New 5 Gallon (mildly) brackish progress

[sandypants]

This is the progress of the 5 gal. hexagon Eclipse that will eventually house my Pea Puffer (PeaTree) and BumbleBee Goby (Coby) and I'd like to make it SLIGHTLY brackish for the Goby (he was sold to me as FW but the more I read on these I really feel he would be better off in brackish). The puffer I am a bit baffled on, I've had him about 4 months and read conflicting info on if it should be FW or BW so I figured it would be best to gradually try a little aquarium salt and see how they like it.

I purchased the tank off of someone on craigslist (listed at $20 she took $15) said she had "two goldfish and two neons" in it and upgraded.

For now, keeping her bio-wheel and will cut up one of my AquaClear sponges to put in the top to get it cycled then purchase/cut my own filter media for this one.

Both fish are currently in my FW community 16 gallon. PeaTree nips fins if he doesn't get bloodworms or brine per day so I figure he and the community will be happier if I separate them. Puffer and goby don’t bother each other but I’ll keep an eye on them once in smaller quarters. My LFS always keeps these two breeds together. Both puffer and goby have learned to catch and eat fast so they get a share of food in community aquarium but are more “stalk and prey” method so they should be less stressed as well, being able to eat at their leisure.



So far... last night cleaned everything up with sponge (for acrylic tanks) added gravel and decor (going with fake plants in this one) one piece of c. 6" drift wood ($6 at my LFS) was boiled and is soaking out tannins and will be added later. Filled tank with FW. Replaced 15W incandescent light in hood with a 11W screw-in fluorescent bulb.

Will add mature media, no huge rush to get this going so fish and aquarium salt will go in later.

First time using an Eclipse aquarium, have heard good things. For the first couple minutes of filter turned on I could hear it but couldn't get water flowing, wasn't sure if water wasn't up high enough although it was covering bottom half of filter intake. After some playing around I got some to dribble through bio-wheel and began to wonder if it was clogged... just then tons of crap/junk/floaties/making-me-want-to-vomit stuff came out of filter and poured all around the tank.... makes me wonder how much that girl was feeding her fish and how well they were tended to... I took everything out, rewashed gravel and filter and blew hard into filter... EW. Another gob of stuff flew into my hand... after much more washing I got it to my liking and put everything back together. Currently just filtering. I'll keep an eye on it for a few days, add media etc....

First pic is of some of the stuff that came out of filter.
Second is everything together and water settling down.

[smaug]

Use marine salt at a level of 2 tbsp per gallon.If they were kept in fw at the lfs start with 1/4tbsp per gallon ,increase the salt 1/4tbsp per gallon every water change till 2tbsp per gal is reached.Feed your puffer some frozen krill 3-4 times a week,they love it and it is very good for them.Make sure he is getting crunchy food items to wear the chompers down as well.Baby pond snails are great.I get mine from my lfs for free.

[sanddigger]

I would suggest a hydro or refractor meter to measure the sp. I personally use the refractor to measure the sp. Gobies are, for the most part on the the low side .05-.08. Puffers can go anywhere from the low to marine. .015-.025.

I will add that BBG's like to be in a trio at least. It seems from your post your only have one.

[sandypants]

Thanks for the replies. I do only have one BBG right now. Figured a 5g couldn't accomate more than that.

As for the puffer, he gets snails about once a week. I have been having a heck of a time breeding them at home (of course, now that I WANT them around...) I have tried in small containers with green plants as well as putting them in with my betta hoping to get more and to no avail.... I feel bad having LFS dig around for them. Just found some on Aquabid I was going to buy.

So what was sold to me as "aquarium salt" won't work for brackish? Didn't know there was a dif. btwn that and marine salt.

[sanddigger]

Yes, when I want snails I can't get them to squat.:hmm3grin2orange:

The difference between marine and aquarium salt is marine is stronger and contains more mineral and elements. Aquarium salt is normally used for freshwater to help in diseases (such as ick) and to help reduce stress. Cichlid people probably use it the most. I used to use it in my African tank, about 1 teas. to every gal, but now I forget. I don't find the need for it. Some will debate that there is a need. It's a personal preference IMO. And Partly due to my other FW tanks I have cories and loaches that can't tolerate it at all.

And I think aquarium salt is taken from seas, marine is from oceans. 1 cup of marine to five gals. of H2O will give you a SG of about .08, but again that can depend on the brand you use. For my BW tank I buy what's on sale.

[sandypants]

Thanks sanddigger! Looks like a trip to the LFS will happen this weekend... for salt anyway! :)

[sandypants]

So next question... how much is marine salt?

sanddigger I saw your remark about "sale" and that made me think... anything that requires a lower price can't be that cheap! :)

[sanddigger]

It's all not that expensive since it's a BW tank and you don't use as much. I'm just one to always look for a bargain. Right now I'm using Marine salt from "Red Sea". It's a 15lb. bucket, if I remember correctly it was less than 20 bucks.

Used to live in A2 area, by Ford lake, Wiard's Orchards, it was free to get in then. Hubby came from A2 too. Great town, we go there as much as we can, always go to the Art fair to speak with some of the artists, buy some great art, and other times just for memories.

[sandypants]

*Update on Progress* 5 gallon has been up and running for about two weeks (already cycled thanks to mature media from my 16 g and some "used" fish water. Last week I had to cut a hole in the Eclipse top to get my heater in the water, my boyfriend helped me. In order to avoid cracking the plastic he heated up a Swiss Army Knife over the stove (use GOOD ventilation if you try this) and gently "cut" through as knife went through plastic. Had to heat knife (over gas stove- use common sense when doing this) and repeat like 20 times but now has a great fitted heater hole since Eclipse was lacking one.

Heater has been in water and is a balmy 80 degrees.
There is a small snail I added when I ordered some feeder snails for my puffer via Aquabid. Not sure what type it is but not the typical pest snail so I decided to put him in the 5g for awhile. Last night I decided it was a good time to acclimate Coby the goby :) I noticed water still had some remaining “gunk” from the filter so I re-cleaned gravel, changed out some of the water and re-heated to 80. I put Coby in a used “fish bag” and acclimated him to the water for about an hour and a half. This is the same water from his 16g so shouldn’t be any big differences but wanted to go slow. When I tipped him out of his bag he didn’t know what to do but soon began exploring and seems quite happy. I fed him some frozen blood worms and he ate a couple. thumbs2: A good sign. This morning I had to check on him and found him sleeping perched atop one of the large black rocks. I’ll keep an eye on him but he seems happy.

Currently small driftwood is still seeping tannins in a bucket, I boiled it again last night for about 2 hours. In a few days that should be done, I will add that and then the pea puffer and eventually start with the salt. Again no rush on anything.

[Dragon cqzzzzz<]

Wait...bumblebee gobies like to live in trios? Where did that come from?
My bumblebees have always been territorial and intolerant of each other. One of mine is in bad shape right now because the others nipped the heck out of her tailfin and bully her away from the food. In the past, I've had ones that starved to death because they chase each other away from food. Even when I had 5 spaced out in a 55 gallon, they squabbled.
Just speaking from my experience, I don't think keeping one alone would be bad for it.

[sandypants]

*Update* Sunday evening I intergrated my puffer into the 5 g. Wasn't sure how he would feel about down-sizing but that way he can eat at his own pace and the fish in the 16 g won't be as stressed. The goby is doing well although I felt like he was bored alone. He's perked up with Pea Tree in with him. So far they are doing well. When I come home they both seem a little pale though. Once I turn on the lights and feed them they color back up and swim around. I think they like attention. Right now just keeping an eye on them.

[kyryah]

Pea puffers are not brackish puffers. They are full freshwater. They will survive for a time in brackish water, but it will shorten their lifespan and they will not truly thrive.

http://dwarfpuffers.com/

Bumblebee gobies, on the other hand, are a brackish water fish that will not survive forever in FW. Your salinity should be a minimum of 1.005 and measured with a refractometer or hygrometer.

Kristina