How to Make an Aquarium Brackish

Sea and fresh water mix where outward flowing rivers enter the ocean. Mangrove swamps, estuaries and salt marches form in these brackish water environments, where the water is partly fresh and partly saline. An amazing diversity of creatures, fish including gobies, scats, a number of livebearers and monos, inhabit these environments. The aquarist can successfully house many of these interesting species in a brackish water aquarium, which is exciting to keep and relatively easy to maintain.

Things You'll Need

  • 20-gallon aquarium, complete with canopy and lights
  • Aragonite sea sand
  • Three pieces of driftwood
  • Chlorine neutralizer
  • Synthetic sea salt
  • Hydrometer
  • Aquarium heater
  • Large canister filter, incorporating mechanical, biological and chemical filter material
  • PH test kit
  • PH booster agent
  • Five scats
  • Thermometer
  • Five bumble-bee gobies
  • Three mollies or scats
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place a sufficient amount of pre-washed aragonite sea sand into a 20-gallon aquarium to create a depth of 1.5-inches at the rear. Slope the substrate to form a depth of 1-inch at the front of the tank. Uneaten food and other organic debris will work its way down the slope and accumulate toward the front, where it can be removed.

    • 2

      Place three pieces of attractively shaped driftwood onto the aragonite.

    • 3

      Fill the aquarium with tap water and add aquarium chlorine remover, as much as specified by the instructions on the bottle for 20 gallons, to the tank.

    • 4

      Add 2 tablespoons of synthetic salt per gallon to the aquarium. Use a hydrometer to check the specific gravity of your water, which should be 1.010. Replace evaporated water with fresh, as the salt does not evaporate.

    • 5

      Set the thermostat on an aquarium heater to read between 80 and 82 degrees F and place the heater into your aquarium. Plug the heater into a power supply and turn it on. Place a thermometer into the aquarium and check the temperature every few hours to ensure that the heater is operating correctly. Adjust the temperature of the thermostat as needed until the tank is at the appropriate temperature.

    • 6

      Remove the lid of the canister filter and place biological, chemical and mechanical filter material into the filter. Replace the lid, plug the filter into a power supply and turn it on.

    • 7

      Use a dip-and-read pH test kit to determine the pH of the aquarium water, which should read between 7.5 and 8.3. Use an aquarium pH booster agent to increase the pH, if required.

    • 8

      Wait until the aquarium water has reached the desired temperature and pH level and add five bumble-bee gobies to the aquarium. Allow the biological filter to mature for a week before adding additional fish, such as mollies and juvenile scats

    • 9

      Feed the fish on tiny pieces of fresh or frozen shrimp and live brine shrimp, which are available from your local pet dealer.