Guppies

[Mr.September15]

Is it true that you can acclimate a guppy to become SW? Or can you just get them swim in low brackish?

 

[Rugby]

its quite true that you can acclimate guppies to salt, though a little more difficult. another option are mollies, which can survive in salt water too!
its quite interesting how they do it.

Rugby

 

[Mr.September15]

Yeah, I heard it takes weeks to acclimate them though

 

[Rugby]

no, not weeks, just a few hours, though weeks is prob. better.

 

[James B]

im sure i read somewhere if you raise the salt in their tank by like 0.005 or less per week (figures could be wrong here) then they do very well in s/w

 

[Rugby]

hmm....
mabey i aughta try it...
could you see a guppy in saltwater surviving in the ocean for long?!?!
lol
their a wee bit to..... colorful..... and would attract way to much attention.
lol
oceans full of guppies!!!!
lol

Rugby

 

[Lynden]

Quite true, aquarium-bred guppies would be annihilated in their natural habitat, let alone an ocean full of predators

If you want to screw with fish's osmotic system, try Puffers, Scats, Monos, Shark Catfishes, or certain Cichlids and Loaches. The Cichlids in particular would need careful research and patience before they are attempted in saltwater. Of the Loaches, the Clown Loach (Botia macarantha)(?) is probably the best prepared for dealing with saltwater, since they often cruise into marine habitats in the wild. This info, of course, contradicts what I would have said a couple weeks ago I just recently learned that stuff.

Remember, carefully research the habitats of any fish you plan to acclimate before even buying the fish. It would be risky, at best, to blindly meddle with an unfamiliar fish's osmotic system. If the fish does not enter saltwater, or only enters brackish at most in it's natural habitat, do not try to acclimate them.

-Lynden

 

[Rugby]

i suppose it is possible to put any tropical in salt, however, very few will live a few days, let alone thrive.
if i were to do it, i would stick with guppies or mollies, and thats about it, as i wouldnt want to lose anything more expensive than that. and besides, if you are going to go marine, why not just stick with marine fish and not risk losing anything. though, can you imagine seeing a fancy guppy in a tank with cardinals or damsels?!?!
it would be.... different.

 

[Lynden]

though, can you imagine seeing a fancy guppy in a tank with cardinals or damsels?!?!
it would be.... different.

Indeed. The secret to a great marine tank is to stray from the beaten path.

-Lynden

P.S.
The fish I mentioned are the ones that will thrive in saltwater.

 

[Rugby]

they will really thrive?
thats cool!
mabey i have a new project, saltwater with fresh water fish.
thats definitly off the beaten path.
i think i really will try that.
itll add a new aspect and more difficult perhaps?

Rugby

 

[puddle_inc]

you can do just about anything with lots of time and hard work when it comes to accumulating fish to different waters.

i've managed to breed minerature BASS, yep, from a pond. got them when they were baby minnows. now they are around 1 year old, they can live in normal aquarium water, like all freshwater fish in lfs's, and they have even had babies!

good luck if ur wanting to get saltwater guppies!

 

[SkiFletch]

I was under the impression that due to their kidney structures, it was not possible to acclimate MOST freshwater fish to full saltwater environments. Brackish fish can handle it, but I thought that the kidneys of freshwater fish do not have sufficient enough sodium pumps on the cellular level to remove salt from their bodies. I could be wrong though...

 

[Betta5]

Clown loaches in a SW aquarium, i find that hard to believe. They are a touchy fish at the best of times and it seem the SW would only stress them.

 

[James B]

clown loach tbh alot of the time barely like freash water let alone s/w i would be surprised to see it for more than a month

 

[Lynden]

Clown Loaches can be brackish for sure. Full salt - I'm not sure. They often cruise into the sea in their natural habitat, so that would indicate that they could survive in full salt.

About them being difficult; I don't understand where this comes from, I kept a pair in an oversocked 37 gallon tank for a year and a half (until the tank crashed) and they did absolutely fine, no diseases whatsoever. Even showed breeding behaviour.

I was under the impression that due to their kidney structures, it was not possible to acclimate MOST freshwater fish to full saltwater environments. Brackish fish can handle it, but I thought that the kidneys of freshwater fish do not have sufficient enough sodium pumps on the cellular level to remove salt from their bodies. I could be wrong though...

You are not wrong - it is impossible to acclimate most freshwater fish to salt water. The fish that can be acclimated either do it themselves in the wild by swimming into salt water; or they are closely related to sea-living fish, such as Puffers (excluding Mbu, Fahaka and a few others) or Cichlids. Most Cichlids cannot be acclimated, especially if they live in specialized conditions (ie, soda lakes, blackwater streams). But the ones that live in generalized conditions, such as many Nandopsis, Pelviachromis, and Tilapia, can be acclimated to conditions that are brackish or, in some cases, full salt. This is why it is very important to carefully research any fish that is planned to be acclimated before trying it. Remember, it isn't your life that you could be betting on the outcome; it's the fish's.

-Lynden