Good fish for brackish water?

Question

I've had an 18 gallon hexagonal brackish water tank for about 5 years. It's had a vast array of different types of fish, everything from puffers to crabs. However, now I am down to just an algae eater, which is quite large. I would have no trouble removing him (as my local pet store accepts trade-ins), so I am pretty open to put anything in. Any suggestions of fish that would be attractive or interesting? How do lobsters/crayfish do in brackish? Knifefish?

Answer 1

Brackish tanks are more unique because fewer people keep them. Unfortunately, most of the fish species require 30 gallon or larger tanks. The ones that would do well in your tank as adults are those that are considered more "freshwater" by most aquarists - guppies and mollies. Other than these, some of the smaller gobies would be your best bet.

A hexagonal tank has less surface area and more "height" - this combination makes it harder to provide oxygen to the bottom of the tank and means you can't stock as heavily as a longer, low tank. So even with mollies & guppies, you'd only be able to keep maybe 4-5 mollies (not the sailfins, they'll get too big, but lyretails or balloons), 6-8 guppies, or 1-2 gobies (depending on gender). I wouldn't try cichlids as most species will outgrow the size of your tank rather quickly.

If you're really interested in starting a brackish tank, there are several brackish puffers (dwarfs are not one of them - these are a freshwater species), plus my favorites, monos and scats. I'd just recommend using a larger tank for keeping them.
These sites have species profiles and brackish tank info:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1944&articleid=3299
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/
http://www.peteducation.com/category_summary.cfm?cls=16&cat=1944
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?pCatId=954

Answer 2

Well if you ask me i would say scats & monos, but they schooling fish, and get quite large, you would need a good sized tank say 350 liter but the most common brackish water fish are mollies and guppies, they can be kept in marine tanks too! there are also the more unusual tank mates like fiddler crabs, mud skippers, and the most unusual of all the four eyes (if you forgive the name!) these must have a piece of land though. Oh! and there are puffer fish to.(which are realy cool!). Good luck with your brackish tank! and happy fishkeeping!

Answer 3

Cichlids from africa are all brackish fish. Unfortunatly your fish tank isn't really big enough for any of them due to the size most get. You could try maybe a trio of Yellow labs (1M-2F) or even 1 "wet pet" which is a single fish in a tank, where if you were to do this you could pic from a bunch of different fish. Maybe try the website "Cichlid-forum.com" it has TONNES of information on cichlids.
Good luck.

Answer 4

Crawfish need mud to burrow in, but I would get the dwarf catfish variety. They can be tough to find, but they do great in brackish water. Dogfish and Knifefish do ok top.

Answer 5

Mollies are brackish, but they get kind big for a hex. As its a hex tank, stock it as you would a 10 gallon square tank. No dragonfish or anything else enormous.

Answer 6

When I switched my saltwater tank to fresh, I put African Cichlids in the tank. I kept the same substrate, so the water was still brackish when they were introduced. As long as you aclimate them slowly, they can do quite well in brackish water.

Answer 7

my roommate has a dragon fish which creeps me out but is honestly a neat looking fish. I think they like brackish water. or a rope eel or dinosaur eel. those all personally creep me out but are really neat looking. go look at a good pet store and ask questions. that's their job.

Answer 8

Try a scat. They have a good personality for a fish. One or two in an 18 gal. tank

Answer 9

There are lots of types of puffers that live in brackish water and they are very cool and unique. Actually, they are so awesome, I almost converted a whole tank just so I could get them.

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/puf-fig8.htm
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/puf-fluv.htm
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/puf-nigr.htm

Enjoy!!

Answer 10

Dwarf Puffers! I have one of those and he will follow your finger on the glass and also if you put it in the water he will follow it. Also, try a Fiddler Crab, those are good, too.