Brackish water fish

[Justikanz]

Hmm... Got a discussion on this before?...

Ok, besides the Mollies, Monos, Scats, Bumble Bee Gobies, Knight Gobies, Chromides (the ONLY Asian cichlid) and Archer Fish, I saw from the Photo Gallery that the Peacock Goby and the Dario dario were shown as brackish water species...

Any comments/debates on this? I always thought that the Darios and the Peacock Goby are pure fresh water fishes... Hmm... What other fish are catergorised as actually brackish?

What about shrimps? Any brackish shrimps? Maybe can even start athread on brackish plants!

It would be most interesting to have a brackish tank...

[benny]

That section is for Brackish water fishes and other species such as Badis, which does not fall in the broad classification of the sub galleries.

Actually, some of us are keeping brackish water fishes in our freshwater tanks. I understand that archer is definitely a brackish water fish and have seen them in freshwater setup. Wonder if it works on a long term basis.

Cheers,

[stormhawk]

Archerfishes can be kept in fresh water for long periods of time, provided that they are acclimatised slowly to the fresh water. Archerfishes tend to get stressed out easily and I find them subsceptible to whitespot and fungal infections, especially if the conditions are not to their liking.

The peacock goby can be kept in freshwater and brackish water.

Shrimps? I suppose only the Macrobrachium can handle brackish water, although I do know that one Caridina? species is listed as hailing from brackish waters.

[Justikanz]

OIC... I was confused... I was shocked and was seriously wondering if that is the reason why my 2 peacocks kicked their buckets...

But it would be interesting to have a brackish setup... It's in my plan... Once I have my own place...

JY, you mean those mean big giant cze char shrimps that we loved to call prawns? Eww...

I've kept archers before... They dun last long, IME, with fresh water... But they are great eaters... Saw them 'perform' at the zoo... It would be cool to have a couple in an appropriate tank and have someone you dislike look into it...

Peacock gobies in brackish water? Sure or not? I wouldn't want to kill another beautiful peacock... PFK stated that they are for freshwater planted... Better give those at C328 a miss in the mean time... Time for more research...

So, brackish stuff, anyone else? Come on! Let's share and discuss...

[stormhawk]

The peacocks could have died of various reasons. If their water quality was drastically different from yours at home, for example TDS values, it can cause osmotic shock to the fish and kill them.

Sometimes the peacocks don't eat anything but live foods. Some people don't understand this requirement and the fish ends up wasting away in the tank. It is always best to know what they've been fed with while at the LFS.

Yes Kanz those big cze char "shrimp" at C328 types.

[benny]

Bumble bee goby is another fish that is suppose to be a brackish water fish. But those we see in the shops are normally sold as freshwater fishes.

Cheers,

[Justikanz]

I was feeding live food... But well, think the peacocks would do MUCH better in a species tank...

Save the brackish tank idea to Archers, mollies and maybe knight gobies...

What about glass/grass/feeder shrimps?

[stormhawk]

Bumble bee goby is another fish that is suppose to be a brackish water fish. But those we see in the shops are normally sold as freshwater fishes.

Quite true. Most of the bumblebee gobies are brackish water fishes. However I did find that one of the dwarf species is able to survive in pure freshwater. I had one that lived in a slightly acidic tank with zero problems.

Try Brachygobius xanthomelas if you're thinking of freshwater bumblebees. Very small, very cute and extremely easy to take care of. The other species tend to dislike pure freshwater for a lengthy period of time and most tend to develop some form of infection on the skin and fins.

[stormhawk]

I was feeding live food... But well, think the peacocks would do MUCH better in a species tank...

Like they say, sh*t happens. Try again next time.

What about glass/grass/feeder shrimps?

Those work too. They happen to prefer slightly alkaline water and I think they're cultured in brackish-water ponds.

[Justikanz]

Problem would be ID-ing them at the LFS... They may also get the wrong fish for you... Bumble bees are definitely interesting fish... They are also in my list of planned (hoped to be soon, future) tanks (Brackish nano/1ft)...

[stormhawk]

Nah its easy to identify the xanthomelas. They're rather small and their yellows are not as pronounced as that on their cousins the doriae and xanthozona.

See below for an image of my previous little xanthomelas.

[Justikanz]

Ooo... Cute... But that also mean screening the dimly lit and often crowded tanks among the crowd in the hot and humid shop... :rolleye: Unless the LFS can bring in esp for you... But it would be nice to lay my hands on it when I have the space for it...

[stormhawk]

CS brought in a batch somewhere last year, as attributed in the date on the pic.
He took in 50 pieces or so and they were real tiny but damn cute. Somebody came and bought quite a number.

I found this fella still hanging out in the same tank after 1 year and I promptly took it back. It died after 2 years in my care. Probably got too old.

[Justikanz]

Wow... 3 years for a fish of that size, yes, most probably died of old age... That's VERY good taking care of fish...

I am thinking of starting a thread on the lifespan of fish... But no time to accumulate data...