Archer Fish; Need A Good Home...

[ferco]

hi all... im comming up to some important exams and i don't think i can look after these fish much longer... also my parents aren't willing for me to get a necassary sized tank for them when they get bigger... so nothing definate yet but anyone in the UK- i have 3 Archer fish (who do shoot down live prey as can be seen in my many videos: http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8Xt56a-yrY (so they are a good buy)
.... also i will probably be selling the Rio 180, fully kitted out for brackish conditions, sand, and a choice of two powerful external filters [Fluval 305 (which comes in originaL BOX and DVD instructions) and a Rena XP3] both CAN be purchased but you will probably only want one, 2 excellent heaters, a tetra tech 400 air pump, all the kit required for brackish (salt, salinity tester...) and possibly some other equipment... now all this kit is optional and i will be quite flexible on the price.. lol i just want enough to justify selling it... lol just want to get something for it... i can send you a full spec list with pics and prices... i would be willing to post the fish and all the equipment bar the tank which would need to be picked up, but if you CAN pick up the fish this would be even beter, for the fish... i live in Edinburgh, Scotland. Hope someone finds this interesting..
oh yea; meant to say the fish are probably going for free.. just paying for postage and any of this kit may be bought on its own... pick n' mix really lol
Nothing set in STONE just want to know if anyone is interestd...

 

[nmonks]

Can't take your fish (sadly) but I wanted to say your fish look really happy and healthy. A great tank. The rope thingy is inspired, and clearly works well.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[ferco]

bump...

 

[kanzaris]

Hi Ferco

I could have the fish depending on a few things !!!!!!
I am setting up a 6x2x2 at the end of July (Can you hold on to then ?) but the salinity will eventually be about 1.021. I think the maximum for archers is 1.010 ? If someone knows different please let me know. I am still keeping my Jewel 180 with a salinity of about 1.008. I already got one Archer so will that tank be to small for the four of them?

Sabby

 

[ferco]

well to answer your Q on the saltinity... well to try to... i think some archers can cope well even better in full marine.. but some prefer the bracksih setuip all life, there are even some that only live in fresh water, but forget about them for just now... anywayu, yes i could hold onto them for a while... i still in the process of identifying mine, but as soon as i find out i will re-post and let you know the saltinity they require.

 

[nmonks]

Please try and identify your archers before adapting them to anything above 1.005. Some archers are indeed freshwater fish, and Toxotes microlepis really doesn't want an SG above 1.005. The other two species will be fine between 1.005 and 1.010. I have some notes on identifying the three common species here.

I have never heard of anyone keeping archers in seawater. If they enter seawater at all, it is briefly, with each tide, rather than continuously. I would strongly recommend against it.

Sabby, what brackish water fish are you keeping at SG 1.021? Even marine fish can be kept at 1.018 permanently, it is really only the invertebrates that need higher SGs. Brackish water fish that need a high salinity, such as GSPs, are fine at anything upwards at 1.010; keeping them in seawater when mature is nice but hardly necessary, and certainly unnatural.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[kanzaris]

Please try and identify your archers before adapting them to anything above 1.005. Some archers are indeed freshwater fish, and Toxotes microlepis really doesn't want an SG above 1.005. The other two species will be fine between 1.005 and 1.010. I have some notes on identifying the three common species here.

I have never heard of anyone keeping archers in seawater. If they enter seawater at all, it is briefly, with each tide, rather than continuously. I would strongly recommend against it.

Sabby, what brackish water fish are you keeping at SG 1.021? Even marine fish can be kept at 1.018 permanently, it is really only the invertebrates that need higher SGs. Brackish water fish that need a high salinity, such as GSPs, are fine at anything upwards at 1.010; keeping them in seawater when mature is nice but hardly necessary, and certainly unnatural.

Cheers,

Neale

Neale

I will have my two Columbian Shark Cats my Toadfish, GSP and my Monos in the tank with the Salinity at about 1.020.

When I read some posts on here I am always under the impression that GSP's eventually have to be kept in full marine conditions.

Sabby

 

[Dave Legacy]

Please try and identify your archers before adapting them to anything above 1.005. Some archers are indeed freshwater fish, and Toxotes microlepis really doesn't want an SG above 1.005. The other two species will be fine between 1.005 and 1.010. I have some notes on identifying the three common species here.

I have never heard of anyone keeping archers in seawater. If they enter seawater at all, it is briefly, with each tide, rather than continuously. I would strongly recommend against it.

Sabby, what brackish water fish are you keeping at SG 1.021? Even marine fish can be kept at 1.018 permanently, it is really only the invertebrates that need higher SGs. Brackish water fish that need a high salinity, such as GSPs, are fine at anything upwards at 1.010; keeping them in seawater when mature is nice but hardly necessary, and certainly unnatural.

Cheers,

Neale

Neale,

Here's something I posted in response to a similar question at ####.com, slightly modified to better suit this thread:

As long as you have T. jaculatrix you can keep them for quite some time in full saltwater, but I would recommend keeping them in 1.015SG to keep them the happiest. Of the 7 species in the toxotidae family, I believe T. jaculatrix is the only one that spends significant amounts of time in full marine conditions. It's also the only species of archerfish that can be found on the Solomon Islands which researchers believe got there by swimming across the ocean. The reason you see them near the shoreline, and not in open water, is probably because that's where all the flighted insects live.

My T. jaculatrix were kept in 1.017-1.019SG for about 1 month before I lowered to 1.012SG. I found their colors, growth, and feeding to be excellent. I must warn archer owners in raising their specific gravity this high because of how difficult it can be to identify archers. Only T. jaculatrix, and maybe T. chatareus will survive this short time exposure. I'd expect T. microlepis and all other species to start to die off after 1.010SG. Make sure you properly ID your archers before raising your SG above 1.010.

T. chatareus should be tolerant of full marine conditions for a short period of time but I wouldn't recommend it. I'd keep them in a SG of 1.010 and leave it at that. These are the second most salt tolerant species in the toxotidae family followed by T. microlepis at 1.005SG. The remaining 4 species: T. blythii, T. lorentzi, T. kimberleyensis , T. oligolepis are all known to be fully freshwater species living far inland from the ocean. These species are not readily available on the market. This meaning that chances are any archerfish you get from a LFS will require some salt content to remain healthy.

Reguardless of what specific gravity you keep your water, one should always fluxuate the salinity level every couple of water changes. People have found (including myself) that eurythaline fish do best when the salinity levels vary, just like in nature.

I can't remember where I read the Solomon Island archer population thing. I'll dig around and see if I can find that text. Reguardless I've kept mine in fairly high range salinity to what would be considered marine for FOWLR tanks with nothing be success. However I never commit to any salinity level and would only keep fish that have matching salinity requirements. For example keeping my hogchoker sole with my T. Jaculatrix I knew I could move the salinity all over the place and nobody would care. =)

 

[nmonks]

Monos and shark catfish are fine at SG 1.010; done it myself, and seen public aquaria maintain them thus as well.

I have no personal experience of GSPs, but the books I trust (such as Ebert's Aqualog book of puffers) refer to them as brackish, not marine, fish. SG 1.010 or so seems to be what these books recommend. But I'm happy to defer to people who have kept these fish in captivity.

Cheers,

Neale

I will have my two Columbian Shark Cats my Toadfish, GSP and my Monos in the tank with the Salinity at about 1.020.

When I read some posts on here I am always under the impression that GSP's eventually have to be kept in full marine conditions.

Dave,

Thanks for that post. Very interesting.

Cheers,

Neale

Neale,

Here's something I posted in response to a similar question at ####.com, slightly modified to better suit this thread...

 

[kanzaris]

Neale

Does that mean the Shark Cats and Monos can stay at a salinity of 1.010 even when mature ?

Sabby

 

[nmonks]

I've certainly done this, and the monos (as well as scats and archers, alongside green chromides, mudskippers, and Anableps) at the London Aquarium are at 1.010-ish. Haven't tested the water, but green chromides won't survive anything about 1.010 for long.

As for shark catfish, they're indifferent, so long as its fairly salty. I've seen adults kept in practically fresh water. They don't like it, but it won't kill them outright.

In my opinion, with brackish stuff generally, it's the pH and hardness that is most important. Salinity is secondary, provided the water isn't actually fresh.

Re: GSPs. I've read the posts up at the "forum especially for puffers" and I have no problems respecting what people have found through experiment and experience. But I can't see why GSPs would need full strength seawater given they aren't marine pufferfish. Some marine puffers (like Arothron spp.) are perfectly at home in brackish water, which makes it even more bizarre. But as I say, I don't have experience of that species personally, so don't want to be dogmatic about it. If it were me, I'd keep them as SG 1.010, and just watch make sure the pH and hardness was appropriate. Adding more salt, if it isn't required, is just a waste of money. I'd sooner use half as much salt, but do twice as many water changes.

Cheers,

Neale

Does that mean the Shark Cats and Monos can stay at a salinity of 1.010 even when mature ?

 

[ferco]

yes, well some interesting reading here, but is there a buyer out there?