want to do a brackish community tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Dragon cqzzzzz<;2072234; said:
OK since it's your first brackish tank, maybe I should explain specific gravity (just in case you don't know what that is yet). Brackish conditions can only be simulated by using artificial sea salt such as Instant Ocean. Mixing salt into the water increases the specific gravity (SG). The SG is measured with a hydrometer or refractometer. Be careful though, salt buildup in hydrometers can give you inaccurate readings. For example, mine reads about 0.002 more than it should, and if I didn't know that, the results could be (and arguably have been) serious damage to the health of my fish. I think it may have been a lower salinity, caused by the inaccuracy, that induced the spawning of my bumblebee gobies. Unfortunately the fry all died though.

As for how many bumblebees you can have, I honestly don't know. Five live comfortably in my 55 gallon, but I'm sure I could have more.
It may also depend on how many little caves and things there are for the gobies to call their own. If you're interested in breeding them, I suggest something small that you can remove while keeping it submerged.

When you bring up middle-dwellers, the livebearers again come to mind, but I understand completely that you don't want them. They can be unsightly and over time can add too much to the bioload as they proliferate.
I just remembered that glassfish can live in low-end brackish water. You may want to consider a small school of them. When I had them, they kinda picked on smaller fish, but it might not be a problem.
Oh, and if you go with glassfish, get the unpainted, natural ones. The coloring fades away anyway.

If you do decide that you want plants, I think java fern would look great on the driftwood. It's seriously low-maintenance. No CO2 or fertilizer needed, and they do great in low to medium lighting. Since I started leaving the second light on my 55 gallon off, my ferns have been growing like crazy.




the new tank i got was previously a salt water tank so i have a lot of saltwater equiptment and luckily i have a refractomemeter like you menitioned. i have 2 56watt 12k bulbs and 2 56watt actinic is that enough for java fern? and for filteration i have a fluval 404 and ac110
 
Flounders & dragons will compete on the bottom for food. You want bottom, mid-dwellers & top fish.

Java fern is a low-light plant, so you don't have to invest much in lighting. If you are interested in BW plants, I have a list for you.
 
Perhaps that's a bit too much. I mean, imagine your tank several years from now. Picture three violet gobies, anywhere from 15" to 2' in length. They don't like each other. The only reason you would get three is so the dominant individual does not do any serious damage to another. Also resting upon the bottom are some six inch long flounders. I don't know how they behave so I can't say much about them, but they do add to the bioload.
As I said before, knights and desert gobies may (or may not) pose a threat to the BBG's. Gobies will often eat whatever they can swallow, and for an adult knight that may include bumblebee gobies.

My main objection is the three violet gobies. That's something Pufferpunk and I seem to disagree on. I personally wouldn't try that in my new 210 gallon with a 2ftx6ft footprint. Pufferpunk might.
If it were just one violet, everything else would be fine except maybe the knights/desert gobies with the BBs.
 
:thumbsup: thanks for the link
i just looked up monos and for ome reason i thought they get pretty big but it says tank specimens rarely reach 6 inches, so do i have ebough room for a couple of those and how would they get along with the small gobies?
 
They are schooling fish.
 
Pufferpunk;2072281; said:
They are schooling fish.

so like piranhas 3 or more? and is 80 gal sufficient?
sorry for all the questions but i want to make sure i get everything right
 
Monos might require a higher SG than the gobies and flounders.
Since they are schooling fish, like Pufferpunk said, they may prefer groups too large to house in your tank.
 
A school consists of 6 or more.
 
Dragon cqzzzzz<;2072291; said:
Monos might require a higher SG than the gobies and flounders.
Since they are schooling fish, like Pufferpunk said, they may prefer groups too large to house in your tank.


understood. what about killifish?
 
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