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Our Brackish Aquarium Page
After having a freshwater aquarium for a year now, we were looking for something a little different. Trips to pet stores revealed very cool fish like puffers, scats, and gobies, most of which we never considered before because they are brackish - meaning they are between fresh and saltwater, and not for the beginner. But they are so cool looking we decided to try a small 20 gallon setup for a light brackish tank.
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Kribensis Cichlid, not usually a brackish fish but after doing some
online research, I found they enjoy light brackish conditions. (Deceased) |
 Figure
8 Puffer |
The krib and Puffers seem to get along fine so far... |
More shots of the puffers. We got three total. |
Peacock Spiney eel... also not usually brackish but we are acclimating
two spiney eels to a light brackish environment. |
These pics can be decieving but the puffers are only about 1.25"
long. |
The other Spiney Eel. Not sure which one, was just called a spiney eel.
I have seen references to Tire Track and Zig Zag eels that look like
this eel though. (Deceased) |
F
M
There is a lot of confusion with brackish tanks and brackish fish. The more research I did the more confusion I found. In natural brackish settings the water conditions can vary widely and on top of that some fish actually live in one water type and then move to the other. For example, some brackish fish go to freshwater to spawn or vice versa. In general however, I determined that many fish can be acclimated to light or normal brackish waters, and most are sold as freshwater in pet stores for simplicity. Some fish, like Mollies, are sold as freshwater but can actually be acclimated to full marine conditions.
Here is a quick list of some fish that can be housed in brackish aquariums:
Commonly
seen fish for mildly brackish water, SG of 1.005 or below
Mollie, Poecilla sphenops
Sailfin mollie, Poecilia velifera
Kribensis, Pelvicachromis pulcher
Glass fish, Chanda ranga
False tiger datnoid, Coius microlepis
Nandus, Nandus nandus
Celebes rainbowfish, Telmatherina ladigesi
Peacock spiney eel, Macrognathus aculeatus
Tyre track eel, Mastacembelus armatus
Fire eel, Mastacembelus erythrotaenia
Freshwater pipefish, Enneacampus asorgii
Figure eight puffer, Tetradon biocellattus
Violet/dragon goby, Gobioides broussonetii
Bumble bee goby, Brachygobius doriae
Commonly
seen fish for strong brackish water, SG of above 1.005
Silver datnoid, Coius quadrifasciatus
Finger fish/mono, Mondactylus argenteus
Sebae mono, Psettus sebae
Scat, Scatophagus argus argus
Archer fish, Toxtes jaculatrix
Four eyes fish, Anablep anablep
Spotted goby, Dorminator maculatus
Knight goby, Stigmatogobius sadanundio
Boney snouted gudgeon, Butis butis
Giant freshwater pipefish, Microphis brachyurus aculeatus
Green spotted puffer, Tetradon nigriventris
Columbian shark catfish, Arius seemani
Berneys sharkcat, Hexanematichthys graeffei
Freshwater morray eel (goldspot and snowflake etc), Gymnothorax tile S
And also
- Sailfin
and other mollies (Mollienesia and Poecilia spp.)
- Monos
(Monodactylus spp.)
- Scats
(Scatophagus and Selenotoca spp.)
- Archerfishes
(Toxotes spp.)
- Pufferfishes
(family Tetraodontidae)
- Cichlids
(family Cichlidae)
- Garpikes
(family Lepidosteidae)
- Shark
catfishes (family Ariidae)
- Sleeper
gobies (family Eleotridae)
- Spiny
eels (family Mastacembelidae)
- Four
eyed fishes (Anableps spp.)
- Mudskippers
(Periophthalmus spp.)
- Orange
Chromide (Etroplus Maculatus)
- Siamese
Tiger Fish (Datnioides microlepis)
Fish suited for
small tanks:
- Killifishes
(family Cyprinodontidae)
- Bumblebee
and other Gobies (family Gobiidae)
- Glassfishes
(family Chandidae/Ambassidae)
- Pipefishes
(family Syngnathidae)
Celebes Rainbowfish (Telmatherina Ladigesi)
This webpage originally born on 7-18-04. Last updated on 7-19-04