Going from brackish to freshwater?

[tranceFusion]

I have a 30gallon with only 3 bumblebee gobies in there. I was thinking I would try them in fresh because I can't find any brackish tankmates I want to put in there. Unfortunately I can figure out which species of bumblebee they are so I hope I am not doing something bad..

The SG is at like 1.003 right now. Can I just gradually do water changes and when the SG is not detectably higher than 1.0, add freshwater fish? Are fish like loaches going to be bothered by just trace amounts of salt?

Or do I need to take all of the sand decor, filter media, etc. out and wash it (and cycle the tank again)?

[Lupin]

Loaches will definitely be bothered by the presence of salt. Have you look into mollies and Chanda ranga as tankmates? There are also rainbowfish such as Celebes rainbowfish (Telmatherina ladigesi) that will be fine in your SG.

There is no need for you to strip down everything. A series of water changes will eventually lower the SG.

[tranceFusion]

I don't fully understand what you are saying..

Will the loaches be affected if I lower the SG by doing water changes? Or do you just mean if I leave the SG at 1.003? Because I am assuming that there will be a small amount of salt present for a long time to come if I don't strip everything down.

I know there are fish which are suitable for tankmates for BBG's, but none that I really care to keep.

I enjoy the BBG's, but I got them as tankmates for mudskippers. I wanted to give the mudskippers more land, and it was alreadydifficult to keep the water clean enough for the gobies with the mudskippers dropping all of their half eaten food in it.. So I got a 2nd tank for the gobies, thinking that I would eventually add some more brackish fish.. but I haven't been able to find anything that really got me excited.

[Lupin]

Will the loaches be affected if I lower the SG by doing water changes? Or do you just mean if I leave the SG at 1.003? Because I am assuming that there will be a small amount of salt present for a long time to come if I don't strip everything down.
I thought you meant adding salt to increase salinity. The gradual process of lowering the SG should not affect them. Gravel vacuuming can remove any grains of salt that settled on the bottom. Which loach species do you have? A 30g is small for most species requiring plenty of space.

I enjoy the BBG's, but I got them as tankmates for mudskippers. I wanted to give the mudskippers more land, and it was alreadydifficult to keep the water clean enough for the gobies with the mudskippers dropping all of their half eaten food in it.. So I got a 2nd tank for the gobies, thinking that I would eventually add some more brackish fish.. but I haven't been able to find anything that really got me excited.
You can always try Etroplus if they're available.:)

[tranceFusion]

I was thinking I would go with a small group of khuli loaches.. I saw them all wrapped up together in a ball at a fish shop and it made me quite fond of them (though I later read this means they don't have enough cover).

[Lupin]

I'd give the tank a few weeks to be vacuumed every water change before I get the loaches if I were you just to be safe.:)

[tranceFusion]

I currently have a sand substrate.. But I imagine that the salt is dissolved and wouldn't just be sitting in the sand..

[Pufferpunk]

There are tons of tankmates you could keep in a 30g low-end BW tank. Knight gobies, a dragon goby, figure 8 puffers, mollies, Celebes rainbows, glassfish, kribensis, chromides, etc.

[tranceFusion]

like i said, i know there are fish.. but none of them that interest me. i don't want to care for a 30g tank filled with fish that bore me.

maybe i am weird, but pretty much all "normal" fish are pretty boring to me..

[Pufferpunk]

Gobies & puffers are not normal fish. Maybe you've never seen a dragon goby? One of the most "oddball" fish out there.

[tranceFusion]

i agree that gobies are quite interesting, but dragon gobies, aside from their appearance, just don't do much but lay around from what I have seen. i have also observed knight gobies in the lfs and they weren't overly exciting, though i know the lfs isn't the greatest place to observe healthy fish behavior. the appearance of both dragon gobies and knight gobies just makes them seem out-of-place. and i do have a dwarf puffer so i thought i would do something different here.

there are of course some bigger brackish fish that are awesome.. i'd love some anableps or a catfish.. there's also a type of eel that is brackish that i used to always pull out of the chesapeake with my fishing rod when i was a young'en but i don't know what they are called. but a 30 just won't cut it for any of that stuff.

[destined_love7]

What kinds of fish DO excite you? Maybe then people can offer more suggestions?

BTW...I have 2 green spotted puffer with my BBGs and a few ghost shrimp and guppies (that were supposed to be dinner, but for the most part are ignored) and I really enjoy my tank. I'd get some green scats and archer fish if my tank was bigger. Maybe later......lol.

[tranceFusion]

I wasn't really asking for suggestions on stocking (although I will take them).. I was mainly just looking for tips on going from brackish to freshwater in a tank..

I currently have a dwarf puffer and two cherry shrimp in a 5G, 4 indian mudskippers and a fiddler crab in a 30, and the tank i want to convert which has 3 bumblebee gobies in a 30.. I love all of the fish that I currently have :)

[destined_love7]

And you aren't interested in mollies or platies. Hmmm......

What I do is just cruise the sites that sell fish and look at their pictures to see what I might like and the conditions that it needs. You could try that...lol.

Not sure about the converting other than just to keep doing water changes. I know that when you go from FW to BW you will get a mini cycle as the bacteria re-establishes. Not sure about the other way around, though it seems likely.