Planning F8 Setup - Advice/Opinions

[shehick]

Good evening from Alaska, Puffer Forum! I joined this forum to get input on my 20 gallon F8 tank build.

Here is kinda what I am thinking -
20 Gallon Long Aquarium
Brackish-Tolerant plants (anarchris, java fern, hornwort, water sprite)
210 GPH Internal Filter (10.5gph)
Single F8 Puffer
Driftwood & Medium stones
Sand
Indian Almond Leaves (for tannins)

Here are some questions I have -

1) While I am not new to fish keeping, this will be my first brackish aquarium. I've never even done salt treatments on my FW tanks so this is all very new to me. How much salt per gallon (Instant Ocean) is reccomended for F8s?
2) Do IALs hurt to have in brackish water? I am looking for a very natural look and I really love tannins which is my entire reason for them. The DW I have is pretty bleached out (collected locally) so it doesn't leech much.
3) I live in rural Alaska and the tide drops probably 400ft or so, would I be able to collect sand, bring it home, bake it and use this for my aquarium? I really want a natural, brackish riverbed look and aragonite sand is so bright white and artificial looking.

Thank you in advance, I look forward to building this tank and showing you all along the way!

[Iliveinazoo]

Good evening from Alaska, Puffer Forum! I joined this forum to get input on my 20 gallon F8 tank build.

Here is kinda what I am thinking -
20 Gallon Long Aquarium
Brackish-Tolerant plants (anarchris, java fern, hornwort, water sprite)
210 GPH Internal Filter (10.5gph)
Single F8 Puffer
Driftwood & Medium stones
Sand
Indian Almond Leaves (for tannins)

Here are some questions I have -

1) While I am not new to fish keeping, this will be my first brackish aquarium. I've never even done salt treatments on my FW tanks so this is all very new to me. How much salt per gallon (Instant Ocean) is reccomended for F8s?
2) Do IALs hurt to have in brackish water? I am looking for a very natural look and I really love tannins which is my entire reason for them. The DW I have is pretty bleached out (collected locally) so it doesn't leech much.
3) I live in rural Alaska and the tide drops probably 400ft or so, would I be able to collect sand, bring it home, bake it and use this for my aquarium? I really want a natural, brackish riverbed look and aragonite sand is so bright white and artificial looking.

Thank you in advance, I look forward to building this tank and showing you all along the way!

Good choice of puffer by the way, I'll answer in the order of your questions:

1) You should really get a hydrometer or similar that read down to SG1.000. I add 2-3 tablespoons per 10 litres of water changed to get to around SG1.003@25DegC.
2) Almond leaves and driftwood will buffer the pH lower and will try to make the tank acidic. Without aragonite or other form of calcium carbonate to buffer the water back up then you will be creating the wrong sort of conditions for your puffer, the little marine salt that you are adding to the water will do very little to help. Unfortunately tannin stained water is not what your puffer wants.
3) Collecting sand is generally frowned upon and you could end up with nasties degrading your water quality or introducing disease. You could buy inert silica sand from an aquarium shop or play sand relatively cheaply but I would recommend having at least a bag of crushed coral in a filter compartment to aid buffering if you are planning to omit a calcium carbonate substrate.

Pics would be good!

[shehick]

Good choice of puffer by the way, I'll answer in the order of your questions:

1) You should really get a hydrometer or similar that read down to SG1.000. I add 2-3 tablespoons per 10 litres of water changed to get to around SG1.003@25DegC.
2) Almond leaves and driftwood will buffer the pH lower and will try to make the tank acidic. Without aragonite or other form of calcium carbonate to buffer the water back up then you will be creating the wrong sort of conditions for your puffer, the little marine salt that you are adding to the water will do very little to help. Unfortunately tannin stained water is not what your puffer wants.
3) Collecting sand is generally frowned upon and you could end up with nasties degrading your water quality or introducing disease. You could buy inert silica sand from an aquarium shop or play sand relatively cheaply but I would recommend having at least a bag of crushed coral in a filter compartment to aid buffering if you are planning to omit a calcium carbonate substrate.

Pics would be good!

I wanted to note that I'd also be interested in bumblebee gobies for this tank although I have not decided due to puffer aggression. I planned on cycling this tank brackish just because it will be easier for me. I will be purchasing a refractomete rather than a hydrometer because I'd rather pay the extra $10 and get something a little more accurate - unless all I really need is a hydrometer. I did some searching and I am not totally against this sand would this have the buffering capacity of the white argonite? Will the fact that it is a live sand hurt the aquarium at all? Also, just a final, unrelated at this point, question - If collected sand (from the beach) was baked, wouldn't it kill all of the disease and nasty stuff lurking in it? Just curious now.

[Pufferpunk]

I wouldn't waste your $$$ on "live" sand--nothing live about sand in a bag. Please do forget about adding tannins to the water, it will create the exact opposite environment for your BW puffer.

[shehick]

I wouldn't waste your $$$ on "live" sand--nothing live about sand in a bag. Please do forget about adding tannins to the water, it will create the exact opposite environment for your BW puffer.

I'll forgo the tannins then. The DW won't leech much, like I said but I'll forget the IAL. As far as live sand, it's the only color I've found that's still aragonite but looks more natural. I really, really don't want white sand.

[Iliveinazoo]

I wanted to note that I'd also be interested in bumblebee gobies for this tank although I have not decided due to puffer aggression. I planned on cycling this tank brackish just because it will be easier for me. I will be purchasing a refractomete rather than a hydrometer because I'd rather pay the extra $10 and get something a little more accurate - unless all I really need is a hydrometer. I did some searching and I am not totally against this sand would this have the buffering capacity of the white argonite? Will the fact that it is a live sand hurt the aquarium at all? Also, just a final, unrelated at this point, question - If collected sand (from the beach) was baked, wouldn't it kill all of the disease and nasty stuff lurking in it? Just curious now.

I agree with PP. Even if there was anything live in it the sand is created for marine aquaria so all of the beneficial bacteria that it would contain would die off because of the salinity difference and pollute the tank - could be an interesting alternative way to fishlessly cycle though. Ultimately the sand is aragonite and would therefore buffer the pH up.

If collected sand was baked then it probably would kill off anything within it but it is likely that they would decompose within the aquarium much like the beneficial bacteria in the live sand above. I wouldn't know how long to bake it or at what temperature though. If you were going to risk collecting from the wild then you may want to store in water until the readings settle down and I would also recommend turning the sand over during storage so that all of the sand has been in complete contact with the water column for a number of weeks.

[shehick]

I am looking at the caribsea fiji pink aragonite sand but can only find it as a live sand, are there any other aragonite sands that are naturally colored like this one?

[Iliveinazoo]

I am looking at the caribsea fiji pink aragonite sand but can only find it as a live sand, are there any other aragonite sands that are naturally colored like this one?

I use silica sand as a substrate with a little crushed coral in the filter but you could possibly use something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Ocean-Au ... re+s+Ocean

[shehick]

I'll be using an internal filter, will there be enough room in it for crushed coral? I have never used an internal but because of what I'm using as a hood on this tank, I need something with minimal overhang (HOB not an option) to prevent having to cut a ton of holes in the lid. Thanks for that link, I don't know why it wasn't coming up in my searches.

Would a F8 (and possibly bumblebee gobies) appreciate a powerhead?

[Iliveinazoo]

I use an external canister and have filled up 2 baskets and it doubles as biological media. If your internal has a place for dedicated biological media then you could use that section. I don't think you will be able to know if it is enough until you are running your tank, if the water stays around pH 8 then it's doing its job.

Your puffer might enjoy riding in the current of a powerhead but their body isn't really designed for high flows but as long as you have a largish area where he/she can take a break then you could include one. I suspect that BBG's would get along fine with or without a powerhead.