30 Long Brackish Tank

[John]

I have a very long 30 gallon tank that I would like to set up as a brackish water aquaterrarium (half land, half water... well in this case mostly water)

I want to know: due to the length of this tank, is it possible for me to house a few more fish than is normally recommended? I am looking at possibly -

1 archer fish
2 mudskippers
2 four-eyes
2 fiddler crabs

I know that archer fish are normally supposed to have a minimum of 55 gallons or something, but I am thinking that maybe, due to the abnormal length of this tank, it will feel more like 55 than 30 to them.

[flamingo]

I would personally skip everything except the mudskippers and fiddlers. There might be some aggression towards the two mentioned, but the four eyed and archerfish need a much bigger tank. Archers are said to get 10 inches, while i've never seen them that big i've seen some pretty dang close and they were cramped in the 75 fish tank/terrarium in a zoo. Four-eyed's also get pretty big, i've actually seen them at the supposed 9 inches plus said everywhere.

[fishboy]

yea, a mudskipper fiddler tank will look good and will work, drop archers and 4 eyes. I found a book at my local library with a section about how to set up a mudskipper fiddler tank once

[John]

Thanks guys.

[John]

Okay, so that was a while ago. I never went through with the tank because I didn't have enough time to spend on it.

But next summer, I'm going to set up a tank built into a bar in our new rec. room, and I was thinking I could try a brackish setup. Actually, I'm setting up two tanks, because our bar is going to be an L shape and both sides will feature a tank of their own. Like I said, I would like to have one of the tanks be a brackish aquaterrarium/paludarium/half land, half water setup.

It would be a 55, although it looks slightly taller than my other 55 and just as long, so maybe its a few more gallons.

I would set up the tank so that one side has at least 6-10 inches of water, and the other side has a sloping sand bank. Because I hate wasting space, the sand slope would probably be built on top of some artificial structures, maybe slate or clay pots or something else, in order to provide extra swimming room and possibly nests for the fish under the sand bank. I figure this could simulate the mudflat/mangrove swamp/estuary habitat very well, because It would be like air pockets beneath the mud and rocks and mangroves.

My question is, could I now house the following:

Flora:
Potted mangroves
Java moss
Java fern
Cryptocorne Bekketti
Hairgrass
Vallisneria
Anacharis
Duckweed
(I wouldn't actually have all of these plants in one tank, these are just ideas)

Fauna:
1 Archer
2-3 Mudskippers
2-4 Mollies
4-6 Four Eyes
3-4 Fiddler Crabs

Now hear me out... If this is impractical, then my minimal ideal would be 1 archer, 2 mudskippers, and a few four eyes. I say a few because they are schooling fish, so I'm not sure how many I should get. Most sites recommend six, so if it's possible I'd like to have an archer, some skippers, and six four eyes minimal, but if that's not practical let me know.

The mollies are an added touch, because I figured they would be fine until they get too big and/or the predatory fish get big enough to eat them. At that time I would remove the mollies and their offspring and place them in their own 10 gallon (or larger if necessary). I don't have to have the mollies, though.

So, would this work? Or is that too many fish? Also, would any of these fish eat the plants? Thanks!

[flamingo]

An archer is a stretch for your tank, but it can be done. But, skip the four eyeds. Need a larger tank than a 55.