# Brackish thoughts and Questions



## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

I just picked up a 60 gal corner tank that I plan on making brackish and I am going to keep mollies and Hawaiian Volcano Shrimp in it. My questions pertain to live rock. Will live rock keep working as a filter at a salinity level of 1.011? Is it worth it to add it to this tank? Since the shrimp are from volcanic areas I also plan on using some lava rock in the tank. Since lava rock is very much similar to base rock in that it is porous, will lava rock act like live rock and become a filter as well?


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Both the mollies and the shrimp can be converted to 1.025 salinity


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

This is true but I have a reef tank already and do not want to go that high.


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

darkangel66n said:


> I just picked up a 60 gal corner tank that I plan on making brackish and I am going to keep mollies and Hawaiian Volcano Shrimp in it. My questions pertain to live rock. Will live rock keep working as a filter at a salinity level of 1.011? Is it worth it to add it to this tank? Since the shrimp are from volcanic areas I also plan on using some lava rock in the tank. Since lava rock is very much similar to base rock in that it is porous, will lava rock act like live rock and become a filter as well?


Sadly, the "Lava rock" that you can buy at places like Big Al's and Betz Cut Stone, is not actual volcanic rock. My understanding of it is that it is actually some sort of byproduct of refined metal production.

Also, I'm pretty certain live rock will not work/die at such a low salinity. For a brackish tank, you just run it like a freshwater tank but keep a high salinity. AFAIK that's all there is to it.









volcanic rock









lava rock (not volcanic)


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

Thanks. I knew it was run as a freshwater tank but I have extra live rock and I wondered if it would work. So no live rock and no lava rock.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Those shrimp also have a diet of cyano and algae


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## wildexpressions (May 3, 2010)

I have no experience doing brackish with live rock but the experience I do have suggests that I would expect no issues doing it.

I have run a 1000 gal fresh water breeding system using a traditional saltwater sump system and live rock. The only thing missing from a typical saltwater filtration system was a protein skimmer It worked well and ran for several years. 

I used lava rock that is sold for barbecues. It is relatively cheap and easy to come by. I bred rift lake cichlids with that system. 

I did find that the bacteria colonies are a little slower to populate the system but beyond that it worked the same. For a good portion of the time the system was operating I ran large wet/dry bio ball chamber and that worked quit well too. 

I can think of no reason to run a brackish system with inhabitants that can live comfortably in salt except to experiment.


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

There will be other fish that could not live in full salt water. This is giving them all an acceptable water to live in.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

mollies can live in SW very well.


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## teemee (Aug 29, 2009)

I've heard of people keeping those shrimp with Hippocampus zosterae - they're very small, and pretty!


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

Yes but bumblebee gobies and featherfin rainbows can not live in full salt.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

darkangel66n said:


> I just picked up a 60 gal corner tank that I plan on making brackish and I am going to keep mollies and Hawaiian Volcano Shrimp in it. My questions pertain to live rock. Will live rock keep working as a filter at a salinity level of 1.011? Is it worth it to add it to this tank? Since the shrimp are from volcanic areas I also plan on using some lava rock in the tank. Since lava rock is very much similar to base rock in that it is porous, will lava rock act like live rock and become a filter as well?


After having seen those shrimps, I'm pretty sure mollies would eat them all.


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

The ones I found today are very small and on there own for now.


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## teemee (Aug 29, 2009)

I've never known the shrimp to be available locally. Where did you find them?


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

F&K Aquatics in the plaza across the street from the Pacific mall.


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

I don't know if they eat shrimp, but Orange Chromide cichlids are beautiful brackish water fish. They're supposed to be relatively peaceful too.


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