True brackish rainbowfish

[Sligg]

Thanks in advance for reading and helping.

After receiving a rather annoying report from Anglia water on water hardness in my area.... the setup I was working on with a fast flowing mountain river tank has now been binned.

The hardness very much so exceeds what would be comfortable for the fish. I live in a flat in town, so methods like peat filtering are out of the question.... and I can't afford a RO unit (Yet!!!).

So after a little digging I discovered a lovely article on hard water fish keeping and learnt that the water parameters I have are perfect for keeping brackish tanks.... Harder the better in most cases. (Can provide website at request).

Mixed blessings, as while this is my first tank (I'm a little nervous about adding salt), it does mean that I can keep... the fish that sparked the desire in me to get an aquarium. The violet dragon goby (Gobioides broussonnetii)!

Alongside with some bumblebee gobys (Brachygobius, the small 1inch ones) this is my stocking plan so far....

So why am I posting in the rainbow fish thread?

Basically I'm looking for another type of community fish that will mix well with these two... many books and websites point towards various rainbow fish but I find little compelling evidence of any TRUE 24/7 brackish rainbow fish.

Merely, that they sometimes visit brackish areas... Now I don't know about you. But I sometimes visit my freezer, doesn't mean I want to live in there.

So the question really is... are there any rainbow fish which would thrive alongside the dragon goby and bumblebee goby?

(Or any other observations on the two fish mentioned, the brackish aquarium in general or anything at all really).

Thank you again!

[Sligg]

Ah can't seem to edit...

If you feel this question is better posted in the brackish section please say.

I considered posting it there originally but seeming as my main question was solely aimed at the rainbow fish I decided against it and posted here.

Thanks!

Sligg~

[jonny5]

there are no retail available true brackish rainbowfish. Even the widely toted brackish celebs rainbow is actually just tolerant of brackish waters. There are some of the smaller rainbowfish like black mast or pacific blue eyed rainbows that are brackish (i think they are actually atherines or something like that)

but as for what we commonly refer to as rainbows, not really any. However, there are certain rainbowfish which are much better suited for light brackish than some of there other brethren.

Go to google and type in brackish forum, the first one that comes up is a forum that is very useful, neale monks on that site is your man.

edit, certain fish like monos and "freshwater" moray eels, and green spotted puffers require high end brackish.
Lucky for you a dragon goby while fine at higher salinities should be OK at a fairly low 1.003sg, and so would a few types of rainbowfish. But go over 1.005sg and your pushing it for your rainbows.

[Lady Hobbs]

I know of no brackish rainbows. They are easy to spawn and I think most are tank raised in fish farms and not that many imported from natural waters anymore. I hear of them more in blackwater Amazon tanks but never in brackish.

[Sligg]

Thank you very much for your answers. That was the conclusion I was boiling down towards and you've just verified it for me.

It would seem if I didn't stock the Bumblebee gobys (for fears of them being eaten) I would have access to a more diverse range of fish.

May go with Scats and Monos... I hear Archer fish can be tricky to keep so I'll give them a bit of a wide berth for the time being. Although if it's just a matter of them being picky feeders I can probably accommodate....

Either way that's a conversation for the brackish section of the forums.

Thank you again!

[jonny5]

true but just FYI, it is possible to mix certain rainbows with a dragon goby, as long as salinity is low, its a good match. dragon gobies will not eat your bubble bee gobies, they are sifter....not sure about the rainbows though.