerate that.

Best of luck with the goby.
 
Yeah definetly going to get Marine salt when I get paid. The aquarium salt is just a temporary fix for now. Will be getting a hydrometer as well. After that all I need is a brackish cleaner and I'll be all set :)...............until I get the 75 gallon,....oh yeah another tank!! Score!! LOL
 
I'm also needing a brackish cleaner fish so I need suggestions on that as well.
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They don't exist like the ones you are used to in a FW tank. You will be cleaning that tank by hand. Some snails work well, including the mts, but I find that when algae strikes my tank, they just make little lines and I have to clean up the rest.
 
Whats wrong with aquarium salt? I've used it for about 4 years on my 75 gallon tank with a specific gravity of around 1.010. My Mono sabea's are huge, my archer is doing great, and my dragon fish is about 16 inches long now (with needle-like teeth = cool). Most of my fish I've had for about 3 years now....that first year consisted of a series of disasters (fish that weren't brackish.
 
Aquarium salt and marine salt have different mineral contents. I won't argue with your success, but a natural brackish environment has the minerals of marine water.
 
OceanMaiden said:
Oh so there isnt like brackish detritus and excess food scavengers?? Oh well I won't mind extra cleaning. Gives me an excuse to mess with the fish tank more. :) Thanks again everybody!!
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Have you looked into shrimp? Many species of shrimp need brackish water to breed, so I'd guess they'd tolerate it long term.
 
theres really not much in the way as far as "cleaners" are concerned for brackish water....brackish water fish mostly just eat and make messes. algae is really just a fact of life for bw tanks! fiddler crabs are great for picking up excess food, but they do require the ability to get out of the water, i just stick rocks and branches out of the water for now, but i am building a paladarium of sorts soon(awsome idea for archers and mudskippers). there are some anemones which do tolerate lower(compared to marine water) salinity, such as the atlantic snakelocks anemone....good luck finding one though! good luck with the tank and the goby.......they are some ugly s.o.b.'s!!!!
 
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