Im Confused

[cane76]

in the last few weeks i have seen lfs selling freshwater archer fish and freshwater silver scats i thought these fish were brackish can the need for saltwater be bred out of them??

 

[nmonks]

There are no freshwater scats. They all need brackish water, and some would argue marine conditions as adult. I have found that Selenotoca multifasciata will do fine at SG 1.010 indefinitely, but have no personal experience of Scatophagus spp. except to say they are kept at SG 1.010 in the display at the London Aquarium.

There are freshwater archerfish, but you are unlikely to find them offered for sale. The three most common species all need brackish water at some concentration. Toxotes microlepis around 1.003 to 1.005, and Toxotes jaculatrix and T. chatareus around 1.010. Identifying archerfish is not easy. There have been threads on this topic elsewhere in this Forum; do a quick search and you'll find out more.

None of these fish have had anything "bred" out of them since none of them breed in captivity. In short, your LFS is either ignorant or lying.

Cheers,

Neale

in the last few weeks i have seen lfs selling freshwater archer fish and freshwater silver scats i thought these fish were brackish can the need for saltwater be bred out of them??

 

[cane76]

when i asked about the scats in the fw tank he told me in that area of london the tap water was ok for scats

 

[nmonks]

As I say, he's either ignorant or lying.

Scats breed in the sea. The larvae have a planktonic stage (called a tholichthys) that metamorphoses after a few weeks and swims up rivers. There they grow in fresh and brackish water habitats such as estuaries. As they are growing, they slowly make their way into more and more salty water. The adults live in shallow marine habitats, including mangroves, rocky reefs, harbours, and estuaries. The adults do swim backwards and forwards between the sea and river mouths, but they do not live in freshwater as such.

If you try and keep a scat in freshwater indefinitely, it will be disease prone. Things like fungus become an issue. It is possible to keep them at low salinities (SG 1.005 to 1.010) but completely freshwater aquaria are not good for them at all.

Cheers,

Neale

when i asked about the scats in the fw tank he told me in that area of london the tap water was ok for scats

 

[Derpeder]

I was told the same thing about Scats that they can live in fresh water, until they were older. So I kept one in my fresh water tank as a baby. It didn't even make it 6 months. In fact I think it lived 4 months then got terribly sick and passed. I felt terrible but I learned my lesson. They wont make it.

Good luck none the less. He was my favorite fish while I had it. Beautiful and active.

 

[cane76]

isnt it annoying being told bs by lfs