55 gallon Brackish Tank - Melvin the Violet (Dragon) Goby, Mollies, Guppies, and Platys

You can see him scooping the sand into his mouth and filtering it for the frozen bloodworm I just dumped in the tank. :) He also really likes Omega 1 small sinking pellets.

The water is brackish (about 2-3 teaspoons marine salt per gallon of water) at about 1.007 specific gravity. Specific gravity is just a measurement of how salty the water is. Temp is mid-high 70s.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• brackish
• aquarium
• violet
• dragon
• goby
• fish
• feeding
• sand
• substrate
• filter
• mollies
• guppies
• platys

[Xns5560]

Video A plus fish A plus

[iloveengl]

@Xns5560 Thank you!

[phillykidd15]

do u put aquarium salt in or du u just keep him in freshwater.pls answer asap.

[iloveengl]

@phillykidd15 Neither freshwater, nor aquarium salt. They need to be kept in water that contains marine salt. It's the type of salt used in saltwater tanks, but you don't add as much. Aquarium salt does not contain all of the necessary minerals and such that marine salt contains. (This is probably too late to answer this question for you, but someone else may find it useful.)

[UkNoWiTWoRdGMaN]

awesome!

[iloveengl]

@UkNoWiTWoRdGMaN

Oh, thank you! I do adore that dragon gobby.

[iloveengl]

@kcamerons True that saltwater ICH exists, but it exists at a much higher salinity than freshwater ICH, and will not survive the low level salinity of low-level brackish water that dragon gobies should be kept in. I've heard of heat-resistant ICH, but not salt resistant freshwater ICH. I would be very interested to read more about it if you have an informational link. Those kind of super parasites are scary, indeed.

[iloveengl]

@barccy Yes, I have ghost shrimp in there. They do great. Nerite snails are another option, if you're looking for inverts.

[kcamerons]

@iloveengl there are different kinds of ick. even saltwater ick and salt resistant ick

[barccy]

I didn't know that platies could tolerate that S.G. . I was thinking about trading them out for guppies or more mollies if I went brackish, but now I'll probably keep them. Do you know if ghost shrimp will live do well in those conditions?

[iloveengl]

@waldorodriguez1

If he is in brackish water, then there are two other likely possibilities.

1. The goby is with semi-aggressive or aggressive fish that are causing him to feel scared to move about.

2. Dragon Gobies are nocturnal and VERY skittish. They feel more comfortable with just a little light in their tank. I feed mine with the lights off and then watch from across the room.

Let me know if he still has ick, even with the salt in the water.

[iloveengl]

@waldorodriguez1

Are you adding salt to his water? Ick cannot survive brackish water, which is what your goby should be in. (Brackish water just means slightly salty water). Add 1 tablespoon of aquarium or sea salt per 5 gallons of water. He may not be eating because he feels ill from not having the salt in his water.