Mangrove Forest! Brackish Riparium

[rainbuilder]

Nice choice in fish, if you do decide to get them. I have them in my freshwater 75 gallon currently, but I have no idea if they can tolerate brackish. You could also go with some wild sailfin mollies, which are really nice, but that might not be what you're looking. They've got a beautiful brown coloration, and actually loosely school together in my aquarium!

This is a really cool project, I love all of the plants in this tank.

[rainbuilder]

Double post...

[hydrophyte]

Originally Posted by rainbuilder

Nice choice in fish! I currently have some in my freshwater 75 gallon. I don't know if they could be brackish though. You could go with some wild sailfin mollies, which have a beautiful tan coloration and a unique pattern that could for sure go brackish. Mine actually school loosely in my aquarium!

All of the plants in this tank are really great. I love the mangroves.

Which fish do you mean? The Lucania? I was advised against keeping thos ein brackish water and they would probably get beat up by the flagfish and the C. variegatus. I want to track down some other lively brackish-associated killi, such as Adinia xenica.

Yeah these plants are really great. I want to add a larger Cryptocoryne ciliata too. I have one in there, but it is down in the shade and only 3" tall and I don't think it will grow like that.

[rainbuilder]

Originally Posted by hydrophyte

Which fish do you mean? The Lucania? I was advised against keeping thos ein brackish water and they would probably get beat up by the flagfish and the C. variegatus. I want to track down some other lively brackish-associated killi, such as Adinia xenica.

Yeah these plants are really great. I want to add a larger Cryptocoryne ciliata too. I have one in there, but it is down in the shade and only 3" tall and I don't think it will grow like that.

Yes, the lucania. I guess I didn't read that part.

Those Adinia are really nice! I think they would compliment the scape really well. The pupfish are really nice as well.

[hydrophyte]

The pupfish are really cool. The males have the most incredible iridescent turquoise coloration and they are super lively in the tank. I am surprised that they are not a more popular aquarium fish. I suppose most of our native fish are underrated. Where did you get your Lucania?

[rainbuilder]

I got them, my mollies, and my swamp darters from another kid (wild caught) in Florida. His username on here is trogdorslayer22. My favorite of the three is the swamp darters, even though I hardly see them. I think I'll have to set them up their own biotope aquarium sometime, with a bunch of leaf litter and tannins.

I'd really like to see the pupfish! It'd be really cool if you posted pictures of them. Or maybe you did and I didn't see them.

[SaltyNC]

The spider lily should look great. They happen to grow wild not far from my home. An entire section of the Catawba River south of Charlotte, NC blooms. It's an amazing sight. A state park is near the blooming site and has some pics.

http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/la...roduction.aspx

[hydrophyte]

Originally Posted by SaltyNC

The spider lily should look great. They happen to grow wild not far from my home. An entire section of the Catawba River south of Charlotte, NC blooms. It's an amazing sight. A state park is near the blooming site and has some pics.

http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/la...roduction.aspx

Wow that is really cool. I have never seen pictures of spider lilies growing in big stands like that out in a river.

There are a number of different species of Hymeocallis. This new one that I am getting is H. latifolia and it apparently grows in brackish mangrove areas out in nature. I bet that most of the other species would not do so well in brackish water.

I have grown H. traubii in regular freshwater tanks and it is a great plant. It's nice for ripariums because ti doesn't get much bigger than 14" tall.

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by hydrophyte

I have a pretty cool new plant coming with an order next week. The mangrove spider lily (Hymenocallis latifolia) grows in mangrove swamps and tolerates moderately brackish water.


(Wikimedia Commons image: http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...sse_bluete.jpg)

This is a large plant, I use to see it all over along the springs and swamps in Florida. More a pond plant. Bit too large for aquariums.

[hydrophyte]

I just ordered some surprise new fish for this setup. I hope they will get here OK probably on Monday.

[hydrophyte]

Somebody on Facebook linked this interesting video of a brackish estuary habitat in Mexico with mollies and cichlids. You can see some Acrostichum leather fern growing along the edge of the water...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cIRUAHqYKQ

[bitFUUL]

Absolutely Stunning Setup Hydro!

[hydrophyte]

Thanks. It's really not all that great right now, but I am trying to get it fixed up and looking better.

[crazydaz]

So....did the fish get in alright yesterday??!! Pics, please!

[hydrophyte]

Here's the box opened with fish inside. They got here 100% alive and in great shape. The seller used breather bags packed with yarn and lots of water. Now the fish are going to quarantine. I will try to get pictures.