UPdated 50 gallon brackish tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
fishtex;4801352; said:
Dont worry too much about their range- mine have hit me from accross my living room. They should be fine if the food is within 2 feet maybe more.
Click to expand...

Yeeeeah... I"m confused as to what you're talking about. Them shooting the food? If so I"m trying to figure out how to hand something over the tank to let them shoot it. I won't hold live insects... dead ones... yes... not live.... though I will hold live worms. Got over that when feeding my ADF's live blood worms. *shivers*
 
I've included this cause for one, it's done well or at least that's what it looks like to me.. and second I didn't know what you guys were talking about when you mentioned that the archer fish would shoot there food down.. so here ya go!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZT2hs4P88E



I coudn't figure out how to embed, sorry guys..
 
I can't see the thing you put and Archerfish shoot for food. That's how they get food in the wild. They shoot it out of the branches above or they jump for it.

Ah yes I've seen that! Ha ha many hours of research.
 
When I bought my 125, they had archers in it. They will shoot at the slice of tilapia above the water level held with a pair of aquarium tongs. (Grey plastic things, use it to feed the toadfish and eel.)

Have you thought about having 2 or 3 violet gobies? I love those guys, and if I had chosen to do brackish, would probably just have a tank full of those guys.

I know that archer fish are slow growers, but they do get big, and will be too big for a 50 gallon. Just a thought.

I love that you are talking it all out before hand, I wish I would have had that same luxury. I got my brackish fish because I wanted their big tank for my goldfish, and the owners guilted me into keeping some of their fish.
 
I don't want to do all gobies... and in fact Violet Gobies are the only ones available in my area. The Archers are the only other brackish fish besides like mollies and fiddler crabs in my area.
 
Why can't you have more than one goby, and just maybe one or two archer fish? I know I'm messing with your wishes, but I'm just curious as to why you have chosen the ones you have. You don't have to rationalize it for me if you don't want, I'm just trying to understand :)

Also, I know mollys aren't "monster fish" but they can make for a really nice display tank, especially with the dragon gobies. That's the line-up I had 10 years ago, when I first ventured into aqua-culture.
 
I thought that with the Violet gobies it was groups of 3-4 or singly. The reason for not having more than one is that they get 20 inches and the tank is only 48 across meaning that they would be at odds over territory soon or later.

I don't wanna do mollies because I bred and raised them for 3 years before I quit for five years. (Of course I had my dad's help back then) But I don't wanna do mollies anymore or any live bearers for that matter.

So you're saying I could still have 2 archers? If so then that's what I'll do. It's not my intention to crowd them. I just want to have something in the top or middle since my gobie is more likely to be hiding than to be out. But do you think I could do two dragons and two archers? If not maybe one dragon and 2 archers?
 
I can't really say what I would do, because I don't buy fish that will ultimately outgrow the tank I have for them. This would rule out archers for me completely (my brackish tank is only a 55 gallon.)

So, I would imagine that you plan on keeping them until they outgrow your tank, and selling them/giving them away. If that's the case, then you can still have two archers and two gobies. I thought gobies were a peaceful fish with their own kind, but I've only ever kept one, so I can't speak as to whether that's the truth or not. I'm sure I could just do a quick google search and find out, lol. Have you already got the tank? Perhaps if you haven't you can get a 75 gallon instead? (I hope you can pardon my ]V[onster sense of things. I just realize how limited a 55 or smaller can be when talking about these monster fish!)
 
Yes I've already got the tank and 55 is as big as I can go. Nothing any larger will fit where I have this tank. I'm thinking about doing my one Goby One archer and several smaller brackish species Maybe even mollies... I don't know. What other Brackish species are there... I've only ever really heard of Mollies Gobies, Scats, archers, fiddler crabs, mudskippers, and there was one other that I can't remember right now. It will ultimately depend on how much they cost me to order. Some of them I have to pre-pay for when ordering from my LFS since they're hard to sell.

Gobies are peaceful species but are territorial. Violet gobies "fight" over territories by lining up side by side and banging into each other. Since they're soft bodied and have no real teeth to use though they don't often end in any injury. Perhaps I will get another. I just want one Archer at least because they're awesome fish. We need dwarf archers!!! Someone tell the dwarf fish people to get on that.
 
I have a "freshwater" moray eel, but they eat other things in the tank, so I'm sure you'd have to wait until the goby is larger, and buy a small moray. I like mine, but he's not super personable or friendly. Just really neat to watch them eat a piece of food that looks way too big.

There's also the "freshwater" toadfish. Both these fish were being kept with archers before I bought the tank. As long as the toadfish were small, and the goby were large, then they could be kept together, I'd imagine.

If you can keep a higher Specific Gravity (like 1.018) then you could also get a dwarf lionfish, which are cooler than archers IMO, and are also Mid-Top swimmers.
 
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