Small Brackish Setup

[Chaos553]

I posted in general about doing a 75g FW setup, but I think I'm going to hold off on that for the time being since I'd rather wait until I graduate college and begin working full-time. New tanks cost money .

I had this idea ever since I jumped into the hobby, but I never had a supplier close by that could get bumblebee gobies on hand. Now that I do, I think I'm going to attempt this setup.

My 33g long is a Wisteria garden, along with a black beard algae fiesta. Luckily for me, most of algae is spread across the piece of wood I'm using, the filter tube, my rock decor, and my gravel, but not the plants. I'll end up moving the plants into my 38g since I have the room along with the fish that currently reside in that tank (3 Congo Tetras, 12 Harlequin Rasboras, 9 Serpae Tetras). I may bring the Serpaes in for store credit, but we'll see when the time comes.

Anyhow, I was going to perform a method of bleaching mentioned in another thread in general in order to irradiate any traces of black beard algae, as well as my MTS problem that kind of got out of hand. After performing the process, I'd like to use the following materials to set it up:

Tank:
33g Long

Substrate:
Some type of sand

Fish:
-10x Bumblebee Goby
-2x FW Flounder (I'll read more on this, I may just wind up with one instead)
-4 Mollies (1 Male, 3 Female)

Decor:
-Assorted stones, probably slate
-PVC pipes probably as well
-Sea shells

Plants:
-Anubias
-Java Fern
-Java Moss (maybe)

I'm no expert on brackish, like at all. This is going to be my first attempt at setting up a simple brackish setup, so if anyone wants to critique me, go right ahead. I was actually going to start full freshwater and add in the Mollies first since they're a pretty hardy fish and will help speed up the cycling of the tank as well. Eventually I'd add in the gobies and the flounder once I felt the cycling has completed and begin to add small salinity dosage. This all changes if the water the gobies or flounder have been in, were previously dosed, so I'll make a note of that when the fish are purchased. I wasn't going to go crazy with the salt either, I know BBGs can thrive in either or, but i wanted to just experiment with a small dosage before I did too much.

I'm not entirely sure what brands to go for in terms of salinity, so if anyone has a recommended brand I'd definitely appreciate it. Any criticism is welcome, as usual .

[jason4390]

I have a 75g long brackish tank. Its unplanted, so I couldn't help you there. As for increasing salinity... Get yourself a hydrometer, less than $10, and a couple big bags of some kind of Synthetic sea salt. Instant ocean is a popular brand, but I don't think it should matter. I'm no expert but I would be more than glad to help you with anything I know!

[Chaos553]

Originally Posted by jason4390 I have a 75g long brackish tank. Its unplanted, so I couldn't help you there. As for increasing salinity... Get yourself a hydrometer, less than $10, and a couple big bags of some kind of Synthetic sea salt. Instant ocean is a popular brand, but I don't think it should matter. I'm no expert but I would be more than glad to help you with anything I know!

I've read hardy plants like Anubias and Java Ferns can withstand slight salinity changes, so I'll experiment on it and be sure to let you know if you're interested . I'll take your word with Instant Ocean since I was probably going to go with that anyway (it's the only one I've heard about to be honest). What kind of fish do you have in your 75g?

Any other takers?

[jason4390]

Not many right now. I've got a Dragon Goby, One Bumblebee Goby, and a Freshwater Flounder. All are fairly young. I'm going this weekend to get 2 Columbian sharks and acclimate them from freshwater. I don't have a LFS that deals in brackish... or even in marine life! The Columbian sharks, or black finned sharks, or even white/silver tipped sharks get rather large. But within a year or so I will be upgrading to a rather large tank.

[Fishpunk]

I've had 10 bumblebee gobies in a 5-gallon brackish tank for well over a year. Save your big tank for something that needs the space. Bumblebee gobies don't move around much, so you'll hardly ever see them in a tank that size.

[Chaos553]

Originally Posted by Fishpunk I've had 10 bumblebee gobies in a 5-gallon brackish tank for well over a year. Save your big tank for something that needs the space. Bumblebee gobies don't move around much, so you'll hardly ever see them in a tank that size.

Well what would you recommend in a 33g long then? I'm aware that my choices are slim due to the size of most brackish species, but I figured BBGs would be a good start since I've never done brackish before.

[Fishpunk]

Desert gobies are probably 4x the size of bumblebees, and they're very active. The main problem is finding a source for them, plus they only live about 14 months, so you pretty much have to breed them.

To be honest, I would personally use the 33 for something else and get a small tank for the gobies. But that's me.

Otherwise, the obvious solution is to put mollies in there, but if your water is hard enough to keep them in fresh, why deal with the salt creep?

[Chaos553]

Originally Posted by Fishpunk Desert gobies are probably 4x the size of bumblebees, and they're very active. The main problem is finding a source for them, plus they only live about 14 months, so you pretty much have to breed them. To be honest, I would personally use the 33 for something else and get a small tank for the gobies. But that's me. Otherwise, the obvious solution is to put mollies in there, but if your water is hard enough to keep them in fresh, why deal with the salt creep?

I guess that's a good point. I've always wanted Monos, Scats, and Archers but I've never had the room for them. I'm figuring if I can get something like a 75g or larger, it would be a lot more efficient to house them all, not to mention they'll all be a lot happier. Maybe I'll set up a leftover 10g as a BBG setup, if anything I'll repost on here (hopefully not far enough away to consider this being an old thread :/).

Thanks for your input though, glad someone gave me a hand.

[hXcChic22]

If I had a 33, I'd make good use of that big footprint and get a whole 'nother tank full of loaches!

[Fishpunk]

I'd probably use it for lamprologus ocellatus or the like.

[grogan]

Hmmm 33 long carpeted with baby tears, cardinals, and simple rocks...would be one sexy tank. Of course you would need a CO2 system. Join us in the high tech planted tank club!

[Chaos553]

hXcChic22: I wish my frequents were stocked full of loaches, but sadly I'd be lucky to see a Horsefaced Loach one every blue moon . My 38g is stocked full of a shoal of Corydoras though, so I'm not too far off .

Fishpunk: To be completely honest, I've never seen "Shellies" in store. I'd LOVE to get a a few and just deck out a tank with sand and sea shells, I think that would look awesome. I thought about doing Rams as well, always wanted to do German Blues.

Grogan: Hahahaha, I would love to! I think I'd mess with Cardinals and Harlequin Rasboras instead of just one solo :P.

[giggitygiggity]

I like gobies, they are funny looking but so interesting to look at

[Chaos553]

Originally Posted by giggitygiggity I like gobies, they are funny looking but so interesting to look at

I used to love when my BBGs would have "arguments." Gobies are just cool fish in general .

[FRIENDLYFISHIES]

weird...i had no idea there was a specific way to make a tank brackish lol. With my guppies ive just been adding tablespoons of AQ salt ...no issues yet...now im puzzled lol.