5 gal brackish tank. Puffer tank possibly.

[samsung-401]

I would like to set up a 5 gallon brakish fish tank. I have no idea what to do. Can someone give me the whole set up process. I would like to put a puffer in it.

I have had no expierience what so ever with salt or brackish. So this is a completely new thing for me.

List of Supplys:
1. 5 gallon tank.
2. A small heater.
3. A lid, complete with light.
4. I have fine gravle, but would sand be a better choice.
5. I have not bought a filter yet, I have know idea what kind o buy. Or does it really not matter?
6. I know I need sakt but what kind do I need. Aquarium salt or Ocean salt?
7. Any thing else I need?

Also how much salt would I need to add for a 5 gallon tank? What happens to the salt in the water when I do water changes. How would I add new water with out messing up the salt content in the water.

Any help would be appreciated.

If there is anything I left out please make sure to add it.

 

[cutecotton]

well, i don' thave any expierence with brackish water either, but i've been reseraching lately becuase i want to do the same thing as you 5g for a puffer.

i read on a site that DWARF puffers are 100% freshwater, you can go to www.#### to see hwere that came from, so i don't know

anywyas, about the salt, the lfs guy told me that you need the coean salt, the kind that sw tank uses, not just your regular aqarium salt. As for how much, you'll need to get a hydrometer or something like that which tells you the salinity of your tank. for brackish ib elieve it was suppose to be at 1.008

that's all i know so far, but good luck anywyas

 

[appleblossom]

I've just set up my first brackish tank!

I bought a mirabello 30 with incorporated heater, filter and lighted hood which works great for me. The tank is right next to my bed and the filter is almost silent which is great. The tank has a 30l capacity.

CFC reccomends weighing out your salt to get the measurements right, but I am currently using 1 tablespoon per 7.5 litres (2 gal) which gives me an SG of 0.003.

You do have to use marine salt as it has essential mineral content that aquarium salt does not provide.

marine salt also does not dissolve as readily as normal salt and will need to be added to your water change water with your water conditioner then stirred or agitated with an air stone to get the salt to dissolve.

I have coral sand in my tank, there is something about using coral based substrates and buffers that I dont understand at all so you will have to ask someone else about that...

remember when doing water changes, to use water with salt already added to the same SG as that in your tank, but if you have any evaporation, use fresh water as although the water has evaporated, the salt will still be in the tank, and adding salt water will increase your SG.

Hope that helps!

 

[SirMinion]

Yes Dwarf puffers are 100% freshwater and there are no brackish puffers small enough to go in a 10 gallon tank.

IMO, the smallest tank you need for one puffer is 20 gallons.