Brackish Tanks Basics

[puffcraziekari]

Hi,

I wondered if anyone could give me a quick run down of how a brackish tank differs from a tropical freshwater tank please? Any extra equipment/ chemicals needed, the type of salt & how large a stock of salt I will need to keep?

We have become a house obsessed with puffers For weeks we researched the little dwarf puffers, got a nice 90ltr tank sorted & cycled & eventually picked up the little guys yesterday, to say we are smitten is a HUGE understatement.

So now we would like to research doing something a little larger on the pufferscale! We have looked at the figure8 puffers (brackish) & the South America puffers (freshwater) it seems the south american ones are very difficult to come by at the moment, so we are looking more at the figure 8, this means having my first go at a brackish tank & I am really nervous.

I'm picking up a 3ft tank tomorrow, approx 160ltrs I think, may be a bit more as I havent had a chance to measure it yet, if going for brackish, do I cycle it as normal (using mature media to speed things up a bit)then add the salt afterwards, or do I add salt at the beginning of the cycle?

Is sand better for this type of tank than gravel? What type of plants can I keep in brackish water? I'm happy for it to be a species tank, so I want things to be just right for them. How many could I keep in a tank this size? I was thinking 4 or 5?

Any advise much appreciated!

[LilGreenPuffer]

I can't answer all of your questions, but here's some!

I don't know how to convert from liters to gallons, but the rule is 15g for the first, and 10 for each additional.

Equipment: you'll need a hydrometer (one that starts at 0, not 1) or a refractometer (more accurate, but more expensive). Protein skimmers don't work in brackish water, so don't get one.

Type of salt: marine salt (NOT aquarium salt, no matter what the fish store tries to tell you!).

Start the cycle with fresh water, since your media will be coming from fresh water. Increase salinity by .002 per week as you cycle, and no faster. Bigger or more frequent changes can hurt your nitrifying bacteria, defeating the purpose of cycling.

I don't think it matters whether you use gravel or sand.

Also, if you intend to plant this new setup, keep in mind that very few plants do well in brackish water. Someone else will be able to tell you what will survive, or you could search the forums for previous posts on this - I know there have been some in the past.

[lilacamy931]

hello for conversions for tanks this following site has helped me immensely, especially US and UK gallons:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/calculator.php

will convert temp, gallons, estimate substrate needed, if you have the dimensions of the tank it can tell you how many litres! Its great to check the size of your tank!

copy and pasting on answer to plants in brackish:

Can't help with live rock questions but here's a list of plants that have done well for me at SG1.005:
Cryptocorne Wendtii.
Apongenton Crispus.
Bacopa Monieri.
Java Fern.
Java Moss.
Vallis.

My brackish tank I intend to set up will be plastic as would be too nervous with live ones (and as getting GSP not good for later) but for F8s should be good with live!

It was recommended to me to go with sand to help buffer the PH of the water BUT this may not be reasonable for a low brackish tank and it may be down to preference, someone else will confirm this for definate for you.

As to how many your 160 litre tank is...42 (say 40 US gallon) tank, going by the rule of 15g for first and 10g for extra that would be..3 optimum though someone else may say possibly 4.

I do know it is recommended to be heavily planted and to break the line of sight as much as possible with plenty of hidey holes to help lower potential of your new babies fighting or picking on each other.

I am new to the world of puffers myself, so please get confirmation by others but have passed on a lot of advice that was given to me when first researching F8s. Congrats on your new tank to F8 pufferdom, would love to see piccies when get the new babes.

[Myaj]

A low brackish setup for Figure 8 puffers is really not that much harder than freshwater.

You do need to figure out how much salt you'll need to keep your salinity stable, which is tricky at first but once you figure it out its easy

You do not want to have any airstones, bubble wands or biowheels.. one of the bad parts about salt in the water is any bubbles or splashing will leave a coating of salt on everything.. .your tank, the stand, the wall, anything nearby... and it can corrode and damage.

Otherwise, its not really that much different. Live plants can be a little more tricky, but if you stay in the 1.004 salinity range there's several you can still choose from (I've kept anubias, crypts, onion plant all going just fine in a tank that was at 1.004). They didn't grow as fast as they did in freshwater (well, the onion plant did), but they survived and didn't look unhealthy either.

And there's always fake plants too

[Pufferpunk]

Actually, hydrometers start at 1.000, which is FW.

[LilGreenPuffer]

Ooops. My bad!

[Pufferpunk]

Sokay, I still love ya!

[LilGreenPuffer]

Awww. I love you, too.