some new-to-brackish questions

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oldpunk78

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Nov 12, 2008
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so here's the plan.

i have a 50g (36x15x20) low-tech planted tank. (t5no lighting, 3 stage wet/dry set up at 10X hr)

i want to convert it to brackish.

i'm going to be attempting a planted brackish tank. i think i've got what plants to use figured out, mainly low-light stuff. keeping with the low-tech theme, i'm going to be using mineralized topsoil capped with aragonite. that should work, right?

i also need a little help with stocking. i was thinking figure 8 puffers and bumblebee gobies. will the puffers leave them alone? just 2 puffers? what about knight gobies with the others mentioned? how about some other stocking suggestions?

there doesn't seem to be a whole of info out there on planted planted brackish tanks so i'm hoping some of you guys might have some insight.

i found these two pages, but that's about it.

BracPlants

Planting Brackish Aquaria - Tropical Fish Forums
 

SalmonAfrica

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Aug 28, 2009
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Tim
I'm not by any means an expert on plants, but I do know something about brackish.

From my experience, I've found that if you're doing a planted brackish tank, you'll want to do as low a salinity as possible. The plants just seem to do better that way. In your setup, try to keep the SG below 1.005. An SG of roughly 1.003 will be fine, because in this way you can keep both plants and a good variety of low-end brackish fish too.

With regards to the puffers, I'd prefer it if you chose to go with either the puffers or the other fish. Puffers tend to cause problems when kept with other fish, and sometimes also cause problems among themselves too. However, in a 50g, a pair would look great among the vegetation, and I'm sure they'd appreciate the environment.

Otherwise, I'd suggest going for a goby tank with the gobies that you've already mentioned. They won't hassle your plants, and with the extra cover provided by the plants, you can have several breeding pairs of bumblebee gobies in your tank. The knight gobies will add something extra to look at for the middle to upper portion of the tank.

Regards
 

oldpunk78

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Nov 12, 2008
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^ thanks guys.

just thought i would update this thread. here's a picture of the tank currently:



so far the sg is at 0.002 (i've been raising really slowly) 0.004/5 is my goal. so far the plants are doing alright. the vals kinda did a melt on me but are bouncing back. the java fern is doing well.
 

Urijah

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May 13, 2010
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Beautiful tank pic! I have a 55 with 3 green spotted puffers, 2 knight gobys, 1 bumble bee goby, and 2 archers. I expected to have a lot of problems with agression and have to split them up but I have been surprised to see nothing of the sort. I have not kept fig 8's so I don't know how agressive they are. From what I have read they would be the right choice for the salinity you are shooting for. I hope it works out, take pics!
 

purplecandle

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Aug 17, 2010
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Be prepared to split them up, because three GSPs is too small for a 55 gallon...and eventually 2 for a 55 gallon is not adequate

Plus the GSPs will need to be in high brackish to marine
 

carpenter547

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Aug 11, 2010
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now that would be telling
for what it's worth if you are going to do a 1.003 tank then don't let it get above 1.005 since that is where the fresh water bacteria die off at and you need to cycle again to get your brackish bacteria *as i understand*
my opinion fwiw shoot for 1.005 as your low and that way if you need to raise salinity *ich mabey or others* then your Benificial Bacteria are already set up to handle and can take it with out worrying about an amonia spike while they are stressed and sick.

http://www.aquariumplants.com/Brackish_Water_Plants_s/22.htm might help out some.
 
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