Brackish water aquarium

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I know this is off-topic for ponding, but I just set up a brackish water aquarium. My other aquarium (55 gal) is tropical. I've had salt water before, but that's really a mess. I do know far more about fish now, though, so I probably would do better, but the salt water is harder to keep clean in my opinion.
Anyhow, I got 2 green spotted puffers, an archer fish, and another fish I forgot the name of already. I'll take pics tomorrow, the light timer already went off for the night.
I'm wondering if anyone else has an aquarium of brackish (half salt water, half regular water, the first are what survive in between where the rivers empty into the oceans) fish, and if so, what they have had and liked and what types are unique and easy to care for.
Patti
 

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I've had a few brackish water tanks, and they are quite interesting. Datnoids are cool, But they have big appatites and can get a bit aggressive. Scats are cool when young but get pretty large and the larger they get the more jumpy they become. Archers aren't easy to keep, they NEED live food and without it will rarely survive, BEWARE they jump! I had one jump out almost every other time I fed it. I got so good at catching him I could catch him before he hit the floor! LOL Mudskippers need a place to get out of the water but to me they are one of the best brackish fish to keep once they adapt to captive life. Sailfin mollies are also cool fill in fish. babies don't stand much of a chance with most of the rest of the species that are available but the males do put on a show. Most hermits carbs do well in that kind of tank as well if you want something a little different. Oh yea, and if you can find four eyes, (anableps) They are really cool as well, get about 6-8" long but the mom has live babies and they will group up so a large aquarium is needed if your going to try and raise babies. Puffers I rarely got to live very long. i could get them eating and they would do good for a few weeks or months then they would always waste away. Something I was missing and never figured out what.
 
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Thanks for the info, Larkin. I saw 2 scats in the tank, but the lady that works there is VERY informative, never wants a person to buy what won't work in their tank. She told me they get dinner plate size, so I said no thanks. The archer has not eaten yet, you're right! The other fish (can't remember the name but did get a pic of it, will post soon as camera battery charges and I can post pic of the tank as well) and the puffers devoured the frozen brine shrimp. What type of live food did you give the archer? I don't want it to die, if I can help it.
I wondered about the puffers, too. I'll be looking up the other species you named and see if I can ask them about them. They would order whatever I want, as long as I take them the day they come in. I loved the scats, but don't like "large" and even though the others can also get large, in a 29 high tank, probably will take a while, I would guess. Never knew the sailfin mollies could go brackish! They have them, but in regular fresh water. Could I change them over to brackish slowly, or is there a certain type that handles the brackish better. And, the idea of live babies would be cool. Would have to get more plastic plants to give them a fighting chance, though.
Hmm ... when I looked up datnoid, it looks like the archer fish I have, so maybe they are in the same grouping? The anableps look kind of like an arowana fish. :)
 
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Here's my set up. Needs some tweaking with the rocks. Added some pea gravel for more natural look, over the multicolored rock. LOL Need more plastic plants, too.
Brachish water setup.JPG
Archer fish
Archer fish.JPG
Puffer - very difficult to get clear pic, this was the best I could do, they are always on the move, and this was taken in "sport" mode ...
Puffer.JPG
Not sure what the name of this fish is. I think it was something like "mono" something or other, but can't remember. Hopefully someone will help me out!
Brackish water fish.JPGNot sure name of this fish.JPG
 

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Oh I forgot about Mono's, (Monodactylus argenteus)They get a little large too but they don'y usually grow very fast. bad news is they don't keep that pretty juv. color either. But they are neat fish and I enjoyed keeping them. They do need more salt in the watr as they grow larger as they are actually full salt water once they become adults. Sailfin mollies can adapt straight over to brackish from freshwater or salt. . When introducing them from direct salt or from full fresh water take some extra time acculimating them but a hour or so will be fine. All mollies are brackish. Sailfins just put on the better show. :) i fed my archers anything i could catch, moth's, crickets, small meal worms most any insect that will move will work. . trick is, the food needs to be on a stick or something that the fish can watch and see the insect move. Tricky HUH? lol I siliconed a bird perch inside my tank. i sanded one side down so that there was a flat spot to set the insect on and then closed the lid. If your standing there it's watching you and will rarely eat. back away and the moving insect becomes what it watches. once they start eating it gets easier but that first few weeks is the hard part. Keep in mind, They don't hardly ever eat from in the tank. Naturally they spit the water at the insect and catch the food in one motion. Now if they are hungry enough I have seen them take small guppies and mollies that are at the surface of the tank.
 
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Oh, wow, then I need a live bug, and if it's moving around on the surface he MAY eat it, but maybe not, huh? Darn! That's going to be a tough one. That lady should have told me that! I'll have to drill her on the Archer fish. In the meantime, better get outside and try to catch some bugs! Found a small caterpillar but fed it to Bully. He said, "Thanks!" Also found a Japanese beetle, but tossed him into the pond for whoever got there first ... koi won. :) At night, the moths are on my patio door, so I'll have to catch some then. They should make a lot of movement on the surface for him to see, I would think. And, if he doesn't eat things on the surface, he may be SOL ... ie, returned and traded for a different variety.
 
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have had mollies, gobies and a catfish before..have tinkered with salt water, discus and cichlids but now just tinker with a simple freshwater tank

Patti, also try stunning the insect which may help

Andre
 
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I'm excited! I have been looking for bugs, nothing is moving outside. Frogs are probably hungry as well. Just dragon and damsel flies, and they are too pretty to catch for the Archer. But, I tried some freeze dried krill that I had, and at first he looked but moved away. I stood back, like you guys said, he here he came. He ended up eating at least 5 pieces of it while I watched, so I'm thinking he will do ok. I will, however, do my best to catch him some bugs, too.
Funny, but I found a tick on my little dog. Flicked it into the pond, saw it floating, and quickly went and grabbed it back before a koi spotted it. But, when I put it in the aquarium, it promptly sank and one of the puffers ate it. :)
 
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Awesome CE I have done fresh water fish for 20 years. Stopped about a year ago to further my Salt water reefing tank and skills. Been doing Reef tank for almost 5 years now. I want to go back to Fresh water. If you are doing brackish water brine shrimp is a very good food they will like. Either frozen or hatch your own. Also try blood worms. I loved puffers to! Though they were harder to care for. There is some very pretty looking fish you can get. If you want babies then the live bearing fish like Mollies are awesome for that. Mollies can be saltwater or brackish or fresh what ever you want them to be. Raised them for years. Even had them in my reef tank also. Good luck witht he fish. So far looks good!
 
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I had salt water in this 29H aquarium, and it was just not large enough, or maybe because I have a fish fettish ... see something and I want it! Got too many probably, and at that time, I really didn't have a good person to ask, like I do not. The pet store locally is chock full of knowledge and they offer it willingly. Their motto is if they sell you a fish that is out of your league (i.e., it's a hard fish to keep and you are a beginner, etc.) it will die and you will not be happy as a customer. They do a good job of matching the fish with the clients. They had some really pretty fish in one of the tanks, almost did fresh water to get those fish (sorry, can't remember the name right now ...), but they were in quarantine because one of the types in that tank came up with ich, so the whole tank got treated. So, because of that, I went for the brackish. I think I will turn off all the lights in the living room tonight, and let any tiny bugs that get into the house go toward the light over the new fish! Maybe the Archer will snag his own live food tonight. Will have to change the timer to stay on into the night, though.
And, ICSD, I tried frozen brine shrimp last night, and the Archer came close but never took any. BUT, I was right there at the tank watching, so maybe he was shy. I'll try again this evening.
 
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Good news! I got the Archer fish to not only eat the freeze dried krill, but he now will take the small discs I have (both "meat" and "veges" type), flake food, plankton, and the few bugs I've located for him. He even will swim down to grab a piece of food, so he's well on his way to survival as far as I can tell. The others are hogs, eat everything in sight, and the archer has had to learn to jump in and get his share, although I toss extra pieces on his "side" of the bubbler, so that helps, too. All is well! Thanks for all your help. I appreciate it.
 

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That's great CE, if you can get that far your well on the right track. Once you have them feeding ther aren't that hard to keep except the jumping out. Be sure and keep those lids shut when not needed to be open.
 
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Yep, learned that when the lady caught the archer. She had her hand over the net BEFORE she lifted it from the tank. I said, "Jumper, huh?" She said something to the effect as that was an understatement. She warned me from the get go. Said in the wild they spit water at their prey and then jumped out of the water to retrieve it. Lid is on all the time. They are really neat to watch. I need to get a new back for that aquarium, now that I know what is going to be in it for a while. Kind of funny, fresh water next to brackish, but kind of neat, too.
 

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