Water Quality-How to do this?

Naja

Naja

AC Members
Apr 26, 2005
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www.acrochordus.com
Hi,

I need some help, info, guidance, not quite sure what..........

I have never kept a salt water tank, but I have kept Fresh water for many years.

I am not currently looking to keep saltwater fish, etc, but I need to understand how to keep the water quality up on my latest venture.

I keep Acrochordus Snakes which are 100% aquatic:
Arafura Filesnakes

The Little Filesnake Acrochordus granulatus is a Marine/Estuary creature that is exceedingly difficult to successfully keep in captivity.
Pic of Little Filesnake

Basically, I need to know how to keep the water quality high in a 10 gal. aquarium with only 6" of 60-70% sea/salt water.....??? I have Instant Ocean, which is what I would use unless there is some reason not to........

I am not looking to spend a fortune on live sand, rock, inverts, etc. Can this be done or is it asking the impossible?

Any thoughts or insight would be Greatly Appreciated!
 
Very cool animal!

I would plan on going with at least a 20. The smaller tanks are hard to keep stable, and with the higher temp, you're going to compound the evaporation concern. An even better option would be a 40. You'll want a good cover for either setup, to help reduce evaporation. A sump would be a great investment, since it would allow you to keep the equipment out of the main tank while also increasing your water volume.

Either way--I'd go with 10-ish pounds of base rock, cycle well, have 1-2 powerheads for water movement. With light feeding, should be easy to keep the setup clean--a few hermit crabs, if they won't be eaten, and some snails to help clean up stray food and waste. Brackish version exist--tracking them down might be a bit of a hassle. I know nerite snails do well in brackish water.

The Instant Ocean will be fine--you'll also want to plan on having quality FW available for topoff. The brackish setups are
 
Hi OrionGirl,

With some Reptiles too much space adds stress. "Stress" is the #1 killer of these creatures through reduced immune system which allows a White Spot Fungus to develop, weaken the animal further and secondary infections usually finish them off. There is no known cure for the fungus.

My last attempt at A. granulatus was in a 40 gal. Long (36x18x13H), divided in half, Freshwater with only 4" of water above the gravel. Shallow water is mandatory. They have been kept successfully long-term in Fresh water, But 100% Fresh or Salt adds its own "Stresses".

A sump would be nice, but everything adds up, cost-wise, very quickly.

How about a 10 gal. sump with all of the other "Life-Forms" in it, and only the snake and necessary accessories in the main 10 gal.? If so, how would I siphon the water out of the Main 10 gal. into the sump?

TIA
 
Ah--good point. For getting water circulated, I would use a small powerhead with a U tube (or, a line of air tubing, anything that will carry water from one to the other will work) that's gravity fed. So, you have the powerhead push water out of the sump, through a tube into the snakes tank, and then just a line of tube that has both ends submerged, one side with the snake and one side with the sump. As the powerhead moves water into the snake's tank, the water will move through the tube out of the snake's tank and into the sump--pretty simple, low maintenance, and stable. You can adjust the water flow through the powerhead--bigger powerhead = more water movement.
 
Isn't that brackish water? I dont know the percent conentration but you can head over to that forum to check it out, there are alot of neat brackish water fish.
 
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