lil question

[GypoCichlid]

i see the word brackish alot wen refering to sum types of tanks and fish..wat odes brackish mean...is it non-moving water?
:confused: :confused:

[punkypuffer]

brackish water is where a river would meet an ocean, so the salt level is somewhere between fresh and saltwater. :)

[GypoCichlid]

ooooh....wouldnt that make it very difficult to keep track of salt levels for those hu have brackish tanks

[punkypuffer]

well, in areas where the river meets the ocean, the salt level is constantly changing with the tides, etc. most of the fish are well adjusted to these fluctuations

edit- i guess i should change what i said. the fluctuations in salinity cannot be too great, a change of .002 is max IME. i've kept brackish tanks before and it became so routine to check i didn't realise how much work it really was... haha

[GypoCichlid]

i c...im guessing from ur name that u keep puffers

if u do...would u be able to tell me their pros and cons?

[punkypuffer]

i only keep freshwater puffers personally. Bevoman has several types also :)

pros
- extremely personable fish.. like a dog almost (very big pro!)
- its cool to watch them eat
-they impress my friends when they come over to our apt.

cons
-many should be kept alone or only with other puffers. they are notorious fin nippers and are ambush predators (not all of them, but several are).
-they require a somewhat special diet, requiring bloodworms, blackworms, clams, snails, crayfish, etc (pellets and flakes need not apply)
-the mbu and fahakas get very large and require a very large tank
-they could be considered "dirty" because of their diet, so large water changes (around 50% a week) is ideal
-brackish water species are a lil more sensitive to "drastic" changes in their environments. a salinity change of .002 is the max you would want to fluxuate IME (ideally a brackish tank keeper should check the salinity daily or so)

IMO, the pros vastly outweigh the cons.... but you have to be willing to give them a proper diet and very clean water.

[GypoCichlid]

i c wat u mean...but im very impressed that there are ppl out there that go for the harder varieties...kepp up the good work...i think im gonna wait a while till i buy a puffer

[bevoman]

Excellent synopsis Punky!

[punkypuffer]

thanks bevo!