8 replies to this topic

[MattMudCrab]

So I have been trying to find out what species can thrive in a SG of 1.012 or above. I have set up a small tank with one Striped blenny Chasmodes bosquianus, one naked goby Gobiosoma bosc, one clingfish Gobiesox strumosus and several Mud crabs Panopeus herbstii. I do plan to upgrade to at least a 29 gallon but possibly 55. These were all collected at 1.012. As far as I can tell they can go higher SG but not much lower. I am not finding a lot of options for fish to occupy the open water areas of the tank. Sheepshead minnows, mollies are about all I have found. I dont mind changing the salinity later or lowering if I had to. I would want something that wouldnt want to eat my crabs. Right now I have a large school of grass shrimp occupying this space but I know they wont live for too long. Of course this is after I upgrade the tank size.

Edited by MattMudCrab, 16 August 2020 - 06:31 PM.

[Chasmodes]

Hey Matt, welcome to NANFA!  I've collected all of the species mentioned from 1.009-1.019 SG.  Thanks for visiting my YT channel.  I am pretty sure they can all live in full saltwater.  In addition to the species that you've mentioned, I've collected rainwater killifish, mummichogs, four-spined sticklebacks.  Striped killifish prefer saltier water but can be found from 1.015 SG up to full saltwater.  There probably are other killies too.  If you want to raise the salinity to near salt water, all of those species can survive in it.  There are a couple more goby species in the Chesapeake but I haven't collected them yet.  You can also find some tropical strays that venture into lower salinity waters (on the high range of brackish) such as the spotted burrfish, porcupinefish, and the spotfin butterflyfish.  There is another blenny common to the Bay that can be found in a large salinity range, the feather blenny (Hypsoblennius hentz), although I have yet to collect one of those recently.  I caught one years ago near Solomon's Island.  

 

There are also a couple pipefish species that you can collect, but they need live food.  You can also collect seahorses.  But neither of these would do well IMHO with the more aggessive species listed above.

 

If you do a search on the net for "Chesapeake Bay Species List 2007" you will find a PDF that I've found useful.

 

As far as dither fish, the rainwater killies seem to fit that niche in my current tank.

[MattMudCrab]

My only problem is I dont foresee me getting to be able to collect anything for a long time. Vacations are something I only can do every so many years. I did locate a few online places offering sheepshead minnows, golden topminnows, and fundulus notatus.

[swampfish]

I have kept several killifish in brackish to marine water. I kept my brackish setup with a specific gravity of 1.012 - 1,014 out of ignorance. With my never having lived near an ocean and finding nothing on brackish salinity in books at the time, I assumed that brackish must be halfway between freshwater and marine, so that's why I picked that SG. I have kept gulf killifish and sheepshead minnows at that salinity for years. I kept longnose killifish and diamond killifish at that salinity for a few weeks while my marine water pH cycled. All were caught in brackish water, and most in shore areas of the Gulf of Mexico where the SG read 1.001 - 1.004. I was shocked at how fresh it was; I assume there is movement of the fish to higher salinity areas of the Gulf during the day.

 

Gulf killifish are commonly sold as live bait fish. Mummichogs are as well and should easily handle that SG. I've seen longnose killifish in bait tanks also in coastal areas, usually as by catch, but bait dealers will commonly catch or let you catch their oddballs. 

 

My understanding is that golden topminnows are found in brackish water, but I have never caught them in any but freshwater. I doubt that blackstripe topminnows tolerate brackish water.  Aquabid sometimes has saltwater and brackish killies for sale. 

 

Phil Nixon

Illinois

[MattMudCrab]

Oh the diamond killifish is very cool. The mummichog was the only small fish I could catch. I thought about bringing some back. But they seemed to be like little piranhas. I was worried they would tear everything apart.

[Chasmodes]

Mummichogs get pretty beefy, but are pretty docile to everything except each other, and even then, they really don't do much damage.  Actually, striped blennies, even small ones, will dart out of their shells and attack mummichogs and sheepshead minnows, causing some tail damage on even the largest of mummichogs.  But, mummichogs are so durable that they can pretty much withstand anything.  I think that if there ever was a nuclear holocaust, mummichogs will survive right alongside cockroaches, they are that tough.

 

I actually never had much of a problem with mummichogs in my tank, but I've witnessed that specific striped blenny behavior in other tanks.

 

With mummichogs, and probably all coastal killies, make sure you QT and treat them for diseases prior to adding them to your display tank.  I personally would do that even if I bought them from a vendor.  They seem to be ich magnets.  They are so tough that they seem to be able to withstand the infection, but they spread the diseases to other fish.  I treat mine with copper, and at least 2 weeks at the therapeutic level, and follow that with 2 days of Prazipro treatment.  So far, that seems to have been a good working formula for me.

[MattMudCrab]

I spent a lot of time while I was there observing things before I attempted to collect anything. And I noticed As the tide came in the Shoreline with bubble with what appeared to be dozens of mummichogs Scouring the newly flooded mud bottom looking for whatever morsel they can find. And I looked at my pile of oyster shells covered in a little anemones and barnacles and decided to leave them be.

[MattMudCrab]

However listening to what youre saying about the blenny which absolutely is my favorite fish in the tank, I may just leave it like it is let him be the star of the tank. It would probably be easier just to order
The grass shrimp these places are selling a salt water feeders to replenish my shrimp when they die. I mean I currently have one large tank with a flower horn by himself, another tank with a severum and a few hidden catfish. So display tanks with one main fish is ok by me. For that matter I could go out to my water garden in the yard and convert some of my mosquito fish over if I wanted some more movement up top.

[Chasmodes]

Matt, did you see my PM?