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Hi All

I am setting up a molly species tank intending to go brackish. Currently, the tank is 40 gallons, set-up with 50 pounds of Aragonite sand (dry, not live sand), some lava rock and a few silk plants, and water obviously

I pre-seeded the tank with some sponges I had "percolating" in another freshwater tank the past three weeks. Tonight, I added two, small, black mollies to help with the final cycling.

I added some salt (Instant Ocean), not a lot, (premixed with distilled water before adding to the tank) at about 2 full teaspoons for the 40 gallons. I know this won't be nearly enough salt but since I am not done stocking, I don't want to go all the way to brackish just yet. Once I get done stocking, I'll do a full on, over a period of time, conversion.

My question, however, is stocking amounts. Freshwater goes with 1 inch of adult fish per gallon, saltwater is one inch per 3 gallons. Does anyone know the stocking rate for brackish? I'd like to add at least 6 more normal sized mollies of different colors (a pair of each color or lyretail), and possibly one or two pairs of sailfins.

Then again, I saw a bumble bee goby today.......hmmmmmm

The other question is which test kit to use on brackish...fresh or salt?



Many tanks; fresh, brackish and salt

Quite a few test kits do both fresh and salt, so that should solve that

I'd stock at FW rates given that esentially the setup sounds like a FW system with some salt in it rather than your standard SW reef-type arrangement HOWEVER mollies are a bit large to fit that rule of thumb, so err on the side of understocking.



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Hi,
Here is a site that may help you as you convert
your freshwater tank into a brackish water tank.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/brackish/brackish.html

And for plants, here is another site:
http://www.azgardens.com/c-63-brackish-aquarium-plant-habitat-packages.aspx

Hope these help...
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

When people give stocking rates for freshwater and saltwater, the reason isn't because of the water, but because of the biology of the fishes that live in those waters. Saltwater fish in general need more room. Mollies should be fine at the same stocking that you would do them in freshwater.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.