My new 75 gallon brackish Q's

Been lurking on this site and many others for a long time now, learning as much as possible but I still have some unanswered questions and would like some ideas and opinions. I don't have a home computer so this is all off my phone and can't figure out how to post pictures but I have a 75 gallon with a marineland 350 hob filter stuffed with 2 API nitra-zorb packs and I plan to add a second since I will b stocking with messy eaters. My heater is an "unbreakable" set at 80 degrees, my SG has been around 1.007-1.010 using instant ocean sea salt fluctuating with water changes. My ph is roughly 7.4-7.8, ammonia hasn't broke .25ppm, my nitrites jumped during cycling but are down to 0-.10ppm, and my nitrates haven't topped 40ppm and are currently at about 5ppm all read with an API freshwater kit. My light is a beamswork 6500k 96led. Lid is a glass 2 piece with no fancy hood. been treating with API stress zyme and declorinating all added water

My intentions for stocking the tank is 2-3 g. Tiles, a dragon goby, 2-3 archers, possibly 1-2 figure 8 or GSP, and maybe a flounder. Are their any brack compatible knife fish? If a pleco is recommended, what species should I look for? Also considering trumpet snails to churn the sand for me but I don't want them eradicated by the puffer but overpopulation would b equally bad. Maybe assassin snails? Just trying to find a way to balance the snail population

I started out cycling with a dragon goby about 3 months ago and decided to grab a "freshwater" snowflake eel "gymnothorax tile", and some extra sand to hold down the new piece of driftwood I bought. Well I know the moray couldn't have eaten the goby, he's not in the filter, not on the floor around the tank, I don't have cats, and the lid stays closed but he managed to vanish while the tank was clouded from the fresh sand. Can they teleport? Haha there's seriously no sign of him anywhere and he was doing very well before he disappeared. Any ideas?

I'm trying to do live plants and so far I have a few java ferns, 2 different Anubis, and part of my buddies amazon sword. I've been treating with API leaf zone and my SG isn't that high but none of them look too good. Advice here?

My eel is doing great, didn't go on a hunger strike, was eating frozen mysis shrimp his second day here. Grabbed some krill a week later that he gets occasionally. What's some other food ideas you guys use? I did buy some ghoast shrimp thinking they would b too big for him to eat and they would help clean up his mess since the dragon goby is gone but he found them and they're no longer with us... Lol why is it that pet store feeders can b harmful to these guys? The eel and feeders were bought from the same pet store. He's doing really good, always greets me when I come home, and watches me when I have my hand in the tank. Very curious fish with a funny personality

Ideas on feeding the archers with a tank full to the top? I'd like something to feed them daily that's not live then maybe buy some crickets on Saturday's when I go to the pet stores. I was thinking a small rubber maid container with a branch glued in it for the crickets to sit on, turn it upside down and let the archers get some target practice

How do you guys trim puffer beaks or keep them trimmed naturally? Heavy snail diet with out killing off all the beneficial snails possible? Other food ideas?

I'm sure answers will lead to more questions but I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this extensive post and help me out

robert.mccook.elm said:

great questions! let me see if i can answer some for you. first of all dragon gobies and puffers are usually not compatible. the puffers tend to chew the fins off of the goby. as far as im aware there are no brackish water knife fish, and same goes for the pleco. trumpet snail are good at cleaning the sand but multiply fast. i would assume that he puffers would eat them but they may not because they mainly hide in the sand during the day. as far as i know assassin snails don't go brackish. your best bet for population control are puffers.

as for the goby. I currently have one and for the most part he hides out while the lights are on and mainly only comes out at night. there is a good chance that he has made some tunnels under the sand and is living in them. if he is alive he is probably coming out at night. so i would check your tank at night after the lights have been out for a little while. also mine would sometimes just disappear for days and then decided to come out. they are filter feeders so as long as there is stuff in your sand bed like left over food and algae im sure he is eating something.

as for plants i tried some different types of java ferns. my SG ranges from 1.008 - 1.012. both of mine started out ok and now are slowly dying. most plants can't survive in the brackish water but i have found some that can. here is a list. Caulerpa prolifera

Samolus valerandi


Cryptocoryne ciliata


Bacopa monnieri??


Zostera marina????

the ones with the question marks im not sure about. also red mangrove trees can live in brackish water too but keep in mind it is a tree.

ok so feeder fish are risky because you don't know how healthy they are when you feed them to your fish. personally i started breeding my own guppies for the purpose of feeding my fish a treat occasionally. also feeder fish are high in fat. so if you want to set up a little 10 or 20g tank and bread your own that would be a much better option. i just bought a clear 20g plastic tub that i use for the breeder tank. put some sand in there, filter, heater and i used poof balls, those shower loofah things, attached to pvc pipe as a place for the new fry to hide. i went from 30 guppies to about 100 in almost no time.

so i feed my archers dried krill, dried shrimp, and they recently started accepting shrimp pellets. i keep my tank filled to the top as well. but i built an extended canopy for the tank. if you want to see them shoot feed them when you do water changes.

i don't own any puffers but from what i have read if you feed them a regular diet of hard shelled food like snails or crabs then their beaks won't over grow. but i don't have any personal experience with that.

also a good clean up crew are fiddler crabs. i have 5, 2 male 3 female, and they do a great job. occasionally i will find one dead i think that butis butis ate one. if have puffers then no crab will be safe. but its an idea.
if your wondering i currently have an 80g with 4 archers, 1 dragon goby, 2 knight gobies, butis butis, and fiddler crabs with a few mollies.

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Thanks for the reply. I know the dragon goby's like to hide but there was nothing in the tank for him to burrow under and I haven't seen him in 3 weeks now. No trails around the edge of the tank or any new burrows. But say I get another one puffers are completely out of the question even though they sleep opposite hours and the goby hides? You said you had fiddlers with the tank to the top? How do they get on "land"? And I thought fiddlers would eat anything it could catch like a bottom dwelling dragon goby or moray? I like the idea of feeding archers during a water change ever considered stone fish by the way? Another fish I've been considering....

WinterAlloy said:

Robert is pretty much dead on. Your guppies aren't bad on fat and the higher salinity should eradicate freshwater ailments. The coldwater fish like comets are high in fat.
Freshwater plants that can handle some brackish trend to do poorly in water with SG>1.007. The saltwater plants that can take brackish tend to do better with SG>1.012.
About the stonefish... I have three toadfish. They are neat but they don't do much.

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Man, my SG is right in the middle ground for plants. Due to the fish I'm doing if I bumped it up to 1.012 what type of salt plants could I do? I know I need to research the other plants listed earlier. So you think a stone/toadfish would go good in my tank? Are they worth hunting down? Hell, dragon fish don't do much but I still like them and I've looked all around the floor for mine, no signs

That is a pretty cool setup man. Not quite as extensive as I had in mind but I like it. There's so many incompatible fish I see why poeple have multiple tanks. I need cheaper hobbies lol