30g Brackish Water Tank.... couple of questions

Nasser · May 1, 2006

I'm starting another 30g tank, but this time i am going to give brackish water a shot. The water (with water conditioners) has been running for a week and i added marine salt directly to the tank today (monday). I know you should not add salt directly if you have fishes living in the tank, since i have none i thought this would not be a problem (correct me if i am wrong).

1. I am wondering how much time should i wait before introducing the first fish, since i added salt directly to the water.

2. I intend to put some Green Spotted Puffers (GSP) in it, but i read on an article that GSP are not ideal specimens to cycle a tank. Is this true? If it is, what type of fish do you recommend me? GSP will be the main attraction, any recommendation should be either compatible with or eatable by the GSP's.

3. I was also wondering on any possible tankmates. Any suggestions? Please include ratios and if's

Any help will be appreciated

CrypticSins · May 2, 2006

the spotted green puffers can be in fresh water and slat and mixed... I have seen it with my own eyes and was rather suprised at first. But I am not sure on the transition process. I am sure that just throwing them in there isn't a wise idea, from fresh to salt..

Hakon · May 3, 2006

I have read that you shall never add salt directly to the tank. But I've never had problem with that..

Jesse · May 3, 2006

The period of time is really irrelevant since most salt mixes dissolve quickly. The key question is whether your tank is cycled. Are you using a fishless cycle, i.e., with pure ammonia or other means:

http://www.algone.com/fishless_cycling.htm#pureammonia

Also, you should find out the specific gravity (SG) at which the LFS keeps its GSPs. If the SG difference between your tank and the LFS' tank is more than say 0.005, then you'll need to slowly acclimate the new fish.

In a 30 gallon, your brackish choices will be rather limited because most of the classic brackish species, e.g., scats, monos, Arius cats, Dormitator maculatus (jade sleeper goby), silver dats, etc., get too large for a 30 gallon, and the smaller species, e.g., bumblebee gobies, mollies, will likely become food for your puffers. You might try archers (Toxotes sp.) or targetfish (Terapon jarbua), as they max out around 6 inches and are tough enough to withstand the GSPs. Orange chromides, Etroplus maculatus, would also be a good potential tankmate, as they max out around 3 inches but are tough enough to hang w/ puffers.