Best Aquarium Fish for Brackish Water

If you want to have some of the more colorful aquarium fish, you may need to establish a brackish water tank. Brackish water fish tend to come from freshwater streams that are near the ocean. The water is more salty than freshwater, but not as salty as seawater. The fish in brackish tanks can often survive in completely freshwater tanks, and completely salt water tanks, but they will do better in water that is slightly more salted, yet still considered fresh, than other types of fish.

If you want to have a brackish tank, consider getting a white tip shark cat. These cats are stunning and are great bottom scavengers. These fish need lots of room, though, at least twenty-nine gallons of water. It is also best to keep at least two of them together, as they like each other’s company. The do grow quite large, up to twelve inches in the wild. They are a long living fish, and can live up to ten years in captivity.

Archer fish are another interesting brackish water fish. They grow to around five or six inches long in captivity. They have a silver-white body with black bar stripes down the sides. In the wild, archer fish feed on insects that are above the water’s surface by shooting them with a spray of water. If there are insects around the tank, they will do this in captivity as well. They are a very hard and mostly peaceful fish that do well in a community tank, provided no one in the tank is small enough for them to swallow. They will need at least fifty gallons of water. They will live up to ten years.

Monos are a very uniquely shaped brackish water fish. This diamond shaped fish is silver, black, and yellow in color. If you have monos, they will need to be fed often, and can be slightly aggressive. They need at least fifty gallons of water. They usually grow to around six inches in captivity, but can be larger, and will live to be around ten years old.

Scats are another interesting brackish water fish. They have a somewhat box-like body shape. They do well in at least fifty gallons of water, and like to be kept with other scats. They can grow quite large, up to eighteen inches. They live up to ten years in captivity.