Live Rock / Coral In Brackish Water

[voo]

Hi,
I've got a figure 8 puffer that's kept in brackish water, around 1.004. Would i be able to put live rock in this (and keep it alive) ? Would any hardy corals stay alive with a salinity this low?

Thanks

 

[andywg]

The actual "life" on the live rock would perish, and corals would too as they cannot handle the change in salinity to that level. Most corals won't like being as low as 1.018, but LR does seem to manage at that level quite happily.

I am unsure if long term it could be a good idea. LR works by having anoxic zones for the de-nitrifying bacteria to colonise. In theory some lower salt tolerant bacteria should eventually propogate in the rock and provide good filtration, though most brackish tanks are stocked heavier than marines.

 

[AMS]

Simply it can't be done at your low SG. 1.004 is practically freshwater, nothing marine will survive at this SG, not even microalgae or bacteria. If you want to aid the filtration in your tank add some plants, I wrote a pinned topic on brackish plants at the top of the brackish forum, check it out if your interested.

 

[voo]

Thanks for the replies, it was something i was just curious about and thought i'd ask as i know nothing about marine tanks.
The filtration seems to be ok so far, there's just the one F8 in the tank, however there is some brown algae growing on the heater

Thanks Again

 

[AMS]

Consider yourself pretty lucky if you only have algae on your heater in a brackish tank