Freshwater to brackish.

by **mzhantsche** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 4:47 pm

Im really intrested in a puffer. And it will need to be agressive because it will be in a tank with a bunch of fiddler crabs.

by **christofrontosa** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:00 pm

the puffer would probably eat your crabs. their teeth are very hard and their diet must consist of snails or crabs to break those teeth down or they grow to large and they can't eat. i have had to perform minor surgery on my green spotted a couple of times. anesthetizing him with clove oil and trimming his teeth with finger nail clippers. these fish are very interesting but you can't keep much with them. i have mine alone in a 46 gallon. mine is very aggressive and he will not allow anything in the tank with him.

by **stingraysrule** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 2:54 am

Yasher's advice is good.
I would say that is text book.
the brackish tank is the first tank I ever had and it has up for about 8 years.
The salinity has been anyplace from 1004. to 1010.
I don't really have any experience with fiddler crabs tho.
From what I understand..... brackish water comes from when salt water meets fresh water.
There is never really a "set" salinity in this area.
What I would do is find out what the "set" salinity is for fiddler crabs, and then use that for your guide.
Acclimating your fish to brackish is the key.
Now, with a figure 8 eating a fiddler..... I would say, if you get a small F8, with a crab that is bigger, you should be ok, but I am just taking a guess. My F8 is not aggressive, I even have a Molly that chases him around...
F8s do eat snails and such, but I would think they would only go after something that would fit in the size of their mouth, and not a crab so big...... but jdaks puffer goes crazy for big clams I think I read from him...
so who is to say.
Going from freshwater to brackish is not difficult.
Get a 5G Bucket. Pre make your water before you put it into the tank. Fill it with some water, get your salt level someplace between 1004, to 1010, and ACCLIMATE your fish with a drip system.
As for putting a bumblebee goby in there...... unfortunately, I learned the hard way, a F8 will eat 'em right
up, as wil a fiddler crab. My friend told me this when I wanted to add a few in my mudskipper tank.
I would definitely stick with a molly as so you do not have any problems..... there are no fish that can really go with a fiddler crab 100%, cept maybe a mudskipper. As yasher stated...... the fish are limited.

by **mzhantsche** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 8:34 pm

So i final got my crab tanks finished. I went to the LFS to get some fish to start the cycle. I needed really small fish that did well in brakish water. He suggested neion tetras. I put five in the tank. They suvived for about 48 hours. Woke up yesterday and they were all dead.

Two questions....
1. Were neion tetras good brakish water fish?
2. Do i need to cycle the tank to put only a group of red claw crabs in the tank?

by **tekneb** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 2:01 am

I've never heard of neon tetras being brackish water fish. In the wild they live in small freshwater streams very far away from the ocean. Brackish water fish live in estuaries or near a rivers entrance to the ocean, where the water is not freshwater but not as salty as the ocean. There are really very few brackish water fish, and if your going to cycle using fish, the only one I would suggest using is a Mollie. The rest are to pretty or to expensive, lol. And ammonia is poisonous to all animals that I am aware of, so I would say that you do still need to cycle even if its just crabs.

by **stingraysrule** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 3:38 am

OMG. Ok, first off.... neons are a blackwater fish.
That means they like low PH and NO SALT.
That is why they died.
And tekneb is correct on all accounts.
If you are going to use a fish to cycle your tank, you need to use a molly.
They are usually very hardy and will survive a cycle.
No offense, but whomever told you to put neon tetras in brackish water is a dumb ass, and seriously..... you only have to do a quick web search on neon tetras to find that out. Do not put 5 mollies in your tank.... why did you put 5 neons in your tank for a cycle? That amounts to one big fish!
and NO you do not need to cycle your tank for the crabs, but if you are going to add fish in there with the crabs than you do.

by **stingraysrule** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 3:40 am

by **tekneb** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 3:41 am

You don't need to cycle for crabs? That's so cool, why is that? Are crabs just that badass?

by **dream2reef** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 3:48 am

lol yea tetras aren't brackish. LFS will say sell and tell ya anything to get you to say I want that one. I've seen guppy's go brackish. Monos some cats. hmmm I seen a straight dude go brackish once. It's on youtube. Mollies are sweet and mean The only way I killed him is forgot he was in a cup with some salt treatment lol. He survived 3 tanks cycling and around 8 moves I had to keep separating him lol. I just want to get monos myself. I'd goggle around some and read some and google some more. say tankmates for fiddlers crabs or add brackish maybe idk?

by **mzhantsche** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 4:33 am

Yea talking to the Asian guy who has a bad accent i could see black water and brackish water easily confused. And yes probably will tell me anything to get me to Buy something.

Ok. So ill get the molly.

Heres pictures of my tank. Built everything myself. Thats a hand sticking out of the water on the left and a waterfall on the right.

Also i got two crabs to see how they do for a while. If they work out ok ill step it up to more. Can anyone tell what kind of crabs these are. They were called rainbow crabs but when i search rainbow crabs i get a different crab that is much larger. Ive never scene anything like them. Same size as red claw and have two small claws but they are purple and bluish. The picture does not do them justice.

Let me know what you guys think of my creation.

Freshwater to brackish.

31 posts • Page 2 of 4

Freshwater to brackish.

31 posts • Page 2 of 4