possible brackish/marine tank

[vantgE]

Hi i'm a freshy but hoping to do a green spotted puffer tank, which will start off brackish and end up almost marine,

First of all is there an area sg wise that is can be brackish or marine? kind of like in a grey area in between where I could save money and try out a few cool salt things

I was thinking that once the puffers are up to their marine size I'd try a piece of live rock, would this work in a low sg marine tank or high sg brackish tank?
And are there marine plants? specifically marine plants that might work in a brackish watter tank

Also the above would be classified as a FOWLR tank?

Does this mean I need any expensive marine equipment? protien skimmers? Lights? what will I need over a Brackish aquarium.

Do surface skimmer atachments for canister filters help similarily as protien skimmers?

Any related terms or topics I should look into for a better understanding?

Thanks for whatever you can give me

 

[chkltcow]

I've never kept brackish, BUT.... here's what I know.

CFC said that normal venturi style protein skimmers don't work on brackish tanks. The bubbles aren't small enough. If you want to run a tank under about 1.021 SG, you'll need some type of protein skimmer that uses an air pump and limewood block. That's the only way to produce bubbles small enough.

For lighting, you don't really need much. In fact, I'd say less would be better. You're not trying to keep corals in there, so all you'd really be growing under high light is algae. Not good. Keep the lighting somewhat subdued, maybe a normal 40w flourescent strip or something.

There are no marine plants except algaes. You could try caulerpa or another macroalgae, but I don't know how well it would grow in low SG. *shrug*

Oh, and the skimmers for canister filters, I like them, but they don't do a whole lot. They cut down on surface film that sometimes forms if you don't have enough surface movement... but other than that, no benefit.

 

[Dragonscales]

I think mangroves would be a good choice of plant for such a tank. Their roots would provide cover for the fish and also aid in removing excess nutrients from the water. You would need to provide adequate lighting for them however and prune them back periodically (especially if you don't have alot of vertical room). It would be well worth the effort though.