Brackish water

[GatorRock]

So after learning about my dragon gobies a little better thanks to Mzungu, I now need to start to convert my freshwater tank over to brackish water-

I have currently in this tank:

1 Black-skirt tetra
1 cory (can't remember what type)
2 flying foxes
2 dragon gobies

What will be able to handle the brackish water (besides obviously the gobies)?
What other fish might you recommend?

and most importantly-
What is the easiest way to convert this tank and how long should I plan to take doing this?

[alexarae]

Re: Brackish water

Bumblebee Gobies are great brackish fish. Brighy yellow and black....*sighs*...my favorite fish in the world. (:
Other great brackish fish include Green Scat, Mano Argentus, mollies, indian glassfish, pipefish (most) and archerfish. I'm sure there are a few more...but I kept most of those (at different points) and they did GREAT in brackish water. (:

Kind Regards.

[Ellen]

Re: Brackish water

Don't the Scats and Archerfish get BIG? How big of a tank do you have Gator? The tetras and cory will not be able to handle a brackish tank. I don't know anything about flying foxes. Also, you might find even more info if you search under a different name "Violet Goby". I wish they would pick one common name and stick with it, but how many more people would buy a Dragon Fish vs. a Purple fish?  :wink:  

Ellen

[rrocket2002]

Re: Brackish water

I have a that is about larger than the size of my palm and a Mono about the same in a freshwater tank.  

I don't think you can safely move one from a "brackish" tank to a "Freshwater" tank without killing it.  It has to be a slow transition.

Raul

[Mzungu]

Re: Brackish water

Yup, there are quite a lot of nicknames for them, as Ellen pointed out.

I'm so glad you're doing this!! Your 2 gobies will love you for it! And they'll get really big, too!

I'm in a very similar process right now with 4 gobies I bought from Fish Ranch. I'm not sure what the best way to do this is, but what I'm doing is just converting it over slowly (especially since I'm still not 100% sure what these guys are, but pretty sure they'll like the brackish water). Every other day I'm doing a little water change (at most 10%) and replacing it with brackish water at about a 1.01 salinity. I'm not being meticulous about this because I'm doing it pretty slowly, mostly because I'm waiting to free up a tank that should be empty after this weekend.

I'd advise you to do something similar...add some brackish water over the course of a few weeks until the salinity in the tank reaches the appropriate level. I think, but don't quote me on this, that a lot of the info about dragon gobies says 1.008-1.01 or thereabouts, so pretty much middle of the road between salt and fresh.

Don't think there's really much else to do, except wait.    The tank will cycle again, but my reasoning is that by doing it slowly and doing small water changes every other day the fish will not be too adversely affected by the cycle.

Luckily, there's a ton of information out there about dragon gobies! I personally love these guys - never had them, but took care of them when I worked at an LFS and fell in love.

As far as other fish go, like Ellen said, Monos and Scats get fairly large, as do your gobies, so that's something to consider. Alexarae mentioned mollies and glassfish, which both stay pretty small and are great candidates.

If anyone has a better, tried-and-true method for converting a tank to brackish, please tell us! And GatorRock, keep us updated! I'm excited for you!

[Mzungu]

Re: Brackish water

Raul - you posted while I was typing, but it's good to know that you also think it should be done slowly.  :)

[GatorRock]

Re: Brackish water

Sorta figured it has to be a slow process-

What's a good salinity tester?

Sadly I work in biochemistry and I'm just used to making what I need and having "great" equipment around (okay expensive, but breaks all the time equipment) so doing this at home will be easy and hard- I'll have no probs with the chemistry it's just testing it!  I personally can't spend $2000 for a pH meter and other chemical testers for persoanl use for some odd reason! :)

As for the Scats- I know about their size- I had bought one 2 years ago before I knew they had to become brackish to full saltwater- mine grew to about 6 inches in diameter before I trade him in at Fishland.  So no more scats! :)

As for my tank size- only a 20 gallon- and I'm not too worried about how big the Gobies will get...

I'm most likely moving a major distance by the end of the year... Most likely to the UK when I graduate- so this is all for my sanity to keep me distracted during these last few months of my PhD.

That being said- advise me well as you may be the person who takes these fish off my hands in about 6-8 months! :)

[Mzungu]

Re: Brackish water

Just a hydrometer will do. I also would love to be able to afford even something as *cheap* as a refractometer, but oh well, hydrometer it is. I bought 2 in one day - one for about $15 and one for about $8. Bought the more expensive one first, and was having problems with precision (probably air bubbles, but I was getting VERY frustrated) so went out to another store and got a cheaper one, which works just fine.  

[Mzungu]

Re: Brackish water

Oh, one more thing. Make sure to get marine/sea salt, not the freshwater aquarium salt.  :)

[GatorRock]

Re: Brackish water

Thanks for the salt info- saturday will be busy

[Brownsnoutuk]

Re: Brackish water

I'm most likely moving a major distance by the end of the year... Most likely to the UK when I graduate-

Why would you want to move to the UK?

It costs a lot more money to ship the fish to the UK, than to just buy them when you get there.

[GatorRock]

Re: Brackish water

Why would you want to move to the UK?

Why not?  Always wanted to live in Europe for a short while...  Also find it funny from the person with the Wales coat of arms in their avatar... (specifically Bala & Cynwyd)

It costs a lot more money to ship the fish to the UK, than to just buy them when you get there.

I do hope this is a joke... or maybe didn't you finish reading the last line about passing on my fish in 6-8 months when I move... (be that from selling or giving them away)

[Brownsnoutuk]

Re: Brackish water

I must have missed the last line...

My avatar is the Welsh Flag, Of Wales, Uk.

Welsh americans Settled and used the dragon in Pensylvannia(sp?) But the Dragon dates back a long time in Wales.