converting a 55 cichlid tank to brakish with jack dempey

[puffer8899]

can i concert my 55 gal tank to brakish with an 8 inch jack dempsey and two plecos without killing the jack or the plecos

[Pufferpunk]

BW is not a natural environment for these fish. Why would you want to do that?

[stik6shift98]

he prob wants to have brackish watter fish and still keep his cichlids......maybe......

[puffer8899]

the reason i want to keep the jack and the two plecos in there is because i have no other tanks i can put them in and i need to covert the 55 to brakish to move my four puffers in to from there 20l what should i do

[MonoSebaelover]

Well a Jack and 2 Plecos will outgrow a 55 in no time. Jacks need at least a 125G when adult, plecos about the same. So either plan on upgrading or get rid of the Jack and Plecs. They will both surely die in brackish water.

[puffer8899]

the plecos i have don't get any biger then 10 inches and jack only gets to 8inches plus they have been in the same water for two years without problem ph 7.2 with some salt but not quite enough to be brakish they should be able to stay in the tank for there entire lives which it has already been 4 years with no problems at all

[Pufferpunk]

Why do you write into a forum to ask a question of folks that might know more that you about fishkeeping, just to argue with us? Please read the silver shark thread about keeping fish in natural conditions, & being responsible for keeping our fish alive as long as possible. Also, you didn't mention what kind of puffers you have, but I wouldn't put any puffers in with a fish as aggressive as a Dempsy. All that fish needs to do is bite one of the puffers & it will release a toxin that will kill your fish.

[cdawson]

Originally posted by puffer8899
the reason i want to keep the jack and the two plecos in there is because i have no other tanks i can put them in and i need to covert the 55 to brakish to move my four puffers in to from there 20l what should i do

My advice, stop trying to make do. Go out and spend 200 bucks on a 46 gallon. I just did, all you need to do is look for the deals. Buy yourself a tank with no "bonus" junk, buy everything seperately and you'll get a much better deal than you would buying it all together. Find the best prices for each item wherever you can.

[stik6shift98]

hey do u have picks of that 46 gallon cuz i just got a tank and it looks to be around that size...if u dont,,, im gonna have pics up tonite so maybe u could confirm what gallon size it is...

and y would u wanna risk the life of your fish in order for your puffers to live

[howlincody]

This really isn't a good idea. Why not provide the best environment possible for the fish you already have?

Very few plecos (I believe only those of the generas Hypostomus, Glyptoperichthys, Liposarchus) can survive brackish water and a Jack Demspey will definitely not like these conditions.

What kind of puffers do you have?

Good Luck

[puffer8899]

they are the spotted river puffers Tetraodon Nigroviridis

[puffer8899]

im moving the two plecos to the 90 gal angel tank al just sell a couple pairs of angels but im still thinking of what to do with jack

[Pufferpunk]

I'm glad you've decided to keep the puffers. 48gal is a good size fir 2 adults.

[puffer8899]

im going to convert my 55 gal to brakish for the puffers but i still don't know what to do with jack dempsey

[howlincody]

I'm sure you could probably find a fish store that would take him off your hands for you.

BTW, I see you live in Beaver County, PA. I live in Allegheny County. I know of a few places locally that may take your Jack Dempsey.

[puffer8899]

can a yellow spined eal go with puffers

[Pufferpunk]

Puffers are best kept in species only tanks, or at least with fast moving fish. Eels tend to hang around a lot, making them easy targets for biting. Anyway, they're not BW fish.

[puffer8899]

ok im going to move the two plecos two my 90 community tank and get a 30 gal to put jack in temparairy of course because i can't get a 75 for him till november and i am also going to set up a 75 just for my spotted puffer pair ( i think its a pair because the way they act) but that wont be ready till november but till then they will be in the 55 brakish communty and also i think ive been real lucky because i fond out that you don't nomaly get a group of puffers to get along but i have four 2 to3 inch spotted puffs in a 20l together and they do just fine without any fighting at all they are all very docile also i tryed feeder guppies and all that happened is they became like snails (well weeds because my puffers ate all the snails that took two years to grow in two days) i it took me a month to find and catch all of the feeder guppys to feed to my jack plus i even had them trained to eat out of my hand in just a week