# Wanting To Start A 20 Long Brackish



## ReillyP (Mar 2, 2016)

Hi guys I recently got a 20 long and thought about making it a brackish tank! 
I was inspired by 




I have a few questions as I have only ever done freshwater
First of all, what tools do I need? Something to read salt water? 
Is that tank overstocked in that video because I love his stocking and would like to do something just like that? 
How big will a puffer get? I would like a figure 8 or fakka puffer 
What plants can survive in the brackish? I love plants
Could I have any shrimp in there ? 
Any specific foods I should keep for brackish fish ? 
Would a puffer wipe a tank of snails or could I just have the snails grow in the tank and they would reproduce?

Thanks so much guys!


----------



## outsider (Jan 13, 2015)

Fahaka Puffer grow up to 1 feet 5 inch which is big no for 20 long. Figure 8 grow up to 3inch and most likely need 30 gallon tank.

Most plant you find is freshwater, some may be able to survive in brackish but i am not sure.

No freshwater shrimp for brackish unless you find brackish specie which i believe hawaii volcano shrimp is salt water shrimp that can live in brackish water.

It is dinner bell when puffer see snail or shrimp. However not many snails can live in brackish water as well. (Nerite snail is the only snail I can think off.) 20 long isn't big enough for bracklish puffer. If you want puffer, pea puffer can be done but it is freshwater puffer. (max size 1 inch.) 20long can have aboout 4 pea puffer and you should provide them a lot of plants.


----------



## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

you should get an amazon puffer, they are small and still have personality. Plus they live in freshwater so then you can have plants and more fish options. They are hard to find though.


----------



## Me_and_rai (Jan 15, 2016)

As for plants, jungle Val and water Sprite do fine in brackish. I know there are others but not off the top of my head


----------



## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Puffer & shrimp = Puffer with expensive snacks.

Amano and Hawaiian volcano shrimp are brackish as far as I know.

Mollies are brackish water fish. Need a hydrometer or refractometer (more expensive, more accurate) for measuring salinity.

Anubia, hornwort, java fern, water sprite are good in brackish water.

Figure 8 puffers are also good in brackish, and I think would do fine in an understocked 20g long. Add snails for snacks. No shrimp cause I like shrimp more.

Hope that helps.

Anthony


----------



## ReillyP (Mar 2, 2016)

SeaHorse_Fanatic said:


> Puffer & shrimp = Puffer with expensive snacks.
> 
> Amano and Hawaiian volcano shrimp are brackish as far as I know.
> 
> ...





outsider said:


> Fahaka Puffer grow up to 1 feet 5 inch which is big no for 20 long. Figure 8 grow up to 3inch and most likely need 30 gallon tank.
> 
> Most plant you find is freshwater, some may be able to survive in brackish but i am not sure.
> 
> ...





AWW said:


> you should get an amazon puffer, they are small and still have personality. Plus they live in freshwater so then you can have plants and more fish options. They are hard to find though.





Me_and_rai said:


> As for plants, jungle Val and water Sprite do fine in brackish. I know there are others but not off the top of my head


thanks for all the advice everyone, I think if I do it, it would be a figure 8 with some livebeares (probably pineapple swordtails but not 100%) 
my questions are "How is that tank so overstocked yet this guy has been putting out videos on them for months with next to no lose and claims of water changes once a week" "If I were to buy some feeder shrimp for the puffer to test what he would do with them, introducing them while he is very well fed, If he were not to touch them could I expect him to not touch the shrimp after that or would he just eat them once he got hungry again?"

thanks again!


----------



## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

you can't never well fed a puffer so it won't touch shrimp. I would not judge by someone's video and say i can do the same because he did it. Try to stick with the norm and start slowly. Learn the signs if something goes wrong and you can quickly react to it. 20g is not a lot of water. Something goes wrong with water, it goes wrong really fast.


----------



## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Temporarily full stomachs can NOT compete with millennia of evolution that makes shrimp a puffers natural food source. Even if its stuffed, it'll be hungry in a few hours and will snack on those shrimp eventually. Probably sooner rather than later.

(Just because you see a video on Youtube of a lion adopting an antelope doesn't mean you can put the two animals together in a cage and expect there to be any outcome other than a bloody mess)


----------



## ReillyP (Mar 2, 2016)

charles said:


> you can't never well fed a puffer so it won't touch shrimp. I would not judge by someone's video and say i can do the same because he did it. Try to stick with the norm and start slowly. Learn the signs if something goes wrong and you can quickly react to it. 20g is not a lot of water. Something goes wrong with water, it goes wrong really fast.





SeaHorse_Fanatic said:


> Temporarily full stomachs can NOT compete with millennia of evolution that makes shrimp a puffers natural food source. Even if its stuffed, it'll be hungry in a few hours and will snack on those shrimp eventually. Probably sooner rather than later.
> 
> (Just because you see a video on Youtube of a lion adopting an antelope doesn't mean you can put the two animals together in a cage and expect there to be any outcome other than a bloody mess)


alright, I hear you guys loud and clear, it would probably end badly so don't do it. My next question is "Have any of you had experience with puffers? I've read that some can be really nasty to other fish were others (like stated above) wouldn't even touch ghost shrimp. Are their temperaments really that varied? "


----------



## wslam (Dec 14, 2015)

I keep pea puffers in my nano tank. Not sure if that's what you want to keep, but they're pretty aggressive to anything that moves. The safest way is to keep a puffer only tank. I do have shrimps in the tank as well but I had a few casualties. 

+1 for the Amazon Puffers I've read that they are more suited (as much as a puffer can be) to a community tank.


----------



## outsider (Jan 13, 2015)

There is no such thing as temporarily full stomach for puffer! .. (Well at least not for my pea puffer.) My Pea Puffer will take bite at every single snails she can find until she ran out snails. The substrate is covered with snails empty shell and become snails graveyard. The only snails stay alive in the tank are the one i put inside breeder box.

I love my pea puffer, she will check me out whenever I near the tank and hoping for food. However she stop to do that once I drop over hundred ramshorn snail, dwarf ramshorn snail in the tank. I guess she no longer need to beg for food. =_=


----------



## Me_and_rai (Jan 15, 2016)

I keep a 29 g pea puffer tank with 6 puffs and cherry shrimp. Under that tank I have a 10 g running to breed snails and cherry shrimp for food. The puffs can go weeks without bothering the shrimp and then one day poof they take down 3 or 4. The shrimp keep them entertained and occasionally fed. As for personalities there is definTely a pecking order in the tank. A dominant male and several alliances between the other puffs it seems.
I would have to agree with the other posters, I wouldn't trust a puffer with anything in their tank that isn't expected to be eaten eventually (except others of their own kind) Those sharp toothy beaks can do some damage!


----------



## mrbob (Aug 9, 2012)

I have a 65g long brackish tank full of Mono sebaes, 2 argentina sebaes, 2 black spot green puffers 2 gobys, 1xsilver tip shark and bunch of kribs trying to breed.

will consider selling all at right price never tried real plants.

salinity 1.004


----------

