Violet Gobies, and Loricariid sys.   -08/27/08
Hi my name is Shawna and I have 2 violet gobies and 1 leopard Pleco that is roughly 4 to 5 inches long. I have the gobies in a 10 gallon brackish water tank.
<Too small... the Violet Gobies (Gobioides spp.) are territorial and very large. You can expect them to reach 30-50 cm/12-20 inches under aquarium conditions and depending on the species involved. They will fight over hiding places. The Leopard Plec (Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps) gets to about 30-45 cm/12-18 inches. It is a freshwater fish and cannot be kept in brackish water. The Violet Gobies will need SG 1.005-1.010, and that is far too saline for these catfish.>
Will my Pleco do good in the tank with them?
<None of these fish will do well in a 10 gallon tank, and you need something 5 times the size just for the two Gobies, let alone the catfish. They can't be combined either. Do see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i3/Dragon_Gobies/Dragon%20Gobies.htm
>
Thanks.
<Cheers, Neale>

Re: Violet Gobies  08/27/08
Thank you for your advice.
<Happy to help.>
I went out and bought the marine salt and marine sand. I am going to change out their tank today and need to know if there is anything special i need to do with the gobies or what i need to put them in while i am changing out their tank.
<I'd put all the fish in a bucket (with a lid or cover!) while doing major reconstructive surgery on any aquarium. Just the other day I neglected to do this, and managed to bury a Pufferfish under a pile of gravel! He was not terribly happy when rescued a couple of hours later after I wondered why he wasn't out and about.>
How long before i put them back in and do I need to use a stress coat after i put them back in or do i need to use it before i put them back in.
<Use Stress Coat if you want, but it doesn't make a huge difference re: Violet Gobies because they're adapted to living in changeable environments anyway. Begin by raising the salinity in the aquarium to SG 1.003 (that's about 6 g marine salt mix per litre of water) and when that's done put the Violet Gobies in. I'd do that by removing half the (freshwater) water from the bucket, and then refill the bucket using brackish water from the tank across 10-15 minutes. They'll adapt to this change in salinity with no problems. Lift the Gobies out with a net and pop them in their new home. Over the next few weeks or months, you can adjust the salinity upwards to an ideal of SG 1.005 to 1.010.>
Be happy to know my Pleco is in his own tank and is resting peacefully. Thanks, Shawna
<All sounds great. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Violet Gobies  08/28/08
Hi Neale,
<Shawna,>
Well the violet gobies are very happy and are moving around a lot more, but when i took them out of the tank to change it I found out that one of my gobies that would always hide in the cave and never come out was very fat, a lot fatter that the other goby (especially just below its head and only in that one spot about an inch long) I'm afraid its pregnant.
<No, they don't get pregnant. May be fat! Possibly containing eggs, but that won't cause problems. In fact if you have a pair, the male will guard the eggs as/when they're laid. As far as I'm aware, this species hasn't been spawned in captivity. So keep a good eye out for what happens!>
Do you have any pics of what a pregnant violet goby looks like?
<Nope, doesn't happen.>
I've never had a pregnant fish before so im in dire need of assistance in this area. Does she need special care, can she and the other goby be around the eggs when she lays them, or do i need to put her in a breeder and then take her out when she lays them, I have no clue what to do. Please help!
<Nothing need be done. Just make sure each fish has a cave of its own, because if she does lay eggs, the male will AGGRESSIVELY defend them on his own. Gobies generally spawn readily in aquaria, but the fry are very small and often difficult to rear because they have a marine phase of their life cycle so can't be reared in freshwater tanks. I have no information on Gobioides spp. though. If I could make a suggestion, there's a Yahoo Group called "goby group" that includes hobbyists, goby scientists, and fish collectors. Naomi Delventhal, who wrote the goby chapter in my Brackish-Water Fishes book, is a member. Get in touch with them and describe what's happening, ideally with photos, and they might be able to help. Naomi has bred lots of "difficult" gobies in captivity.>
Thanks, Shawna
<Have fun! Neale.>

Concerned about my puffer, Fig. 8 – 08/25/08
Ok I got my figure 8 about a year ago, and had no idea it was suppose to be in brackish conditions. I didn't do any research before I got him, until just now, because he is always sick. This time might be the last time, because I'm not sure he will make it. He was in a 55 gallon tank with a few other fish when my dad noticed he looked terrible. His very back fin is collapsed looking and discolored when my dad told me. He has had this problem before and it was ich, so I immediately started treating him for it. It had been about a week and he isn’t looking any better and isn’t really eating so it is getting me worried. A couple of days ago I found a smaller 5 gallon tank which I know is to small to house a puffer, but when I tested my parents water quality it was poor and I wanted to get him out of there and the other fish are doing fine. The 5 gallon tank is meant just as a temporary thing to get him back to health and until I get him his own larger tank.
<Does this tank have a sufficient filter?>
So 2 days ago I began setting up this new tank. I added the water to it conditioned it and let the water get to a sufficient temp, 79 degrees F. The nitrite level is 0 ppm, nitrate level is 10 ppm, ammonia level is .25 ppm, and the pH is 7.5.
<This new tank is not completely cycled yet, beneficial bacteria will need more time to develop. You need to do daily water changes to ensure ammonia and nitrites stay 0 all the time.>
I also decided it was best for him to be in brackish conditions like he was meant to be and added a tsp of aquarium salt.
<Aquarium salt does not make brackish water, you’ll need a marine salt mix… Please read these three pages: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/bracsystems.htm and http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Biocellatus/
and http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/puffers-in-focus/fig8/ .>
In the 5 gallon tank I also added a live plant and some snails so maybe he would become interested in eating. How long do you think it will take him to get better if he will get better?
<First the environment should be improved, then the possible finrot and/or Ich infection should heal up in a few weeks, if it is not too late to save this fish.>
Do you have any idea as to what treatment I should continue for his fin?
<Addition of a sufficient amount of marine salt should be treatment enough. If not, you’ll need an additional antibiotic finrot treatment like Maracyn.>
Any information you can offer me because I am kind of new at this and trying to say a sick fish would be great even the simple information.
<The links above should help.>
Also I would like to know how you trim their beaks because I don’t think he was receiving the proper diet with my parents. I thank you all for the information you have already posted but I need some help quick.
<Let’s first save this fish by reading the links above before thinking about teeth trimming. Buy marine salt mix, a hydrometer (or refractometer) and raise the specific gravity to 1.005 by no more than 0.002 per week. Do daily water changes to keep ammonia and nitrites at 0 ppm. Hopefully, the condition of the fish should improve in a few days. Snails should be sufficient to wear down the beak again, if he still can eat. If the teeth are really too long, have a look here: http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/hospital/dentistry/ >
Ashley {{ has a distressed and sick puffer}}

Green Spotted Puffer - color change 8/20/08
Hello.
<Hello!>
About 1 month ago I bought 2 'GSP' from Wal-Mart. We had purchased from Pet Smart a dwarf puffer 3 months earlier and were under the assumption they were a younger version of the GSP. So we treated the 2 new GSP like we were treating our dwarf (which has now passed on). What I mean by this is that we thought they were freshwater fish. So for a month now they have been in freshwater without a hint of salt. I was not aware they needed it until tonight as I reviewed your site. (and a lovely site it is)
<Thanks!>
So, naturally, I was brought to your site to try to figure out what is going on with one of the GSP. They both were aggressive enough to demolish a 2" catfish" and a 13" plecostomus. But that was last week. This week they are not eating and one looks like its turning black but not on the center of its belly. Around the puffers belly and its back. He seems to be bumping into things. I've attached a picture to show the coloring. He has been this way for about 4 days, gradually getting worse.
<Sounds like water parameters.>
I've checked the water levels in my 55 gal tank- ph 8.0, Alk low-normal, ammonia 0, nitrite 0-0.05. I was unable to check nitrate since I was out of testing supplies. I moved the tank about 25 miles into our new home about 3 days ago. This gave a huge water change. Are you able to give me an idea of what is happening to this fish and if it is harmful to the other fish (well, the fish in question too). Any recommendations will be appreciated.
<Since you have moved your tank the puffers are possibly suffering from stress. Puffers will change their colors depending on their moods, like a swimming moon ring. You water parameters are fine, but I do see a problem. As you mentioned these fish are brackish and require salt in their water. Juveniles (<2") should have a specific gravity of 1.005 - .008 while adults (<2-4") have a specific gravity of 1.010 - .015. Watch your puffers over a few days and if their color doesn't return, they are either suffering from not being in brackish water (which you will encounter if you do not eventually switch them) or the onset of disease. Here is a helpful link about brackish water tanks and GSP: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/gspsart.htm , http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i6/lonely_puffer/lonely_puffer.htm , http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/bracsystems.htm >
Thank you!
<You are welcome!>
Ryann
<Merritt A.>

Adapting Violet Goby to Saltwater/Marine tank, using WWM    8/18/08
Hello!
<Angela>
First, let me just express my appreciation and gratitude for your site and helpful articles, they have been VERY helpful! I am pretty new to fish keeping but I have become completely addicted!
<Ahhh! Welcome to "the club">
Started 5 months ago with a FW 20 g tank. Got it through its cycle with 3 molly's. Had all parameters to 0 (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH at 8.0). Once cycled I added 3 Day-Glo Danio's, 3 Cherry Barbs and 1 BN albino Pleco (my best buddy)
Lost 2 of the Day-Glo Danio's within a week, not sure why - just found one floating one day and never did find the other. Didn't seem like the other fish were big enough to eat him though. My Pleco was about 3.5 to 4.0 - could he have eaten him?
<Mmm, very likely ONLY after it was dead, but then ,yes>
About 1 month after getting the 20 gallon my Molly's had a ton of babies. At that point I decided to transfer all but 2 of the Molly's to a friends 55 gallon as he had more room.
About 1 month later, my BN Pleco died. I was heartbroken as he was my favorite. I actually cried most the night. I felt so bad as I was sure it was something I had done.
Still not sure what happened but I think it was an infection of some sort. He just came out in the open (which was very unusual for him) and had a red tinge under his skin. Before I could figure out what to do, the red tinge got worse and then he died about an hour later. Any ideas as to what happened?
<Mmm, likely environmental... the system being unstable, not completely cycled...>
I went out in search of a new buddy for the tank and fell in love with a Violet Goby.
<A brackish water species...>
The LFS didn't note anything other than what to feed him so of course I had no idea that he needed a BW tank until I did some reading up on him and found your site!
So about 1 month ago, I transferred all my guys into a larger 40 gallon tall tank and changed out the sharp black gravel to pea sized river rock for George (my Goby).
I am currently evaluating my options as I want to do everything possible for him (really don't want to go through losing a favorite again, that was so hard).
As I understand I have 3 options - please correct me and/or add any comments opinions etc - the more information the better!
1. Convert my FW to a BW tank. Not so sure I want to do this as I like my FW and I really love the look of a planted tank. Also, I am concerned my other tank guys may not do so well in a BW. Currently I have George the Goby, 3 adult platys, 7 baby platys, 2 adult Molly's, 1 Day-Glo Danio, 1 cardinal Tetra and 3 Cherry Barbs. Your thoughts?
<Need two tanks/systems... one brackish, one fresh>
2. I am in the process of setting up a 45 gallon Marine tank as well as a 20 gallon Marine Quarantine tank. I have heard that George can be adapted to a full Marine tank salinity of 1.020 - 1.022 or around there - is this true? If so, how do I go about adapting him to the Marine tank?
<Posted: http://wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/BrackishSubWebIndex.htm
See the articles, FAQs links re?>
3. Last option would be to find him a BW home somewhere but I would really rather not do that....
I would really like to adapt him to my 45 Marine tank. I was thinking I could somehow do this using my 20 gallon marine quarantine tank. Currently I am using live rock to cycle both tanks and have no fish in them. They both have DSB's of Fiji Live sand.
Can you please assist?
<You can just read all this (and more that you'll find useful, enjoyable): http://wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i3/Dragon_Gobies/Dragon%20Gobies.htm
and the linked files below>
Thanks in advance for any help, advice, comments etc you can provide!
Angie
<Do write us back with specific issues Angie. Bob Fenner>

Transitioning guppies and violet goby from fresh to brackish water   8/18/08
Dear People:
<Well, I'm a person anyway.>
I recently acquired a violet goby and didn't get accurate information from the store where I bought it.
<Not uncommon. A lovely fish; hardy and easy to keep, but does grow quite large (expect 40-50 cm) and will require at least slightly brackish water to do well.>
I have been properly chastised by your site for "impulse" buying fish without doing the proper research on them. Wanting to keep my goby alive and healthy, now I am setting up a brackish tank (35 gallon) for my goby and hoping to settle some fancy guppies that were bequeathed to me in the tank as well. Is this possible?
<Perfectly possible. I'd suggest a 35 gallon tank is slightly smaller than optimal given the size of these fish, but providing you have a decent filter and don't overfeed any of the fish, you should be okay. Violet gobies (Gobioides broussonnetii will not harm the Guppies unless starving. Violet Gobies are omnivores, and a mix of algae wafers (the things given to plecs), frozen bloodworms, and occasional feeds of live brine shrimp suit them well. Violet Gobies like to dig: use a smooth silica sand substrate ("silver sand", purchased from a garden centre) or river sand substrate. You'll see them feed by shoveling sand into their huge mouths. They also filter feed by gulping water, which is what the live brine shrimp are for -- brine shrimp aren't very nutritious, but boy, it's fun to watch! Wild fish scrape algae from rocks with their sharp teeth, and that's what the algae wafers are for. Provide some hollow tubes for hiding places; plain PVC tubes from a hardware store will do, but obviously hollow ornaments like replica tree trunks will look nicer. These are fun fish, and it really is worth getting a handle on their requirements so that you can enjoy keeping them and playing with them.>
Also, do I need to transition the fish from freshwater to brackish?
<Not really. Fancy Guppies will do best at around SG 1.005, and this is adequate for your Violet Goby too.>
If so, how do I do that?
<Start by "cloning" a freshwater aquarium filter for the new tank, i.e., take out 50% of the media from the old aquarium and put into the new aquarium's filter. Add your Goby and Guppies to the new aquarium. Over the next day or two check the nitrite stays at zero (it should do). Now, once you're happy everything is fine and the old filter media survived its "transplant", do a series of 10-20% water changes every 1-3 days, replacing freshwater in the tank with brackish water at SG 1.005. After a couple of weeks the tank will be at SG 1.005, and Lo! the fish and the filter will both be adapted safely.>
Thanks for the great site. It is very informative.
<Thanks!>
Sincerely, Vickie
<Most welcome, Neale.>

Puffer swimming vertical... (Tetraodon biocellatus; env., hlth.)    8/14//08
I've had my Figure 8 Puffer for about 3 weeks now. A few days ago, I noticed he wasn't using one of his side fins very often and was somewhat bumping into objects.
<Does sound odd. As ever, do water tests to check (at minimum) nitrite, pH and salinity. Puffers are extremely sensitive to declines in water quality, despite being (on the whole) pretty adaptable as far as water chemistry goes. But being a brackish water species, acidification would be very troublesome, and this is something that can happen "of a sudden" if the tank is overstocked/inadequately maintained.>
All of a sudden yesterday, his tail started floating to the point that it was vertical, with his head looking straight down in the tank. He wasn't using his side fins, although he was using his top and bottom fins towards the tail, (but not actually using his tail to swim.) At one point, he propped his tail against an object to keep it from floating and just sat there. This continued and when I woke up last night, he was sucked against the filter and I figured he was dead, but when I came back with the net, he was swimming around again, but with the same symptoms.
<Hmm...>
I checked the water and ammonia levels were quite high so I went to the store and bought ammonia neutralizer.
<Ah, there you go. Now, do understand that "ammonia neutraliser" has no impact on ammonia produced by the fish. That's the job of your biological filter. If you've suddenly got a spike in ammonia that wasn't there before, then you have either done something bad to the filter (e.g., over-cleaned the biological media) or else overstocked the tank and/or overfed the fish. Ammonia neutraliser is for removing ammonia from tap water. Nothing more. It makes tap water that has ammonia safe to use. It cannot be used to reverse ammonia problems caused by overstocking, overfeeding, under-filtering.>
I cleaned the gravel and changed about 30% of the water and added store-bought spring water to replace it and cleaned the carbon filter, which was quite dirty. I added the ammonia neutralizer and also ph minus and also replaced a given amount of salt...
<Hang on a second... First, under NO circumstances should you be using a "ph minus" product. Figure-8 puffers are brackish water fish and need a pH around about 7.5 to 8. The marine salt mix will be buffering the pH level nicely without any need for additional chemicals. Secondly, what's the "given amount of salt"? A lot of people mistakenly use aquarium salt or tonic salt with this species. What you MUST use is marine salt mix (Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, etc.) at a dose of at least 6-9 grammes per litre so that you have a specific gravity not less than 1.003 and ideally around 1.005. You use a hydrometer to test the specific gravity. Thirdly, carbon isn't really of much use here, and certainly has NOTHING to do with an ammonia spike. Carbon removes dissolved organic chemicals from the water, and as you know ammonia isn't an organic chemical! Carbon (in my opinion) is redundant in a properly run freshwater or brackish water aquarium, and the space it uses would be better off stocked with more biological media (sponge, ceramic noodles).>
After the change, he seemed to be doing better within a couple hours.. Using his side fins more often, not going vertical as much and I hoped all was well.
<He was happier because the water change diluted the ammonia. Nothing more permanent than that.>
But I just looked up and he was floating vertical at the top, not swimming at all, and its tail was curved to one side. I touched him with a net and now he's gone back to swimming, without using his side fins, having a tendency to go vertical. When he does swim, he slows down and then speeds up.
<Because the ammonia has gone back up again. The ammonia neutraliser is of no use at all here, and you need to be addressing the actual problem, which is likely poor choice of filtration, overstocking, and/or overfeeding.>
The 10 gallon freshwater tank (with partial salt) is only about a month old and went through it's "cycle" a while back, but 2 partial water changes have been made since then.
<A 10-gallon tank is too small for Tetraodon biocellatus. Even if it wasn't, a tank one month old will not be cycled properly, and certainly won't be safe for a species as delicate as a puffer. I have no clue what "partial salt" means, and I suspect you don't know either: please understand, adding a teaspoon of aquarium salt isn't what this species needs and won't keep it alive. You need to be adding a significant amount of MARINE salt mix so that the pH, carbonate hardness, and salinity are all appropriate. De see here for the basics on brackish water aquaria:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/bracsystems.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/20qsbrmonks.htm
And also here for more on this species of pufferfish:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brackishsubwebindex/fig8pufsys.htm
>
His tankmates are 3 Danios 1 Cory catfish. It has a gravel bottom and he's been fed 1 cube of Redworms every day.
<OK, the tankmates are completely inappropriate. As soon as the salinity goes high enough for the Puffer to be healthy, the other fish die. Move them out.>
If he were dying, I'd think he'd be dead by now so I don't know what it could be. Help is appreciated.
<I know precisely what's the matter: wrong environment, poor water quality, insufficient salinity. These are the things you need to fix, or yes, he'll die.>
He has never inflated, "puffed", since I've owned him.
<Not a problem; they don't usually puff unless they're stressed. Anyway, I hope this helps and you're able to secure a better environment for this fish. Good luck, Neale.>

Please Read ASAP... Fiddler crabs... missing legs... poor English... too typical no reading, understanding of animals needs  8/5/08
Yes,
<Yes?>
I would like to know if you could help with my fiddler crab... I just bought it 2 days ago and I have just notice... that its missing 3 legs...yeah....where he has his huge claw. which I know its a male.
<Likely shock from poor handling, maintenance. Will grow back if looked after properly. Fiddler crabs (Uca spp.) are of course BRACKISH to MARINE water organisms that shouldn't be kept in freshwater tanks. They need more land than water. Like to burrow. Keep in an vivarium (not an aquarium) with maybe an inch or two of warm (~25C) brackish (SG 1.005-1.015) water with a big sand bank (coral sand and silica sand mixed 50:50). Stabilise the sand with bogwood roots and various stones, ideally calcareous ones like tufa. Fiddler crabs are NOT compatible with fish. Period. They are too easily damaged by them, and aquarists that are keeping fish invariably have the wrong tank for Fiddler crabs. Fiddlers are omnivores and need a mixed diet containing small invertebrates and algae. Bloodworms, Sushi Nori, catfish pellets, algae wafers, etc. would all work well. Gregarious; keep in groups of six or more, with more females than males. Males will display to one another but rarely cause physical damage if given adequate space. Great escape artists!>
Can you please help me I don't know what to do? should I return it.
<Hope this helps, Neale.>

Green Spotted Puffer Diseases   8/3/08
Hello,
I had two Green Spotted Puffers in a 30 gallon tank and they had been in the tank for about 1 year and seemed pretty healthy until one just died. He became bloated, lost his color, stopped eating and his sides developed indents where his fins came out. The other puffer was healthy until he developed the same conditions. On your website it was suggested that they stopped eating because their teeth became over grown, so I sedated him and cut his teeth, but they weren't that over grown and he is still not eating. I just noticed today that on one of his black spots the color is gone, but it does not look like ick. I keep him in a brackish tank with the temp at 80 F and a fluval filtration system. I do 50 percent water changes ever week, so I don't know what could be wrong with him. He is fed dried blood worms, dried krill and snails. Could it be possible that he has been over fed? Any suggestions as to what could be wrong with him would be a great help.
Thanks,
Nicole
<Hello Nicole. Green Spotted Puffers (Tetraodon nigroviridis and Tetraodon fluviatilis) are generally hardy and undemanding, but that does depend on water quality being good and water chemistry being stable and saline. Just to recap, you have to make sure nitrite and ammonia are zero, and than nitrate levels are as low as practical, certainly below 50 mg/l and ideally below 20 mg/l. The water needs to be hard (15+ degrees dH, 7+ degrees KH) and have a basic pH (7.5-8.0). Salinity doesn't matter very much, but should be at least SG 1.005 and ideally around SG 1.010. A 30-gallon tank is at the low end of what works for these puffers, given that their maximum size in captivity is between 12-15 cm. So water changes do need to be regular and substantial, but your 50% per week should be adequate. Fluval filters are usually very good (owned and used them many times myself) but sometimes the user can make mistakes with even the best filtration system, for example not clearing out the filter often enough, or choosing the wrong kinds of media. For pufferfish, you'd be looking at rinsing the biological filter media (e.g., sponges and ceramic noodles) every 4-8 weeks, and any chemical media such as carbon would need to be replaced at least that often. In fact I'd not consider carbon worthwhile in this sort of system, but would recommend a calcareous medium like crushed coral as being useful for buffering pH and maintaining the hardness. I'm concentrating on water quality/chemistry here because when a succession of fish die for vague, inexplicable reasons, these two things are almost always to blame. So the very first thing I'd do is check the pH and the nitrite (the two essential test kits everyone should have) just to get some idea of the water conditions. I'd also do a big (75%) water change and give the filter a thorough clean, taking care of course not to harm the filter bacteria (clean any sponges/ceramic noodles in buckets of aquarium water). Lower the temperature a bit too; 80 F is much too high, and instead aim for a more equitable 25C/77F. Warm water contains less oxygen, and puffers are very sensitive to this. While you're at it, also check the water is circulating properly. If the fish peps up after this, then there's a good chance environmental issues are at the heart of your problem. We can discuss further in due course. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Corydoras... Brackish book by Neale, canids/felids as pets/predators, the human exp. and the "rest" of the world    8/3/08
Hi Neale,
<Silvia,>
ANGFA people are a great bunch of people. I am not a fan of clubs and those sort of things but when I first met some of them I felt "at home". We all have the same thing in mind no matter what background. I met Bruce Hanson when he was still living in Brisbane before he moved north. Not only at the two-monthly meetings but also on our field trips. So, you wrote a book about brackish fish?
<Yes indeed. Funnily enough it grew out of ten years' worth of discussion between various fishkeepers on the Brackish Water Aquarium Mailing List, of which Bruce Hansen and Richard Mleczko are a couple of the subscribers (and co-authors) from Down Under.>
There doesn't seem to be much information around about this subject. At least when I thought about setting up a brackish tank years ago. It never got to it. People seem to decide for either freshwater or marine but not something in between. I find this environment very intriguing.
<It is an intriguing environment, and if you have access to estuaries and mangroves, quite an easy one to explore and collects small fish from (provided you can avoid the Salties). Both Bruce and Richard have a knack of making me feel incredibly jealous about Australian fishkeeping. I write for an Australian fish magazine, and one issue I have to deal with is the smaller selection of tropical species available to the average Australian hobbyist; but for the life of me I can't see why anyone would bother with Asian or South American standard tropicals like Neons and tiger barbs when they have access to native fish like rainbows, blue-eyes, Mouth Almighties, mudskippers, gudgeons, and all kinds of other brilliant fish.>
I agree totally about cats but people don't want to hear that their beloved cats are killers by instinct. They are, and they don't take only birds. Years ago we lived in a duplex and next door was vacant. Well, vacant with humans but occupied by a lovely blue-tongue lizard. I used to feed it with snails I found around my garden and yellow flowers. One day it went missing and a few days later I found it dead close by. The bite marks on his body pointed to a cat. It is sad and it makes me angry.
<One estimate puts the diversity of prey taken by Felis catus at about 1000 species, more than any other predator on earth. Their ability to catch animals on the ground, in trees, in the air, and even in shallow water is exceptional.>
I don't think that this is what Darwin meant with "struggle for life" or the rule of natural selection of the strongest since that doesn't apply anymore if there is an unnatural predator around.
<Hmm... well, the "struggle" between (say) house cats and garden birds is precisely what he meant. What has happened is that humans have made the struggle an unfair one. In "the wild" things usually operate in the favour of the prey species. They have millions of years to adapt to their predators through behaviour and physiology. So most of the time the gazelle can avoid the lion without undue difficulty, and such gazelles as are taken do little to affect the viability of the species as a whole. Indeed, Darwin would argue the effect is beneficial, by weeding out the sick and maladapted. What's happened with house cats is we've introduced them into places where the prey have no chance to adapt to them, and because we feed and provide healthcare to cats, we allow them to survive at much higher densities than would otherwise be possible. So the struggle is now biased in favour of the predator. End result, prey populations decline. In the natural world if the prey decline, the predators decline too, giving the prey a chance to recover (see the Snowshoe Hare/Canadian Lynx study) but because we look after the predator, the cat, it's populations stay high all the time, preventing such recovery.>
I think Darwin should be made compulsory reading at school.
<Very difficult to read. Tedious. Lack of statistics at the time he wrote meant he had to use literally hundreds of examples to drive his argument home by overwhelming any doubts the reader might have. 'Origin of Species' is one of the those books people own but rarely read. I certainly haven't, and I'm a BSc zoologist with a PhD in palaeontology. Nowadays would recommend easier reads such as Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Fortey, and especially Steve Jones, author of the excellent 'Almost Like a Whale', expressly written as a modern 'Origin'.>
At least my cat is inside, so most of the wildlife is safe. I say most because we have geckos and skinks and spiders coming into the house and live here. Unfortunately some of them fall prey to the cat and the dog.
<If they come inside the house, that's not so bad: you don't really want animals to think of houses as safe places to forage, so a little "gene removal" like this will do no serious harm. In the long term animals that fully adapt to houses and suburban gardens can prosper, as is the case in England where you'll see things like foxes more commonly in towns than in the country!>
They sometimes team up for a little hunt, indoors that is. the dog only goes outside for a walk as she would do harm to the wildlife as well.
<Indeed. Dogs are predators on bigger animals than cats, and under most circumstances cause little harm when domesticated.>
If it comes to cat babies they are called kittens here as well but not with catfish. They are just baby catfish not kittens. My Cory kittens (I like this) just got company. The bristlenoses just hatched but they are still under dad's protection.
<Ancistrus make excellent fathers.>
Cheers
Silvia
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: 75g stocking question, GSP comp.  7/31/08
Thanks, Chris.
<Welcome>
Keep up the good work, crew!
<Will do.>
Any other ideas as to what I could stock in that 75g if I moved my GSP over to it?
<Its up to the puffer really, no hard and fast rules here about what they will accept in the tank with them, if anything at all. Start poking around here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/gspsart.htm for a start.>
<Chris>

Mangrove "swamp"/ mudskipper, fiddler tank?   7/31/08
Hi Crew (or should I say crew member),
This is 40 gal des (not sure anyone remembers her). I have a bee in my bonnet (or perhaps gobies) as I have a new project idea. My tank has been fallow for ages now, and I was paging through the book by "The Complete Aquarium" by Peter Scott. Anyway, I came upon the Mangrove swamp with the mudskippers and fiddlers and I was utterly charmed.
<It is indeed a lovely aquarium.>
Anyway, I have been researching this topic-- where to get the critters and plants, how to raise mangroves, what to put in the tank, how much water and sand, brackish, the range of topics. But a few things seem blurry to me (well more than a few...), but I 'll try for brevity.
<Would highly recommend looking over Richard Mleczko's chapter on mudskippers in my 'Brackish-Water Fishes' book. He's easily the world expert on keeping these fish in captivity, and discusses every aspect of their care as well as all the different species you'll see on sale. In fairness, the chapter on Mudskippers in the Aqualog Brackish Water Fishes is also very good.>
So here it is--
Basic setup: 40 gal breeder and stand; Orbits' compact florescent (2 92 watt bulbs).
Plans: Replace actinic bulb with 6700K and keep the 10,000K.
<Do make sure the tank is "mudskipper-proof", as these fish will climb out of any gaps they find.>
Divide tank roughly in two with plastic, rock up to about 8 inches or so. Place (no.? ) potted mangrove trees grown from seeds (already with leaves, etc) around mostly one side.
<Mangroves grow very slowly, and you may find plastic plants or houseplants in plastic pots (to keep the salty water out) will work at least as well. Plants like Philodendron work very well for this sort of thing.>
Fill around with (? type sand-- oolitic, aragonite, etc?) about one inch on one side and about 1/4 to 1/3 on the other
<Sand type doesn't matter, but a mix of coral sand and smooth silver/silica sand is probably the best in terms of appearance and "stickiness". The coral sand will also add a bit of buffering to the system.>
fill with brackish mixed water 1.05 or so salinity (I have an RO system), over the top of sand on both sides.
<SG 1.005 upwards to seawater is fine; 1.05 would be hypersaline and deadly!>
Use small internal power filter and guarded 50 watt or smaller heater ( although I'm going to bet it isn't going to go on much).
<Would highly recommend an external heater to avoid problems with mudskippers climbing onto a glass heater and scalding themselves. Failing that, make sure there's a plastic guard around the heater. But seriously, undertank heaters similar to those used for amphibian set-ups would be better. Filtration is relatively unimportant to mudskippers because they spend so little time underwater, so use whatever suits your budget.>
Aquascape with some large flat rocks, coral pieces, shells, and driftwood (a little!). Cover with bullet proof plastic (I don't expect it to get shot, but it doesn't warp.) Cycle.
<Always a good idea cycling the tank before putting in fish, but funnily enough Mudskippers are ammonia-tolerant "right out the box", presumably so they can survive in their wet burrows while the tide is out. They also spend most of their time on land, so aren't exposed to the ammonia anything like as much as regular fish. So provided you did lots of water changes so the ammonia stayed below 0.5 mg/l, you could probably cycle with the Mudskippers.>
Add quarantined (? number of mudskippers (P. kalolo) and fiddlers (and ?).
<Richard isn't a fan of mixing crabs and Mudskippers, so be careful here. Big crabs will nip small Mudskippers, and big Mudskippers will eat small crabs. Fiddlers are probably the best crabs to go with because they're deposit feeders rather than omnivores, but be careful. Periophthalmus kalolo is a fairly aggressive species, so either avoid having more than one male or else overstock the tank so no single male becomes hyperdominant.>
Pull up a chair in front and watch!
<Sounds about right.>
So maybe my questions are apparent here.
1. I was told to plant the seeds in a gallon pot, I'm guessing clay. Is this a good size. I think the pots sound like a good idea given the root strength. What do you think of the gallon size and how many do you think I should do in a 40. The picture in the book (which is a 40) shows four , and I don't think the pots are that big. I was thinking 3?
<Mangroves are trees, so whatever you do with them and however you pot them, eventually they will get too big. I don't actually rate them highly for this sort of set up.>
2. What kind of sand? The book says silver, but I was thinking aragonite or even oolitic to keep pH high.
<Without undergravel filtration, the buffering effect of a mound of coral sand is limited. Buffering is proportional to the surface area of coral sand in contact with moving water; in the case of a layer of coral sand without undergravel filtration, only the top grains of sand are in contact with moving water. So I'd not fuss about this issue.>
3. What rock is safe? I think limestone would help the pH, but I think granite is the most common, in the yard sort of rock (I don't intend to buy it.) Is there rock I should NOT use? (Obviously nothing that would be too sharp on the fish.)
<Again, don't be too worried about the pH issue. Marine salt mix will buffer the water nicely, and if it doesn't, you can also add a bit of home-brew Malawi Salt mix to up the carbonate hardness. I've described this elsewhere on WWM:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebindex/fwhardnessfaqs.htm
So choose rocks that look nice, aren't spiky or rough, and don't have metallic seams in them that might poison the fish/crabs.>
4. I know driftwood is acidic, do you think the other stuff would out weigh it? Do I need to add something for hardness, pH? I have B-Ionic. I was thinking though that that was a bit overkill.
<Bogwood will have minimal effect. If it does, up the carbonate hardness as stated above.>
5. Stocking number? (mudskippers, crabs). Any safe critter to put in there. I am guessing I don't have room for much.
<Mudskippers are funny about tankmates. Your best bets are things like small brackish water livebearers, perhaps Guppies or Limia. But big Mudskippers will eat small fish, while big fish terrify Mudskippers who view them as predators.>
6. Cycling? I have read not such good things about BioSpira, that it isn't refrigerated. I have never seen it refrigerated. Fish food? Shrimp?
<Any of the above. Or just let nature take its course, using the Mudskippers or crabs.>
7. I live in the desert, should I think about a fog maker, to get up the humidity a bit?
<The lid on the tank should take care of this automatically.>
OK, I think that's enough. I was working on brevity.
Thanks Crew!!! You are terrific!
--des
<Hope this helps, Neale.>

Re: Mangrove "swamp"/ mudskipper, fiddler tank?  7/31/08
Hi Neale,
Thanks for the great information.
<Would highly recommend looking over Richard Mleczko's chapter on mudskippers in my 'Brackish-Water Fishes' book. He's easily the world expert on keeping these fish in captivity, and Just ordered off Amazon.
<<I am sure you will enjoy.>>
> <Do make sure the tank is "mudskipper-proof", as these fish will climb out of any gaps they find.>
Yes, I have kept Jawfish. Tricky little devils. Fortunately mudskippers aren't $180 like those cool blue spotted Jawfish. Just when I thought it was safe to remove the netting around filters and the like, he jumped to his death! So no more removing netting, though without hang on the back stuff should be easier really-- until trees grow.
<<Ah, seems you're mentally prepared at least! The difference is that Mudskippers are gobies, and are equipped with a neat suction cup that lets them climb up vertical surfaces, including glass.>>
<Mangroves grow very slowly, and you may find plastic plants or houseplants in plastic pots (to keep the salty water out) will work at least as well. Plants like Philodendron work very well for this sort of thing.>
The way I read Scott's book, it was the ceramic pots and not the actual trees that kept the bank up (along with rock. So you are really not depending on tree growth.
<<I have the book and checked. My issue with ceramic pots is they're porous, so will let salt in. If you're growing salt-tolerant plants like mangroves or Nypa palms or whatever, then use whatever pots you want.>>
> <SG 1.005 upwards to seawater is fine; 1.05 would be hypersaline and deadly!>
Oh yes, woops! It's not a typo really, but I am familiar with all this. Just will have to go through the numbers again.
<<Good.>>
Thanks for advise on filtration and heaters!
>below 0.5 mg/l, you could probably cycle with the Mudskippers.>
Cycle with fish! Yikes! This is new info and I have never seen this (though saw they were tolerant of ammonia.
<<Some mudskippers will happily frolic around sewage outfall pipes. They are incredibly tough fish.>>
What about quarantining these guys (gals)? I have a ten gal QT. I was thinking in terms of about 2-4 inches of water and some rocks (or maybe dinner plates.
<<Since they're the only fish in the tank, quarantining them is redundant. Of course you can't use formalin or copper medications in a system with crabs, but brackish water will kill off Whitespot anyway.>>
> Periophthalmus kalolo is a fairly aggressive species, so either avoid having more than one male or else overstock the tank so no single male becomes hyperdominant.>
What's your definition of overstock of P. kalolo in a 40?
<<Depends on the size of the fish, and how much land there is. Richard's basic idea is that if all the fish are crammed onto the same bogwood branch or sand bank, none of them can make a territory. I'd be looking at half a dozen specimens, at least.>>
Or can you sex the fish to determine which is male?
<<Difficult to sex Periophthalmus spp. except to say males are more aggressive!>>
Also I was told to overstock the crabs. Both because they are aggressive, and because some will be eaten-- this from a guy who does barbarus which are even nastier.
<<P. barbarus usually ends up being kept alone.>>
> http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebindex/fwhardnessfaqs.htm
Thanks for the link.
> <Hope this helps, Neale.>
You're all great!
<<We do try.>>
--des
<<Cheers, Neale.>>

Mudskippers... sys., fdg.,    7/25/08
Hey folks!
So I've had my mudskipper tank half set up for about 2 weeks now. I say half set up because in my 20g long I have 4 fiddler crabs (2 male and 2 female) and 1 mudskipper (the dwarf Indian variety, with a red fin), and I have some bits of driftwood that the crabs climb up on as well as some slate rocks that the skipper regularly uses to hang out on.
<Sounds nice.>
In the tank I have a combination of black gravel and black sand serving as substrate, and I've
rigged the filter/heater set up so that, even though the heater is on its side (It's a Rena heater -- encased in thick plastic so as to keep the skipper from burning itself), it works because my internal canister filter outflow is connected to the intake of the heater. Thus, the water is constantly being run through the heater, and the tank stays a balmy 80 degrees. I have a glass lid on top to keep in the humidity, which I measure at ~ 70% with one of those gauges you can get for frog tanks.
<All good.>
The tank has all of the bare minimum essentials to keep everyone going, and I feed the crew frozen bloodworms, mysis shrimp, Spirulina brine shrimp, or freeze-dried brine shrimp, though I've honestly only ever seen the skipper go for the freeze-dried business, which makes the least sense of all.
<Do try live insects, like bluebottles or small moths. Mudskippers feed extensively on live insects, and are remarkably agile. Wingless fruit flies would be ideal for smaller species/specimens.>
I tried frozen daphnia once, but I think those might have been too small for it to really register as food.
<They don't really feed underwater.>
The food does seem to disappear overnight, but I don't know whether the skipper is just waiting for me to leave him be before going searching for tasty bits or whether the crabs are just chowing down.
<My assumption is that they are day-active animals.>
I've read that ghost shrimp might prove an enticing treat for the mudskipper, but it's still on the small side, so I don't know whether the ghost shrimp would just outmaneuver him or, at worst, intimidate him. What alternative foods would you suggest?
<Terrestrial insects.>
That was question one. Question two has to do with how to make a better set up. I have a lot of vertical room to play with, and I wouldn't mind giving all the creatures something to climb on. I plan to add more driftwood, and perhaps more cork bark, but I'm curious as to how plants would work in a brackish paludarium?
<Not necessarily all that well, unless they're brackish species. You can put regular pot plants into planter pots (i.e., pots that are glazed and don't have a hole at the bottom) and so isolate them from the salty water. They'll do well like that.>
The water is only slightly brackish right now (I added maybe 1 tablespoon per gallon of water since they were being kept in FW, and there's only enough water in there to make sure the heater and filter are covered, so probably around 4-6 gallons).
<You will need SG 1.005+ in the long term.>
I keep live plants in all of my tanks save my Mbuna tank, and I'd love to be able to experiment with the greenhouse-type environment that a paludarium provides, but I don't want to do anything that might involve introducing a poisonous plant.
<I'd frankly concentrate on plastic plant and large bits of bogwood or really anything you'd put into an amphibian environment.>
Finally, a crowding question. In a 20 g long with a few different rocks to rest on, how many dwarf Indian skippers can I introduce? I've read everything from just 1 to 6. Thanks!
<I'd either keep one or a fair sized group, say six specimens. Twos and threes are often unstable because the dominant one becomes a serious bully. When overcrowded, Mudskippers tend to work rather better as no one fish can "take over". Essentially the same as with Mbuna.>
Best,
Micah
<Cheers, Neale.>

Dragonfish question... hlth... sys... fdg.  7/17/2008
Hey guys! I love your site, and I normally google stuff on your site when I have a question, but my computer's not loading the search page, so I decided to email. Sorry if the answer's on your site somewhere...I just can't find it.
<Oh?>
x.x
<No idea what this means.>
I used to have a Dragonfish (Violet Goby) about a year or two ago, and she was a really amazing fish. But she developed some sort of tumor in her stomach and died suddenly. I was pretty devastated.
<Unlikely a tumour, which is a pretty rare problem with wild-caught fish. Was she maintained in brackish water? The common mistake people make with Gobioides is to keep it in freshwater. Short term that's fine, but long term it places such a stress on the internal chemistry of the fish it invariably succumbs. So swelling of the abdomen was most likely organ failure of some sort. At least, if the thing was in freshwater. Gobioides need to be kept in fairly brackish water to do well, certainly not less than SG 1.005, and ideally around 1.010.>
I just got a new one a few days ago, and I had a feeding question...When I had Shasta, I had to feed her a very specific way. She would come up gulping at the surface at about 8:00 at night and I would wait until the exact second her mouth was at the top, then I would drop bloodworms into her mouth. Needless to say, I didn't go on vacation much...
<Making things far too complicated. Gobioides has three feeding modes. One is plankton gulping, which is where the live brine shrimps and daphnia come in. The second is sand sifting, which is shoveling mouthfuls of sand through the gill rakers, where food is extracted. Frozen bloodworms are ideal for this. Finally there is algae rasping, which is what their sharp little teeth are for. In the wild they scrape algae from rocks and things, but in the aquarium standard algae wafers work just fine. You need at least a mix of algae and invertebrates for a healthy fish. A lack of algae could mean a lack of fibre, and constipation can cause damage to the internal organs, and this can cause abdominal swelling... so again, another common cause for a dead Gobioides. Do also note that these fish don't do well in tanks with gravel. Must be sand so they can feed normally.>
xP
<What does this mean?>
I was just wondering if that was actually normal for dragonfish to eat like that.
<Yes.>
I've only had one, so I don't know what to expect. I just got my little (actually HUGE, since he's 10 inches long!) guy yesterday, so I don't know what to expect from him. Do they all eat like that?
<They eat in three different ways.>
Because I heard that they were filter feeders...and Shasta NEVER sat around gulping like Zumi (the new dragon) does...
<Depends what you're offering them.>
Thanks in advance for your reply! And I'm terribly sorry if this question's already been answered...maybe there's something wrong with my computer, because normally the google search page works fine...
Have a nice day!
Ashley
<Do see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/violetgobyfaqs.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i3/Dragon_Gobies/Dragon%20Gobies.htm
Much written about them here at WWM to get you started.
Hope this helps, Neale.>

Mudskippers, sys.  – 07/11/08
I'm setting up a 20 gallon long mudskipper habitat, but I'm starting from scratch. I know next to nothing about these little guys other than that they need humidity and somewhat brackish water and 2/3 land with 1/3 water in their tank.
<Sounds great.>
While I have ideas about the substrate needed (I was thinking Zoo Med's Excavator Burrowing Substrate), as well as the type of lid (likely a standard hood with glass bottom and openable flap), and type of salt to add to the water (I have some instant ocean at home from a failed attempt at keeping a GSP), I'd appreciate any and all guidance you guys have to offer.
<Mudskippers are actually quite hardy and easy to keep, provided you accept them on their own terms and not try to force them into a standard aquarium.>
Because mudskippers spend 90% of their time on land, do I need to worry about cycling the tank before adding it? Or can I just set up the tank and introduce it? I'm only getting one.
<You can cycle the tank with the Mudskippers. They are relatively tolerant of ammonia. Do check which species of Mudskipper you have in your area. Some species (e.g., Periophthalmus barbarus) are large and very aggressive, but others (e.g., the Dwarf Indian Mudskipper, Periophthalmus sp.) are much smaller.
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Projects/FAQ/5c.html
The smaller species at least can be kept in groups, and if you want to see the males display, that's recommended.>
Also, any recommendations on a particular type of filter to get?
<External canister filter of some sort recommended simply for the ease of positioning inlet/outlet pipes given the peculiar arrangement needed for this type of vivarium.>
Will an underwater heater be enough to heat the whole tank, or do I need a different kind of heater?
<I'd actually recommend against a standard heater because of the danger the Mudskippers will climb onto the heater and get burned. Instead consider either an inline heater that connects to the outflow from the canister filter (e.g., the Hydor ETH brand) or else an undertank heating mat of the sort widely used to heat reptile/amphibian enclosures.>
Do they need aeration in the water?
<Nope; they get almost all of their oxygen from the air and can tolerate quite stagnant water if they must. Not recommending you keep them thus, but merely making the point these fish come from a harsh environment and are very adaptable "right out the box".>
Thanks!
Micah
<Do heartily recommend you look at Richard Mleczko's chapter on these fishes in my Brackish-Water Fishes book. It's the only really detailed text on Mudskippers written for the hobbyist, and covers dozens of species in depth as well as all the main issues like diet and social behaviour:
http://www.tfhpublications.com/fish/brackish-water-fishes.htm
Good luck, Neale.>

Mollie population control - Puffer? 7/9/08
Good morning Crew,
<Hello>
As always thanks for the advice. My question is near the bottom, the rest of this is describing my setup, water parameters, and stocking so you have complete information.
<Ok>
I am looking for a good method of population control for my Mollies. After much reading about F8, GSP and dwarf puffers I can't find an answer to say if they would be good for my purpose.
<Most likely not.>
My tank is a 46 gallon bowfront, heavily planted and slightly brackish (SG 1.003~1.004 using instant ocean). PH 7.5, ammonia and nitrites stay at 0ppm, Nitrates 10~40 depending on when the last water change was, GH around 12, KH around 9.
Plants are Amazon swords, Water Wisteria /(/Hygrophila deformis), and something else I got from a friend but never looked up the name. 2 WPG for 8 hours a day, with 4WPG for 2 hours in the middle of the day.
Substrate is red Fluorite.
Filter is a Fluval 405 canister packed with 3 layers bio media and one layer of filter floss outputting through spray bar.
The population consists of 3 Otos,
<Will suffer in these brackish conditions.>
5 adult swordtails, 8 adult female Dalmatian mollies, one large and happy male molly, and an every growing population of baby swords and mollies. Of course there is also a good population of snails, not out of control, but persistent. Everybody gets algae flakes and some sea weed sheets along with the occasional blanched veggie to eat.
Currently, I am moving 20 or so fry at a time to a 5 gallon tank until they get to be juveniles about 1/2 inch long, then I give them to a co-worker to feed to his Oscar.
<Ok>
In an ideal world, I would like to have a tankmate for the mollies and swords that would eat the small fry but leave the adults and plants alone. Would be great if it would also eat some of the snails, but they are not a large concern.
<Probably more than any one fish can do.>
NOW to the question... Would some form of puffer work with this setup without tearing up the plants or harming the adults? Reading the FAQ and articles on the GSP and F8 they like slightly more salt, but might be happy. Obviously I would want one that doesn't get to big, so a dwarf might be better?
<Can be mean little suckers/fin nippers, best housed in species specific tank. I do keep a F8 puffer with a couple mollies, but I have been very lucky that he has a less aggressive personality than many other F8s, but he does not touch the fry either so no real help. GSPs prefer more brackish to marine conditions and have also been known to be problematic fin nippers.>
If I am totally on the wrong track with puffers would you suggest something else that might work?
Thanks
Robert
<For some unknown reason today I decided to re-visit Neale's very excellent book Brackish-Water Fishes so I am going to blatantly steal a few of his ideas. (Sorry Neale) For want you are looking for Knight Gobies come to mind, along with a few of the Rainbow species than can do well in lightly brackish water. If you can find Orange Chromide they may also work well.>
<Chris>

A question about cycling a brackish water tank 07/07/08
HI, my name is Steven and I've been keeping fish for about 6 years now (I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank that's fully cycled and has one 10" Pleco, a female better, a Chinese hill stream loach, and a couple mollies I wish to get rid of) and am currently setting up a 10 gallon brackish tank for a single figure eight puffer.
<Plans for that Pleco? Definitely needs a larger home...>
I have the tank set up, have a filter for a 20 gallon tank set up with it, a heater, an air pump to aerate the water, and the salt already added. I've had the tank running for about 4 days now with no fish in it as I know the tank must cycle before adding any fish to it (none the less a mess eater such as a puffer). I've done a large amount of research regarding figure eights as to make sure I can provide the best home possible for the little guy but I have one question I can't seem to find the answer for, I was considering taking the bio wheel from my fresh water tank (Marineland emperor power filter) and dipping it into the brackish tank. I heard this would work to start the cycling process for another freshwater tank but I can't seem to find anything about doing the same for a brackish water tank. The SG in the brackish tank is low (I don't have a hydrometer that will read low enough but it 1 table spoon per gallon) and I was wondering if the bacteria from my fresh water tank will be able to take hold in the brackish tank if I take the bio wheel and swirl it around the brackish tank for a little while. Any help on finding the answer for this question will be much appreciated. Even if the answer is no it'll help me greatly as to what to do (I don't want to swirl the bio wheel in the brackish tank if the salt will kill the bacteria and make me have to re cycle my freshwater tank as well). Thank you for taking the time to look over my question.
<Steve, there are a couple options from the start; if you add bacteria to freshwater and let it cycle, then very very slowly bring the salinity up over the course of several weeks the bacteria will adapt. If you've already made the tank brackish then you should just wait for bacteria from the air to colonize the aquarium and cycle it. Since you don't have another brackish tank to seed from, there really isn't a way to speed up the process- just follow basic fishless cycling procedure and you should be fine- to clarify, I would not expose your old filter to salted water, as this could damage your other aquarium's established cycling.>
Steve
<Benjamin>

Good working environment for a few green spotted puffers (Tetraodon nigroviridis, I'm positive).  - 7/1/08
Hello wonderful and dedicated crew of WWM!
<Hello,>
I humbly ask for further assistance in creating a good working environment for a few green spotted puffers (Tetraodon nigroviridis, I'm positive).
A while ago my boyfriend bought me a GSP on impulse which sadly didn't make it due to a number of conditions, most notably my lack of knowledge and proper housing. But I am determined to succeed with GSPs in the future (!).
Currently I have a 75 gal tank (yay hand-me-downs) with aragonite substrate, as a suggestion from Neale previously but I could have just made that up. Can sand and the aragonite gravel be mixed together?
<Yes. A mix of fine silica sand, coral sand, and broken sea shells actually makes a very authentic looking substrate for the brackish water aquarium.>
My hardness test strip seems to read off the chart. Can the water be too hard? Ph reading is 8.2 if I remember right.
<Don't worry about this. The hardness will be appreciated by the Puffers.>
I cycled it (before I knew better, after it was too late I read that cycling with feeders is a bad idea) with feeder Rosey reds and a trapdoor snail. I don't think they were sick, but they did keep getting stuck to the filter intake and dying...
<When fish get 'sucked up' by filters it almost always means that they were sick/dead anyway. Most healthy fish can EASILY swim stronger the filter sucks water.>
My nitrate levels currently read 20ppm (what are 'normal' levels? and what can I do to lower them if they get too high... water change, right?). I've read that puffers like to eat snails so I bought a few Trumpet/ Malaysian snails that I've heard do well in BW.
<Nitrate at 20 ppm is fine. Try to avoid constant exposure to levels above 50 ppm. In itself though Nitrate rarely causes problems. Weekly water changes of 25-50% normally do a good job of nitrate control. Yes, Melanoides snails THRIVE in brackish water up to about 50% seawater (SG 1.010).>
I was hoping that the snails would breed faster than the puffers could eat them.
<These snails usually do well in Puffer tanks; certainly in my tanks the Puffers rarely eat them all. Perhaps the odd baby, but beyond that the nocturnal/burrowing habits keep the snails mostly safely hidden. They are excellent scavengers, as well as quite pretty animals in their own right.>
What about trapdoor snails? I have a home lined up if need be, but how well do they fair in BW?
<Nope; will die in brackish water. Could be used as live food though!>
I was hoping to have just 4 GSPs and those snails in that 75 gal tank... is that possible or too many?
<Does depend on the GSP, though we normally recommend about 30 gallons per specimen. By all means try and see what happens. Males are likely the more aggressive since they're the ones that guard the fry. Buy them as small fish, rear them together, provide lots of hiding places, and look out for bite marks.>
Possibility of other compatible fish? Mostly out of curiosity than desire.
<GSPs usually make poor tankmates for other fish.>
Also about live plants? Neale told me before that I can keep puffers in low SG (1.003-1.005) until they mature slightly. But I'd need to up the SG to ~1.010 later, will any plants survive that SG and puffers?
<Large puffers usually demolish plants by biting them while hunting/out of curiosity. Moreover, GSPs are partly herbivorous. I'd honestly go with plastic plants; nice big seaweed or tape grass types would be ideal. Otherwise grab some oyster shells from the grocery store (eat the oysters or chop up and freeze as puffer food). Use silicone to glue to rocks. Make your own rocky reef! Very authentic, attractive decoration.>
I've read about java ferns and moss, but sources I've looked at can be contradictory so I'm not sure what to believe.
<Both do well to SG 1.005, perhaps slightly higher.>
Will adding marine salt to my tank kill off my newly established bio filter?
<Not if done carefully. Go to SG 1.002/1.003 first, and leave running for a few months. Then over a few weeks raise to SG 1.005 via water changes, a bit at a time. Use your nitrite test kit to check the filter is happy, but you will be fine, I'm sure.>
Also I don't really know anything about regular filter stuff, I tried to research it several times but I felt overwhelmed by the information. Any links to beginner, easy to understand filter info?
<Here's my summary at WWM; other articles linked therein:
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwfiltrmedart.htm
>
Any suggestions for a newbie would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to figure out everything I can before I have another disaster.
Thanks! Jasmynn
<Hope that covers everything! Neale.>

Questions about stocking with glassfish and guppies – 06/26/08
Hello, my name is Jean.
<Hi Jean!>
Your site is a font of wonderful information! Keep up the good work!
<Thanks.>
I have a 20 gallon tall freshwater tank. I currently have 3 guppies and 3 (formerly painted) glassfish in it. I know I should keep my glassfish in larger schools, so I do plan on getting more (unpainted!) glassfish soon. Additionally, I think all 3 of my guppies are male (I think what I see is a gonopodium on each, and no one has ever gotten pregnant), but they do not seem to be bothering each other too much, no nipping at all. I had another psycho guppy previously who was a killing machine, I returned him.
<Fairly common for male Guppies to be highly aggressive. Does rather depend on the number of fish, size of the tank.>
My questions are: What additional fish can I add to this tank that will get along with my glassfish and guppies? Should I do anything about having all male guppies, if they seem to be doing alright? I'm not itching for fry right now! I would like any additions to my tank to be peaceful, as I don't want another psycho killer fish.
<Glassfish will mix with anything that doesn't actually eat them. I keep mine in a tank with South American puffers, Corydoras, halfbeaks, Limia nigrofasciata, and various catfish and tetras.>
Further, I add about 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons to my tank, for the sake of the glassfish and general health. The guppies don't mind.
<Neither Glassfish nor Guppies need salt. In fact the Glassfish traded in the hobby are all freshwater fish. The idea they NEED salt is likely down to misidentification, with the fish being sold (Parambassis spp.) being mistake for brackish water Ambassis spp.>
My hardness (GH) is a constant 120 ppm, and my pH is currently at 6.8.
<Ideal for Glassfish and indeed most other soft water fish. Tetras and Corydoras would be excellent options. Guppies do tend to be sickly in soft water and at acidic pH levels, and your addition of salt is certainly helping here somewhat. Still, I'd tend to phase out livebearers in favour of true soft water fish.>
What other fish can I add considering the salt level? I've considered mollies but can't they be aggressive, especially with the guppies?
<Mollies and Guppies can fight, so not a good combo. Besides, your tank is WAY too small for Mollies.>
Further, are there any bottom feeders that would be o.k. in this environment? (I love exotic little Plecos, like Bristlenoses, but heard they can't stand the salt).
<Ancistrus and hardy Corydoras species can easily tolerate low salt levels such as those you are using. Anything measured in spoons is inaccurate, so forgive me for not using such methods. But normal seawater has 35 grammes of marine salt mix per litre. One-tenth salinity would be easily tolerated by Corydoras and Ancistrus, and works out at 3.5 grammes per litre. But to be honest, I'd bin the Guppies, or rather ignore salt and instead harden the water in a more effective way using Malawi Salt mixes, such as:
Per 5 gallons/20 litres
1 teaspoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1 tablespoon Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate)
1 teaspoon marine salt mix (sodium chloride + trace elements)
This is easy to make up using stuff from drug stores, grocery stores and/or pet stores and costs pennies per water change. For the fish you're keeping, one-quarter to one-half the dose described above would be ample. For guppies, you're after pH 7.5, 10-20 degrees dH.>
Thanks so much!
<Cheers, Neale.>