Perfect Brackish Tank (for Columbian Shark & Figure 8 Pu

[PrettyFishies]

Hi All,

I'd like to re-do my tank and re-create an authentic environment for my fish. What advice can you offer as far as substrate, lighting and plants? As far as plants, I definitely want low-maintenance ones. It's a 29 gal tank.

Thanks in advance for ideas!

 

[Corey]

Re: Perfect Brackish Tank (for Columbian Shark & Figure

Hi All,

I'd like to re-do my tank and re-create an authentic environment for my fish. What advice can you offer as far as substrate, lighting and plants? As far as plants, I definitely want low-maintenance ones. It's a 29 gal tank.

Thanks in advance for ideas!

For starters, a bigger tank or a trip to the LFS to return the shark. They will grow to nearly a foot and will benefit from full marine conditions as adults. I personally wouldn't put one in anything less than ~100 gallons.

Most plants won't grow in brackish water; you may have luck with java fern/moss at a low salinity (<1.005), although the puffers would probably prefer more salt in their water than what would allow the plants to grow.

An aragonite-based substrate is recommended for brackish tanks, as are plastic plants.

Take a trip to www.thepufferforum.com to learn all you need to know about figure 8's and brackish tanks.
I keep two in a 38g and love them.

Here's a link to get you started: http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/puffer/f8puffer.html

 

[coldmachineUK]

A couple of things:

1. I do not recommend keeping more than one puffer per tank, regardless of size, unless they're dwarf puffers. Puffers are an aggressive species: although each puffer fish has a very individual personality and character they are prone to turning on tankmates without warning (people have, for example, housed them successfully with bumblebee gobies or mollies for a year successfully only to one day find the puffer swimming happily around with a "belly full of fins" to quote pufferpunk from thepufferforum.com). I would keep a F8 or GSP on its own. They also get more aggressive with age so whether they house fine together while they're young is sort of irrelevant.

2. Your 29G is adequate for a F8 on its own, but definitely not with a tankmate like a columbian shark. I would use your 29G as a single figure 8 setup. These are very rewarding fish to keep. The tank size is unsuitable even for a GSP...

 

[friend4fugu]

this is just my personal experience but Ive kept 3 gsp together for about 3 or 4 yrs now, right now there are in a 55, but when i first started brackish it was in a 20ga long, with 2 fingers(mono sebae not mondactylus argentus, sebaes are a little more "taller")3 scats a knight goby, and an archer, talk about a can of sardines! anyway, im down(diseases, i was a little lazy at first.....im really sorry fish!) to 3 gsp's , archie, and 2 scats....oh yeah there are the 3 or 4 elusive guppies that are too quick for archie, the puffers dont even pay them any attention! sl that just goes to show that just because a species is listed as "aggressive" or needs at least "100"gallons that doesnt make it the rule! every fish does have its own personality and its own little habits they really are like people. knowing what i know now about fish however i can tell u that overstocking is mean. everything needs a little elbow(or fin) room. i like the sandy substrates, myself, and if you really want, mangrove shoots will grow in even full sea water, they do get big if you dont prune them, rule of thumb is 1 leaf per plant in the tank. and i think the best thing for the puffers is plenty of things to explore, like caves.

 

[coldmachineUK]

this is just my personal experience but Ive kept 3 gsp together for about 3 or 4 yrs now

Well, I think this is more luck than anything else tbh. I've never heard of multiple puffers being kept in a tank successfully until your post, and I would not recommend doing so to anyone new to keeping puffers: as much as it may work in your specific case it is misleading to those who've never kept a puffer before to be told they could keep two F8s in a 30G or three GSPs in a 55G without any problems... ^.^

I'm interested in what you say about mangroves: most brackish or marine puffer tanks I've seen or run have had no real plant growth b/c of the obvious difficulties. I've tried brackish tolerant species but never been successful so I gave up. Most people resort to using rocks as decoration (as well as the obvious hiding places etc.). How does growing mangroves work? I'm really keen to look into that b/c I much prefer tanks with natural plant growth tbh.

 

[Corey]

this is just my personal experience but Ive kept 3 gsp together for about 3 or 4 yrs now, right now there are in a 55, but when i first started brackish it was in a 20ga long, with 2 fingers(mono sebae not mondactylus argentus, sebaes are a little more "taller")3 scats a knight goby, and an archer, talk about a can of sardines! anyway, im down(diseases, i was a little lazy at first.....im really sorry fish!) to 3 gsp's , archie, and 2 scats....oh yeah there are the 3 or 4 elusive guppies that are too quick for archie, the puffers dont even pay them any attention! sl that just goes to show that just because a species is listed as "aggressive" or needs at least "100"gallons that doesnt make it the rule! every fish does have its own personality and its own little habits they really are like people. knowing what i know now about fish however i can tell u that overstocking is mean. everything needs a little elbow(or fin) room. i like the sandy substrates, myself, and if you really want, mangrove shoots will grow in even full sea water, they do get big if you dont prune them, rule of thumb is 1 leaf per plant in the tank. and i think the best thing for the puffers is plenty of things to explore, like caves.

Please stop giving bad advice.
A 55 gallon tank is WAY overstocked with an archer, 2 scats and 3 GSP's. Choose ONE of those fish and you'd be about right (but not really).

As far as multiple puffers living in a tank together, it is a bit of a crapshoot. Some speices (ie. dwarfs and SAP's - SAP's are actually a schooling puffer species) can potentially live their whole lives together in a tank happily, some are iffy depending on individual personalities as they mature (like fig. 8's), and some just will probably be too aggressive and will not work (GSP's).

P.S. Mangroves are not a fully aquatic species, and are known to be "tank busters".

 

[friend4fugu]

lets get this straight.....A) I WAS NOT GIVING ADVICE!!!only stating my experience!
B) MY TANK IS NOT OVERSTOCKED!! follow the guidlines 1" of fish mouth to begining of tail per gallon of water.
C) yes mangroves do grow extremly large some cases over sixty feet. thats why i said with proper pruning they can be controlled.......1 leaf per shoot! and yes they should float above surface.
I NEVER CLAIMED TO BE AN EXPERT!!!!! so get your head out of your arse and actually read my post..... NEVER ONCE DID I SAY FACT! I know just as well as any1 else ..just beacause you read it on the internet doesnt make it true.

 

[friend4fugu]

cold machine id tell you to look them up, but that might be bad advice! corey..go back to your betta's and tetras!

 

[Esra]

There's room for everyone's opinion and experience.
No two (or more) fish are the same.

Any single rule you can think of will have been broken by someone somewhere.

That's not to say it's a good idea to try it but if you inadvertantly do and it works you should be able to say so.

Lets all relax. Basically i have no problem trying anything with fish as long as they are watched and I am able to seperate them if needed.

Personal experience becomes a fact for that occurance, however it's just an anecdote for anyone else.

 

[rich311k]

Folks everyone is allowed their own opinions and to relate their own experiences. Lets not get personnel with this.

 

[Hara]

Stick to the question the original poster put forth. Nowhere did I see him ask for fish advice. If you want to contemplate puffer issues, start another thread to do it in.

Keep a civil tone as well or your ability to post in this thread will be taken away. This is not open for debate.

 

[JDogg]

cold machine id tell you to look them up, but that might be bad advice! corey..go back to your betta's and tetras!

what is wrong with betta's and tetras...

anyways i would just put the puffer in the 29 if it was me...

 

[Esra]

I'd love a Puffer, but impossible to get here in Oz.

I'm sure whatever you do will look good.
Send some pics when you have it set up.

 

[friend4fugu]

sorry everyone! i apologize for the ranting and straying from the topic. it really bugs me how some people on this site claim to be "experts". maybe not directly saying it but in what they say. i am very careful to state "in my experience" or "in my opinion" in any thread i reply to. i can only relate what has happened to me and hope that in some way the original writer has drawn some sort light out of it. but none of us are experts! until an icthyologist (that is a person who studies the biology and habits of fish) come and tells me otherwise, its all just speculation and generaliztions. oh yeah.. there is nothing wrong with bettas or tetras, i kept them for many years and loved them.....things can just get said in the heat of the moment.

 

[Corey]

I apologize, I didn't mean to have a condescending tone, and I certainly didn't mean to come off thinking I'm an "expert".

Sorry if it seemed that way, friend4fugu, and I'm sorry I've led the topic astray; however I do stand by all my statements thus far.
Just to clarify, then I'm done - and in the nicest way possible - your scats and archer will grow to nearly a foot, and your GSP's will get the size of a football, prefer 30+ gallons per puffer and be very aggressive/dangerous to other fish. A 55 gallon will be extremely overcrowded. I imagine it would take a tank in the hundreds of gallons to house those fish properly. I have no doubt that others would agree.
I just wanted to give you that advice - now I'm done. Best of luck to you.

Anyway, pertaining to the original topic - I personally feel that any advice on keeping a Columbian shark in a 29g brackish tank is bad advice, as they will grow to nearly a foot and benefit from full marine conditions as adults. The best advice you can possibly give on the subject is to get a larger tank.
As for the puffer, a figure 8 would probably be very content in the 29 gallon. I urge you to check out the links I posted originally. I keep figure 8's in a brackish tank and have found that site to be an invaluable resource.
I have never kept Bettas or Tetras.
Again, best of luck.

 

[coldmachineUK]

Stick to the question the original poster put forth. Nowhere did I see him ask for fish advice. If you want to contemplate puffer issues, start another thread to do it in.

Keep a civil tone as well or your ability to post in this thread will be taken away. This is not open for debate.

The OP mentioned a F8 puffer and a colombian shark in the topic title, and went on to talk about the tank size of 29G. It would be irresponsible of members of this forum to fail to offer advice on the issues with that. I don't believe my tone was personal at any point: I made it clear that individual cases 'against the norm' can happen but stated that it's misleading to make recommendations to those new to keeping certain fish based on these b/c it's unfair to raise hopes and expectations in that way (let alone being unfair for the fish involved).

Back to the topic: again, I'd advise a single F8 setup in your 29G, with a crushed coral substrate which will help buffer your pH to the necessary 8.0-8.1. You'll need marine salt (I recommend tropic marin) to maintain a brackish S.G. of around 1.005 (increase this slowly over hours using a drip method if the F8 has been kept in FW at the LFS), along with a refractometer to measure it. Lighting: I would go with a compact flourescent 24W, and probably opt for a Daylight Blue bulb since one part of the tube will be actinic and one part will be daylight giving you a nice marine-like effect.
Best of luck, and always remember: research your fish thoroughly before you buy (I recommend fishbase.org and particularly thepufferforum.com where many long-time puffer keepers have written lengthy articles on the subject). You'll find a puffer to be one of the most rewarding fish to keep, as I said earlier

 

[7Enigma]

Back to the topic: again, I'd advise a single F8 setup in your 29G, with a crushed coral substrate which will help buffer your pH to the necessary 8.0-8.1. You'll need marine salt (I recommend tropic marin) to maintain a brackish S.G. of around 1.005 (increase this slowly over hours using a drip method if the F8 has been kept in FW at the LFS), along with a refractometer to measure it. Lighting: I would go with a compact flourescent 24W, and probably opt for a Daylight Blue bulb since one part of the tube will be actinic and one part will be daylight giving you a nice marine-like effect.
Best of luck, and always remember: research your fish thoroughly before you buy (I recommend fishbase.org and particularly thepufferforum.com where many long-time puffer keepers have written lengthy articles on the subject). You'll find a puffer to be one of the most rewarding fish to keep, as I said earlier

Very well said.

 

[Hara]

I said it was not open for debate. apparently the last word was more important to you than imparting good information. Both coldmachine and 7enigma have lost the ability to reply here.

edit: 7enigma can post again as apparently he was aggreeing with the second portion of coldmachine's post.