Brackish Fish Section In Fish Index

AMS

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After reading Papasmurf's suggestion in tropical chit chat I believe he has a valid point. If there can be a seperate section for Goldfish and Koi which are Cyprinids, why cant there be a seperate section for brackish fish? There would be enough exisitng profiles to warrant one with ease. From what I have noticied recently the brackish section has increasingly become more and more popular with people wanting to start a brackish tank up. Also with new TFF members specializing in brackish such as brackman to name one of many. A seperate section in the index would allow for easier access of information and not let the brackish field of the hobby disappear on TFF. What do you think? Papasmurf's wish is a wonderful suggestion and it should be fulfilled.

Look at all the brackish entries:
Freshwater Flounders
Bumble bee goby
Clay Goby
Figure 8 Puffer
Glass Fish
Green Spotted Puffer
Knight Goby
Mono
Scat
Violet Goby
Those entries are in the Oddball section alone! Not including livebearers or anything else.

There are a million other feshwater fish that are naturally brackish inhabitants or brackish tolerant such as amano shrimp, spiny eels, kribs, banjo catfish, platys, and lots of others. Those profiles could be lumped in there too and if not I am currently writing up a piece about this very subject that could possibly be worth pinning in the hopefully future brackish fish section.
 
There are a million other feshwater fish that are naturally brackish inhabitants or brackish tolerant such as amano shrimp, spiny eels, kribs, banjo catfish, platys, and lots of others. Those profiles could be lumped in there too and if not I am currently writing up a piece about this very subject that could possibly be worth pinning in the hopefully future brackish fish section.
I think it's a good idea - however not to move profiles of fish and inverts that "tolerate" brackish waters but generally choose to live and thrive in freshwater where available. Tolerate and thrive are two different things.
 
Well, many captive fish thrive in brackish water aquariums despite being naturally found in freshwaters more than brackish. These include Amano shrimp, Pike Top Minnows, Florida Flag fish and many, many, other fish (not sure if those are in the index though).
 
I think, broadly, it's a good idea. But as Bloo has observed, there's a difference between those fishes that NEED brackish water and those that TOLERATE brackish water. For example, introduced populations of Hypostomus plecostomus live in brackish water all around Florida. But no-one would recommend them as brackish water, and with all the other stresses of captive life, keeping them in brackish water might well do them harm.

There's a third group of fish as well, those SAID to be brackish water fish, but quite clearly NOT brackish water fish, with reports to the contrary seemingly based on misidentifications. Glassfish and halfbeaks are the two classic examples of these.

Then there's the issue of defining brackish water itself. The brackish water conditions a knight goby wants (SG 1.003 to 1.005) are not those that would suit a tank of monos (SG 1.010 upwards). Then you have those that (arguably) only want brackish as juveniles, and eventually need marine conditions, such as spotted puffers and scats.

But as a place to start, I think you could definitely write a list of species everyone agrees needs brackish water in the general sense. Moreover, rather than pruning out species covered elsewhere, like bumblebee gobies or spiny eels, it would make more sense to concentrate on those fish that generally get ignored or suffer from conflicting experiences posted here, in magazines, or in books. Things like violet gobies, waspfish, archerfish, and so on.

Cheers,

Neale
 

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