Need help with Brackish water tank

[Mullet]

I have only kept cichlids and I will be acquiring some brackish water cichlids this week and they require a salinity of 5000 - 7000 Microsiemens. I have looked around and can not for life of me determine how much salt I need to use to achieve. I figured I would come to the experts! Any help would be great! Thanks

[RayAllen]

It would be safe to assum know one on here is a expert in brakish water. We have full blown salt water aquariums which are very diffrent from what you are trying to achieve. But I have kept brakish skats and puffers before and found that salt levels ranging from 1.006-1.015 is best. Buy a saltwater Hydrometer for $7-8 and it will work fine for a brakish tank. Hope this helps.

[RayAllen]

Also if you do decide to go with archers make sure to leave a few inches of aquarium left because they are jumpers, but it can be very cool to feed them live insects on top of mangroves and watch them hunt from below.

[Mullet]

Thanks for the responses. Actually I am getting some Iranocichla hormuzensis. I will look into the hydrometer

[hobogato]

this may be a good place to start:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/BrackishSubWebIndex.htm

[Mullet]

Excellent link. Thank you very much

[MissT]

definately get a hydrometer, because even though they can tolerate a wide range of salinity, doesn't mean they can handle huge changes all the time. In the river mouths, there is such a large volume of water that the salinity will vary as you go nearer or further from the River, but general areas will stay fairly constant. You need to try your best to keep a constant (although lower than marine) salinity. Also, keep in mind that some brackish fish are only brackish when they are juveniles. Research whatever species you choose!

[Mullet]

Thanks again for the excellent info. These cichlids are from Iran and very close to the sea. The streams they live in have different salinity's. But the fish stay in a narrow range their entire lives These fish are wild caught and collected by the person bringing them to me. He collected water samples and tested where he caught the fish.