Stocking a 75 Gallon Brackish Setup

[EB Red Devil]

I was thinking about switching my 75 gallon freshwater community tank over to a brackish setup, and have a few questions before I officially decide to do so.

I am interested in getting a few puffers as the "main attraction" in the tank (so they would have to be at least semi-friendly to each other). Along with the puffers, I would like to have mollies and bumblebee gobies to round out the group (maybe another species or so as well, but I haven't really done much looking other than the two I listed). Mollies are fairly decent sized compared to the puffers and have a bit of an attitude, so when they're hassled by the puffers, they'll fight back. I wouldn't get long-finned ones though because of the inevitable fin nipping that would occur. I picked the gobies to go with the puffers because they're small and quick. They could easily outrun a puffer and hide away from 'em in a small crack or cave.

First, I'm trying to decide between two different species of puffers. The figure eight (Tetraodon biocellatus) and the spotted (Tetraodon nigrifilis). They get to be about the same size, but I've heard that the figure eights are a little more docile. However, I've also heard that spotted's are less aggressive towards tank mates if kept in small groups. Which species do you recommend? How many?

Next, I'm wondering how many mollies and gobies I could keep in the tank with the puffers. There will definately be adequate hiding places and shelter, so that isn't really an issue should someone have a bad day and get a bit of a mean streak.

Thanks for your help in advance! Hope to hear from you all soon...

- Eric

 

[MonoSebaelover]

Welcome to Aquaria Central! I have had several brackish tanks in my day and currently have 2 (a 29 and 55). The 29 houses 3 Figure 8 Puffers and the 55 houses 4 Anablep Anablep, 2 Archers, 1 Mudskipper, Several Mollies, Bumble bee Goby, and am waiting for 4 Mono Sebaes. I would say you could easily have 4-6 puffers in a 75g. I have never trusted puffers with gobies of any sort since gobies are so docile. I once had two figure 8's in a 55 I had set up a little over a year ago that attacked 2 Anableps and 2 Knight Gobies. They killed the Anableps and severly damaged the Knights. They might have just had a bad day, but no longer trust them with any kind of slow not-very-active fish. I also have a Red Eye Lortei puffer that has killed all tankmates including an African Cichlid. The Red eyes are freshwater. Anyway back to your questions. I would go with Figs over Spots. I know other people on this board will probably disagree, but I think the Figs have so much more personality than the Spots. Plus I really like how no fig 8 puffer has a perfect 8, there are several deviations to the pattern. I would say you could probably do like 10 Mollies and 5-7 Gobies if you wanted to go that route. I'm sure others will have some different opinions, but this is what I have had experience with and have heard reports that it works. Hope this helps.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Note; as you add salt to make your tank to make it brackish, the tank may recycle itself again. Mine did, but I keep it at a pretty high specific gravity (SG). I have never had F8s (would like to if I had more room), but I really love my 5" GSPs. They live with a 3" Ceylon & 6 BB gobys in harmony in a 50gal. I've read that mature F8s are the most beautiful of all BW puffers.

 

[EB Red Devil]

I am also interested in making this into a planted setup, as I think a majority of the family would like that better than what I have right now. Here is a design that I would like to use (no, I can't take credit for the artistic abilities - they're not mine):

The wood on the left would run from the surface of the water down to the substrate. It would create a series of darkened hiding places in the back left corner of the aquarium. In the back right corner would be Vallisneria gigantea, allowed to grow to the water line and sweep across the surface a bit. Java moss is what would be in front of the wood and in the back center. Cryptocoryne wendtii is the broad-leafed plant that would be placed in the "focal point" of the aquarium (in the back towards the left side). Java fern would be attached to small, horizontal pieces of wood, growing in front of the V. gigantea from the back to the front right corner. As far as a substrate goes, I was thinking about 1-1.5" of Flourite (for the plants) on the bottom, topped off w/ the existing gravel that I have in the aquarium already. Maybe some kind of fine sand over the top of that to give it a more natural brackish look...

As far as I know, all of these plants tolerate a brackish system fairly well. If you see anything that won't work, let me know and I'll try to mess with things a bit.

As far as the fish go, I definately want 6 figure eights in there. I'd also like to have as many bumblebee gobies as possible (6-8 maybe?). Also, for more variety in the aquarium, I'd like to add a few mollies. 10 was recommended above, but I think that with ~6 puffers and ~7 gobies, that would be too many. How many should I have to keep a school (or shoal?) of them to make 'em happy? 5 or more? Thanks...

Any other suggestions would be appreciated. This will be my first attempts at both brackish and planted, so I want it to be very successful. I'm sure you all understand.