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 LA Scatophagus argus. Ask your Greek friends what "scato" means There is a renewed interest lately in things a bit “out of the ordinary” in the aquatic world. People come into Aqualand looking for something exciting, something rare, something weird -- something other than the run-of-the-mill neon tetra or angelfish. There are several categories of fishes that will fit this bill. One is a category lumped together not by inter-relatedness, or taxonomy, but by environment: the brackish water fishes. There are several different species of brackish water fishes -- some are colorful, some ugly, some stately, some comical, some frankly odd. Before we go into detail about the critters themselves, though, let’s talk about their preferred environment and their care and keeping.
Judy Cook, Spokane, WA, October 19, 2007
Greetings- I love your website so much. I wish that you did ship
because I would totally buy from you. Our local choices are either
Box stores or the local pet shop with tanks that look like sewer
treatment plants. Much of what we get comes from mail order.
But I very often refer to your site, especially on issues of
compatibility and it's just great to read. And also the infusoria
info has been a light bulb solution for us too. You're all
informative and I just wanted to say Thank You for posting all the
information. It's a great resource for even us non-Iowans.
I was reading the Brackish pages the other day. We got some
Mudskippers and wanted to see what might be compatible with them.
They do tussle with each other somewhat, but aren't too bad now.
The fish don't really spend much time in the water. It's a big tank
and a lot of water area too, so we were thinking about tank mates.
So reading your mudskipper experience was just great. Thank you for
sharing.
One bit of info I wanted to pass along to possibly add to your page
and to your available stock, if you stock Brackish fish
regularly for your customers to purchase. We're using these snails
-- Olive Nerites or Olive Snails, Neritima reclivata.
Mature ones are dime to nickel sized and they thrive in brackish
water. They are unbelievable vacuums too. I'm actually amazed
myself at how well they do. They also make great (perfect) food
for puffers.
We found them through mail order, but I've seen them in more places
now. Many sell them as freshwater snails. We use them in
freshwater tanks too, because they are the very best tank cleaning
snails that do not eat plants. And in freshwater they will not
breed. (They do still lay eggs, but these have never hatched.) In
brackish they thrive and do multiply well if there's too much
nutrients. (Or free puffer food for those with puffers.) Even
though they are a brackish snail, they do live well in fresh. Any
that die get snagged by a fish. (If they've come from a brackish
source, they have to be acclimated to fresh. And as I see that many
sources sell this species as fresh, I'm sure those would have to be
gradually acclimated back to brackish.)
Anyway, wanted to pass long about the snails. They work so well in
fresh (no eating plants or multiplying), but since there's such a
limitation on bio agents for brackish conditions, we've really found
them to be perfect.
And again, thank you very much for posting your website. We love
it.
A: Thanks for the kudos and the info. I'll try to find some way to work it into the brackish pages. I've had the nerites before but their eggs never hatched. Now I know why. Thanks. LA Environmental Quality. Brackish water is a term describing the conditions that occur at the mouths of rivers where they meet the ocean (estuaries). In other words, brackish water is a sort of intermediate condition, neither fully saltwater nor freshwater. These conditions are usually far less stable than those found in the ocean itself or within rivers. If flooding occurs upstream, the concentration of salts or salinity, will drop at any given point in the estuary. Likewise, if a drought occurs, the salinity increases. Estuaries are among the most fertile of aquatic environments. The constant mixing of fertilizing nutrients from streams and the trace elements of the ocean, and the constant stirring provided by currents and tides, and the shallowness of the water (providing excellent light penetration) create a perfect habitat for organisms that can exploit these conditions without succumbing to the instability of this environment. Thus, many brackish water organisms are omnivorous, to take advantage of the wide range of available foods.
Salt Level. Brackish water as applied to aquaria means different things to different people. Thus, it is often that one person’s brackish water tank is set up quite differently from another’s. I have seen successful brackish water tanks that had a concentration of one teaspoon of ordinary pure salt per gallon, with no attention paid to pH levels. I have also seen successful setups in which a quality marine mix had been used to a salinity of 1.010 (just under half that of seawater) with crushed coral used as gravel, to keep pH at 8.2.
pH Level. I don’t tend to worry too much about pH, since this, too, varies in the natural environment. A word of advice: if you decide to vary the salinity, use a hydrometer for accuracy, and although brackish water fish often undergo much more rapid changes in the wild, it is safest in the aquarium to allow no greater change than 0.001 in a 24-hour period. Keep in mind that under natural conditions a fish can travel to remain at the level of salinity it is most comfortable with, if a salinity change in a given location is too rapid for its comfort. There is no escape in your aquarium.
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