Setting up a Brackish 20 Gallon?

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NewZealandFish

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Sep 2, 2010
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Well this would be my first brackish tank, I have NO idea of how to do this.. My questions are:
1. What are some good starter brackish fish that I can keep in this tank?
2. What are some good decorations/plants too keep in a brackish tank?
3. What kind of substrate should I use?
4. Can I keep plants in my brackish tank?
5. Will I need to keep adding salt after I first add it?
6. Is there anything I need to know about setting up a brackish tank?

Thanks!!
 

NewZealandFish

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Can someone please answer my questions?
 

carpenter547

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Aug 11, 2010
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now that would be telling
ok

Can someone please answer my questions?
we first off calmate cabron :)

secondly you would be suprised what is brackish fish :).

mollies, platties, guppies, endlers are all self sustaining stocking choices for your tank. *personally i have silver lyretail mollies 1 male 2 females*

ghost shrimps are also brackish compatable and will breed in said tank
*i got two slutty ones preggo at the moment who just had their last brood eaten by filter*

as far as what is brackish

"brackish water is in between salt ocean water and fresh water generally starting at 1.005 and stopping at 1.020ish (salt water level)"

you accomplish the above by useing ocean water or instand ocean *yup dehydrated water* only salt water for marine use.

brackish is not just a teaspoon or so of table salt or epsom salt or kosher salt or cooking sea salt or aquarium salt or tonic salt.
brackish is actually salted water not just extra hard water.

you will need either a refractometer or a hydrometer that starts at 1.000 and goes up to sea strenght *my first one started at sea water that sucked*

you will need to do every thing you do for a fresh water tank *cycle clean stock right feed top off water lever and regular water changes*

when you do your weekly or biweekly water changes you need to remove the old water and and in new brackish water premixed to your tanks S.G. level *sg is the number that your saltyness is at on your hydrometer*

when you are topping off from evaporation you use fresh water since salt doesn't evaporate but water does. so adding salty water to top off from evaporation will just add that much more salt and some times that is not good.

if you use gravel make sure it is safe for marine and fresh water.
infact every thing you use should be billed as being safe for fresh or sea water.

if you use sand then that is fine. follow regular guidelines for sand.

unless your tank is high end brackish above 1.012 sg you don't need or won't find a protein skimmer as useful or so THEY say.

if your tank is new try to find some used filter gunk from another brack tank to start your cycle if you have an existing fresh tank then you can slowly raise your SG by 0.002 each week till you are at desired level.

any fish you buy in fresh water will need to be acclimated to your salt level before you drop them in. drip method works well. *i prefer to do it over the course of 2 weeks qt but that is just me* 8 -12 hours is i believe a good time for drip acclimation. some people just dump with no problems.

oh yeah plants
java moss
java fern
anubius
bannana plant
water onion
watersprite
micro sword
varnsinilla
moss balls

are all reported to work in brack tanks mostly at less than 1.010
at 1.010 supposedly
java fern
java moss
mangrove trees *these are real trees though*

at above 1.010
mangroves
algae
if you have deep mature sand:
sea grasses
most sea grasses i have read about require very mature sand and at least 6 inches depth of it.
 

carpenter547

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now that would be telling

NewZealandFish

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Thanks for the ideas guys :)
 

ExPeNsIvE HoBbY

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I have a 135 gallon brackish tank with large predatory fish I.E: Silver arowana, Red belly pacu, Redtail catfish, peacock bass, etc. All or most of which people say cannot live in brackish waters, but realistically most live in the Orinoco river basin on the amazon river which does have brackish waters. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is, you can put almost any fish in brackish as long as you acclimate them slowly and make sure you do not use AQUARIUM SALT, or ROCK SALT, or TABLE SALT. I use instant ocean synthetic sea mix, which is of high quality vs others because it has a low salt impurity factor, which means it has only has 5.35 grams of water per 35grams of salt mix. Also sea mix has all of the trace minerals and elements needed for proper chemistry. Man I'm rambling on haha. If you have any specific questions let me know. I have 10+ years of experience with everything from common goldfish, exotic amazon species, breeding cichlids, and even fish surgery. Just ask and I will try my best to answer from personal experience :)
 

NewZealandFish

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Wow, you sound like an expert! haha. well then, i do have some questions on my mind.. And they are:
ICH, I had an ICH breakout 2 weeks ago and my fish just started flashing again. So I does with Wunder's White Spot Cure and Formalin twice this week and have done water changes every other day. Is there anything else I should do? One of my loaches is being really lethargic and lying down and the other 2 loaches, 3 kribensis and my 6 corys are flashing aswell.. I really dont want to lose any fish, so what should I do? Thanks.
 

ExPeNsIvE HoBbY

Formerly ExPeNsIvE AdDiCtIoN on MFK
Sep 9, 2010
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Honestly the commercial ICH treatments out there are really hard on scaleless fish, like eels, catfish, etc. I recommend turning the temp up as high as your fish will tolerate, and do it over a period of about 24hrs. Next step is remove any decoration that you don't want permanently stained blue (may also stain clear silicone seams.) remove any chemical filtration you have I.E: activated carbon, etc. Now half dose malachite green hydrochloride (1 drop per gallon for half of your systems volume) so if you have a 20 gallon tank, add 10 drops for a period of 3-7 days give or take (ICH's lifecycle is accelerated at higher temperatures.) Your next step is to do water changes daily, about 20% should do just fine but the key is to use your gravel vac and siphon the water from the bottom only(ICH has a 3 stage lifecycle and the tomite, which is the only stage in which ICH treatments are effective, and bottom cleaning will remove them from the tank before or shortly after the cyst wall breaks, and this is the point they attach to the fish.) treating the tank for a number of days ensures that you treat the disease at the correct time of the lifecycle. Most aquarists stop treatment when they see no more spots on the fish. This is actually when you need the treatment the most as this is the time that the ICH is at it's most susceptible to treatment. Formalin is great for most FW fish species, but as I said earlier, scaleless fish do not cope well with these treatments. That is most likely why your loaches are lethargic. They are literally becoming poisoned.
 

ExPeNsIvE HoBbY

Formerly ExPeNsIvE AdDiCtIoN on MFK
Sep 9, 2010
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And sorry but that's a per day dose. So if its a 20 gallon that's 10 drops per 24hrs and repeat everyday for 3-7 days.
 
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