New Brackish Aquarium

[xxReidxx]

Well i am new to the aquarium world but have already done a little reasearch on fish. From this i have concluded that i want to get a puffer fish. My first thoughts were getting a fahaka puffer but i do not want to spend a huge amount on a 120 gallon tank. I am looking at either a 55 gallon tank that i found at miejers or a 46 gallon bowfront at petsmart. The petsmart one looks of higher quality, but the meijer one has more gallons for the same price. The 55 is a SeaClear with basic filters and lights included. I am thinking about going brackish, mainly because the brackish puffers look cooler than the freshwater puffers and saltwater puffers (because i can only get one between 3-10 inches).

Anyway, i am looking at the ceylon puffer, or the figure eight puffer. I figured that i could put 1 ceylon in with a few (3-5) bumble bee gobys (as i saw on the bulletin topic starting a brackish aquarium) or i could get 2 or 3 figure eights and 3-5 bumble bee gobies. Would these work out well together? Or would they fight?

Now for the upkeep and cycling. How often would i have to do a water cycle, and what percentage of the water would i need to cycle each time. I am going to use the biospira stuff that everyone says works great. I am planing on getting sand for the bottom. What would i need to have all of the tests to come in at. Like the PH Ammonia and all that other stuff. After that should i have to take care of filters and all of that. I understand that i would need around 10gph for every gallon. What other filters should i get? like a biowheel or something like that? I want to know everything i need to get to have to set this thing up. I am thinking about using a 10 gallon i have as a snail breeding tank, and i understand what type of food they need. I think i have covered all the grounds as to the questions i wanted to ask and thanks in advance for all your help.

Oh yeah and does that tank have to be airtight?

[Myaj]

Well, first lets say hi, and welcome to the forum!

Lets see, where to start... First, a ceylon will need to go to a higher level of brackish (or all the way to full marine) than the BBG's will like, so they really aren't a good mix. The BBG's and Figure 8's would be nice though, and Figure 8's are easier to find (usually) than Ceylons. Ceylons (or GSP's for that matter) will get to 2-3 times the size of a Figure 8 though, so part of it is how big of a fish you want and what salinity you want to deal with.

As far as cycling the tank, you should only have to do it once, and there's a great article in our library that explains it. Then, as long as you don't make fast changes in salinity (no more than .002 each week), or otherwise crash the biofilter, the tank will stay cycled (as in the bacteria biofilter). Now, we recommend doing 50% water changes each week to get out dirty water and bring new, clean water in, if that's what you mean by "doing a water cycle". Puffers are just really sensitive and need clean water, and that seems to be a good number to aim for. But basically, you want to keep your nitrates under 20, 10 would be even better, and zero would be perfect.

For filtration, yes, you will want 10x your gallons.. So for a 55 gallon tank you'd want a filter or combo of filters that gives you around 550gph. I would avoid biowheel filters if you'll be doing a brackish tank, as they tend to spit water and salt spray all over. Makes a mess and can damage your walls or the tank stand, etc. Most of us use AquaClear hang on back filters, or cannister filters, or a combo of both. Or if you go with a Ceylon or GSP that will eventually need marine, you would want to eventually switch to live rock and a skimmer. Most of the filters that come with tanks are not even near large enough, but it gives you something to start with and having multiple filters on a tank is always good (if one fails, one might keep running).

For tests, you'll need ammonia, nitrite and nitrate definately. The others are nice to have but not really necessary.

Browse around the library here and read some posts, you'll find a ton of info. And ask away, people are always willing to help!

[Myaj]

Oh as far as airtight.. you do want to cover up any gaps in the cover because puffers can be sneaky and jump to their deaths. So its best to trim your lid cover to fit as well as possible. It also helps slow down evaporation a bit.

[spoot]

Welcome!

As for which puffer you should get, take a look at the brackish section in pufferpedia, so that you know what sort of care requirements each fish needs.

When you cycle a tank, you are essentially growing bacteria that takes on the biological filtration in the tank. The bacteria will mostly be on surfaces and filter media. Not much will be in the water itself. The various bacteria will transform ammonia to nitrite to nitrate (decreasing toxicity to fish). However, you will need to remove nitrates by doing water changes. When you do water changes, you will not need to "cycle" the new water because the bacteria is already living in your tank. 50% water change per week is recommended, or as many as it takes to keep your nitrates low (less than 10ppm). Definitely get bio-spira, if you have access to it, to start the cycle. Fish will need to be added with the bio-spira so that the living bacteria from the bio-spira will have a food source (ie. ammonia from fish waste).

For a brackish tank, the substrate of choice would either be aragonite sand or crushed coral.

For water specifications:
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: <20ppm
pH ~ 7.0-8.3 (most important is that it is stable and not changing much)


For filtration, over filtration is good, so get at least one size bigger than what is recommended for your tank. AquaClear is a popular brand. Bio-wheels will work too, but with brackish tanks, you will get a lot of salt spray.

[spoot]

myaj, you beat me too it. I wrote half the post and went to eat dinner anyways, for the airtight thing, try to cover it as best you can so that there are no holes big enough for the fish to fit through. But don't go and cling wrap the top because fish need to breath to, so the water will need to stay oxygenated.

[xxReidxx]

Thanks for all the tips guys!

Anyway i have a few more questions. Do i have to treat the water with those declorinators before i put in the biospira and the salt? and what is a good brand of salt to use because ive read some post and have heard that some salts are not good quality. Also, could i keep a ceylon in a 46 or a 55 gallon with other fish and if so what type would you recomend. I kinda want to have one big puffer because i think it would be cooler, but F8's look pretty cool too.

[Pufferpunk]

You should dechlor the water with Prime, before adding the Bio-spira & fish. You might want to see if you can even find a Ceylon in your area. They're not a common fish.

[Boxermom]

Always declor any water before adding it to the tank. I think most of us use Instant Ocean salt, but regardless of what brand you get, make sure its marine salt and not aquarium salt, which is useless for brackish tanks.

[Myaj]

Yes, dechlor before you add the water to the tank (or biospira to the tank).

A ceylon could probably fill up a 46 gallon tank quite easily by itself once its full grown, and very well might eat any tankmates. I probably wouldn't try it, myself.

And yes, they can be hard to find. They do show up ocassionally, but its not too often.

[xxReidxx]

Would two GSP's and some bumble bees work or would the GSP's be two hostile?

[Fella]

Would two GSP's and some bumble bees work or would the GSP's be two hostile?

GSPS and BBG's aren't a combination that would work. The GSP's would need a salinity far higher than the BBG's would tolerate.

[xxReidxx]

Alright well then i will probably go with the figure eights. but just a question. Would it take as much matenince for a freshwater puffer tank as a brackish? (excluding putting in the salt) And are there any sucker fish or cleaning fish that wont get to big and can live in brackish?

And im also thinking about instead of getting the bumblebees to get a prehistoric dragon goby cause i saw one on LiveAquaria.com Would this work in a 55 gallon tank or would it be too cramped with a figure eight (or two) and it.

[Myaj]

I don't think it would be too cramped, but the Figure 8's might pick on it. There's an article about dragon gobies in our library, you might want to read it and see if you really want one.

In my opinion, brackish tanks are no more work than freshwater, except for premixing the water for water changes. Otherwise, everything is about the same.

There are some brackish plecos out there, but I am honestly not sure if they are algae eating types. You could consider mollies or something like that, but sometimes they harass the puffers (steal food, since they eat faster, etc). But really, you'll have to do maintence and algae cleaning yourself, nothing ever really keeps a tank spotless, unfortunately.

[xxReidxx]

Alright thanks again for the tips. At this point i am just looking for a puffer between 3-10 inches because the Figure eights are a little small. Would two Gsp's work with the dragon goby? or would one work?

[spoot]

For 2 GSPs I'd suggest a tank footprint of at least 3 feet. Not sure which standard tank is that size.