# Want to start a 55 gallon brackish water



## Richbinduga (Apr 4, 2013)

I do not know a lot about brackish water. im currently doing research now but i want to see what you guys think. what fish can/cannot be kept together? how much salt? what kind of filters? will live plants thrive?


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Richbinduga said:


> I do not know a lot about brackish water. im currently doing research now but i want to see what you guys think. what fish can/cannot be kept together? how much salt? what kind of filters? will live plants thrive?


Hello Rich...

Brackish water is simply water with a bit of salt in it as opposed to fresh water. Most, if not all, aquarium fish will benefit from a bit of standard aquarium salt in the water. You can also use Kosher or canning salt. 

I currently keep "Livebearers" and Corydoras and have used a teaspoon of standard aquarium salt in every 5 gallons of my replacement water for quite a few years. The fish seem to do better with it, than without. This is just my observation over the past 8 years or so. 

There's no special filtration required if you have brackish water. Plants will do fine in this much salt. My plants grow nicely. I keep Anacharis, Pennywort, some kinds of Anubias, Java fern, Cryptocoryne and Singapore moss.

The salt thing is a personal choice.

B


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Brackish water consists of the SG level being at 1.009, using a Marine Salt mix.
Normal FW filtration can be used with it, as well as using Live Rock too. Either or, its up to you.
Brackish Fish: Brackish Water Fish for Brackish Aquariums and Tanks


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

My favorite brackish fish is sebae mono.Some of the scats are good lookers to but a little "tougher"(dispostion) than other brackish fish.


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## Richbinduga (Apr 4, 2013)

Think I could keep archers, puffers, scars and monos together in one tank?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Compatability is the issue.All but the puffer I would say yes about! The puffer really depends on its disposition.Maybe there are certain "more peaceful" species.But in general they are a little tough,or to slow to escape other faster fish.The mono,scat and archer are all pretty fast fish(they should be fine together ) and fun to watch at feeding time,unfortunately not sure the puffer would fit in and do well in the long run.


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## Richbinduga (Apr 4, 2013)

DARN! hahaha I feel the puffer would be the perfect icing on the cake


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## Jaybird5 (Apr 27, 2013)

Maybe put some mollies in there? And I agree with coralbandit about the puffer, if I had that large of a tank it would be a community. Puffers really need a single species tank. I love puffers also, but if you had a 30g or something like that sitting around, then that could be your puffer tank. BTW I recommend this link- 
Starting a Brackish Aquarium, what you need and what you can keep.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Puffers do not need s species only tank. You just have to have fish that are semi aggressive and larger than the Puffer, or he'll eat them.
I had a Puffer, Lion, Eel, Grouper and a Trigger all in the same tank. Ya just gotta get the right fitting fish with them. Not tiny ones, he'll eat them.
I'd agree with CB's fish assesment, but I'd say you could keep the Puffer with the Scat, Mono and the Archer. For the most part, none of those will get in each others way. I've got a full grown Ruby Scat with my Tangs, he's not aggressive, big fish, but not aggressive.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Richbinduga said:


> I do not know a lot about brackish water. im currently doing research now but i want to see what you guys think. what fish can/cannot be kept together? how much salt? what kind of filters? will live plants thrive?


Hello Rich...

Brackish water is just fresh water with a trace of salt. Freshwater contains less than a drop of dissolved salt in every 12 gallons of water. More salt than this, and you have brackish water. 

If you keep "Livebearers" like Guppies, Mollies, Platys, Swordtails, those fish that give birth to live young, then more salt can be used. I dose a teaspoon of standard aquarium salt in every 5 gallons of my new water.

I use filters that hang on the back of the tank and they work well. Plants will be fine if you keep the salt dose under a tablespoon, that's three teaspoons. I don't think you need to use this much. A smaller amount will keep your fish healthy.

Using salt is a personal choice. I think it's worth using.

B


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Had one years ago. At that time I heard that brackish meant water that has 50% of the salinity of ocean water(not in any way saying that was correct, it
was just what I heard at that time) but think of this...Lake Pontchartrain La. my previous Northern Exposure..LOL...is 24 miles North to South and 28 miles
East to West...the largest brackish water lake in North America. It has 2 openings into the Gulf of Mexico which is where the ocean water gets access to
the lake via tides and about 5 freshwater streams/rivers on the Northern shore dumping freshwater into it. Bet you could get 10 different readings of
percent of salinity depending on where you took a sample from. So what I did at that time was to get a hygrometer and make the water at 50%...of
what 50% of ocean water should be...or 25% of normal ocean salinity. Worked out perfectly. No longer live in New Orleans but rather Hot Springs Ar due to
Katrina. So unable to assist in this but there are a couple of items there which you would be interested in. First a brackish water Goby about 1.25"
which has virtical bands around it that are a light and a dark brown. Then there is a brackish water crab that gets about(the shell) slightly less than 
a quarter. Looks almost exactly like a Fiddler Crab except for lack of the enlarged pincer...both small like the normal smaller one of that kind. If one of
our members is located there perhaps you might arrange something. Have no experience/w salt water so don't know if this is a good idea but
barnicles also live in Lake Pontchartrain. The fish I always wanted to have in my tank is actually a minnow but also lives in brackish water.
It has an irridescent spot on the gill flap, is small and is a bottom dweller. This is a link along/w a link to brackish water plants.
Brackish Water Plants
sheepshead minnow - Yahoo! Image Search Results


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Aquarium Set-up: Discover the Beauty of a Brackish Niche Aquarium


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