HELP please I'm a total brakish newb, salinity question.

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
it depends what species of archer you have... some archers are totally fresh water, others live in as near as dammit full salt.

put a pic up and someone will be able to ID them for you. chances are you have the common archerfish Toxotes chatareus, as they are the most common species available to the hobby. they tend to like an SG of around 1.010 but can go either way.

smart move on getting seven. they like to be in shoals, so more than 6 individuals. they can get to 12" though, so you'll need a big tank eventually.

anyway. welcome to the 'Dark Art' of the hobby. :)
 
Well I'm designing a large tank, or paludarium thingie. whatever they are called that will give them room to grow, and it should be done by april. I'm pretty sure they are just plain old banded archers, I found out today that one apears to have contracted a fungus on its side so I have already started treatment for that. It seems that my tanks have decided to all have issues at one time :irked::wall::wall::wall:
 
lovely. a paludarium will let them show off their skills and live up to their name.

the fungus sucks though... its probably because they have been kept in FW in the LFS, and in your tank, through no fault of your own i should add. LFS's should tell you what the fish needs... and more importantly should keep the fish in those conditions in the first place :irked:

have you started to raise the salt yet, it will work with the meds help to get rid of the fungus. as long as you dont raise the SG of the tank by more than 0.002 perweek you will be fine. just mix up the right amount of SW for your tank.

if you do a 1/3 waterchange mix the next batch of SW water with an SG of 1.006

0.006/3=0.002

just do it weekly next week will be 1.012, then 1.018 ect

you probably already know but use marine salt, not aquarium salt. the latter lacks all the trace elements the fish need. i just used what was available, but i thought Instant Ocean worked the best for me.
 
Well the reason I have not started the salinity is their tank mate, A good delhezi Bichir juvie that i do not want to pickle, but once I beat ick in the growout tank i have for him he will be moved, and the salinity raised in this 55g.
 
delhezi's rule. i want a couple when i set up my new tank in the next few months. in fact, polypterus in general are rockin, and knifefish too. i want a clown knife but dont have the room for a 3ft wide tank:) so a black ghost knife will have to do. not that im complaining...

anyway back to the thread... id waittill the poly is outta there... but as soon as you can start to raise the salt...

also check this thread... it should help you ID your archers.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72594
 
I also had to beat around the bush for a while, but PufferPunk finally gave me this formula: 1 cup of salt/5g should yield a .005 increase in SG. I have been adding half a cup each week to my GSP tank (.0025 increase/week) & my BB are fine. I wouldn't try more than that, though.
 
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