Brackish Tank

[Bean]

Hello everybody, thanks for all of the informative information. I am interested in switching to a Brackish tank but need some questions asked. I currently have a 29 gallon Freshwater tank with 1 Papa Black Molly and 3 babies, 2 red swordtails, and 4 tetras. I am interested in getting pufferfish.

1) What steps do I need to take to make my current tank a brackish tank?

2) Will my other fish survive the change?

3) How frequent do I need to make water changes?

4) Is it difficult to do?

5) Where do I find brackish fish? I went to my LFS and they don't really care any. I live in Missouri, maybe thats why.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[theeyrietrainer]

first of all, what KIND of tetras do you have? i know that not all tetras do well in brakish environments although mollies will, not sure about the swords though...

if you are serious about getting puffers, then you'd be in trouble. puffers are NASTY fin nippers. its like they relish it and wont stop til they sees nothing! so if you are getting puffers in with your other fish, have fun, most of hem might die, so when people keep puffers, they do an all species tank...

not a lot of stores carry brackish fish. mostly big chains do, i have only seen brackish fish in lfs (they are LOCAL remember) a couple of times, so try something like petsmart or petco...and i dont know answers to the rest of your questions

 

[supahtim]

before i start, i have a suggestion. a 10 or 15g aquarium would be a nice size for a dwarf puffer (freshwater) or even a figure 8 puffer (brackish). is there any room for you to get another tank? if so, that would be your easiest solution.

brackish is fun, but painfully tedious. well at least it was for me...lol. you'll need aquarium salt and a hydrometer for the change. what kind of filters, substrate, heater, and lights do you have?

your tetras will most likely not survive the change. mollies have been known to survive in full saltwater tanks.

how ever often you do water changes now, you do them with brackish. the thing is, when you do a water change, you have to pour fresh brackish water back in.

it can be difficult, but it can also be easy. depends on how much you like working with aquariums. i have 2 saltwater tanks and a freshwater tank. i love it, so it's not that hard to take care of.

there are online retailers that you can purchase brackish fish from. www.liveaquaria.com is one of them. i've never bought anything from them though so i don't know what they're like.

now about them pufferfish. theeyrietrainer is right about the fin nipping. i've seen my LFS get them in one day, and the next almost all of their fins have been nipped from the other pufferes. your mollies will most likely not survive the onslaught. make sure you feed your puffer snails from time to time. they have beaks, and if their beaks grow too large, they'll have an extremely hard time eating and will probably starve. i've had 2 puffers die on me, and i couldn't take it anymore. if you do decide to get them, best of luck to you! hope i helped.

Tim

 

[Igor The Cat]

I would not put a full grown fig-8 puffer (5-6") in any thing less than a 25 gal. tank.

-Java