Is This Possible?

[x-Twinkle-x]

I was talking to a friend today, who told me that a few years ago he had a fish tank. He told me it was about the length of his arm, and he said it was marine. He said he made it marine by adding coral. He then said that he had lots of "The 'nemo' fish" (clown fish), and then he said, "Oh yeah, I also had loads of those guppy things and an American pleco."
I said "What altogether? In the same tank?" And he said
"Yeah, I had them for a few months but then some of then died and the rest killed eachother."

Could they actually live like that?

 

[dizzied]

No.

I'm sure someone will go into how guppies can be acclimated to salt, but no.

 

[backtotropical]

Guppies can actually be acclimated to brackish or salt water conditions......................................

Only kidding. I think your guy was either totally clueless or a bit of a fibber. You cant just add coral to a FW tank to make it marine. Thats absolute nonsense.

 

[paul_219]

No.

Guppy dont live in a marine tank.

 

[Tommy Gun]

Not that I am disagreeing with anyone on the idea that guppies cannot live in a marine environment (although, I agree, I wouldn't be surprise to hear someone say he/she has done it), but I feel the real 'stretch' in that story would be keeping a pleco in a marine tank.

However, if you watch this video closely, especially near the end, you will see what I am 99% sure are silver dollars in this tank at the Shedd Aquarium, right alongside these gar and several different types of marine fish (tangs, a puffer, a queen angel, etc...)

My understanding is that the tank is set up to recreate the area in which a FW or brackish river enters the ocean (there was a HUGE wave maker device in this tank...although, I muted the track so that might not be so apparent)

 

[freshwaterfishlover]

I thought Silver Dollars hate salt.

 

[jayjay]

I was talking to a friend today, who told me that a few years ago he had a fish tank. He told me it was about the length of his arm, and he said it was marine. He said he made it marine by adding coral. He then said that he had lots of "The 'nemo' fish" (clown fish), and then he said, "Oh yeah, I also had loads of those guppy things and an American pleco."
I said "What altogether? In the same tank?" And he said
"Yeah, I had them for a few months but then some of then died and the rest killed eachother."

Could they actually live like that?

To make a tank marine takes a tad more than "adding coral", but if they added the correct amount of salt to the water (which they could of got pre-mixed then it would be marine. Clown fish would then be able to live as long as parameters were fine etc. The guppies could be kept in the tank yes, any idea what plec is actually was, there are some brackish ones, so it's not altogether impossible.

 

[Maximus]

Not that I am disagreeing with anyone on the idea that guppies cannot live in a marine environment

Guppys can live in SW no problem. Think of mollys and the like.

However, if you watch this video closely, especially near the end, you will see what I am 99% sure are silver dollars in this tank at the Shedd Aquarium, right alongside these gar and several different types of marine fish (tangs, a puffer, a queen angel, etc...)

Gars?

I'm pretty sure there a sp. of sw needlefish (e.g Belone belone )

And they are definately not silver dollars. I couldn't give you a sp. name, but they could be scats or monos.

My understanding is that the tank is set up to recreate the area in which a FW or brackish river enters the ocean (there was a HUGE wave maker device in this tank...although, I muted the track so that might not be so apparent)

And how would a wavemaker create this kind of environment?

any idea what plec is actually was, there are some brackish ones, so it's not altogether impossible.

Off the top of my head, I think I remember Neal Monks posting about there not even being any type of BW plec.

All plecs are really intollerant of salt too.


IMO, this person is talking complete crap. Just listen to his roffles.

EDIT:

Ah, this is a quote from nmonks replying to a threah titled "Is there a plec for the BW tank?"

In a word, no.

While there are some Hypostomus species that either live in (weakly) brackish waters in the wild, as with Hypostomus watawata, or else seem to tolerate such conditions in exotic locations, as with Hypostomus plecostomus in Florida, there's no plec that will do well (or even survive) at the mid to high salinity conditions your monos and scats will need.

In fact, there are *relatively* few mid to high salinity brackish water catfish in the trade. The Colombian shark is really the only common one. Hoplosternum littorale is another, but it's a low to mid salinity species. Mystus guilio is tolerant across a broad salinity range, but it's hardly traded at all, and the same goes for Aspredo and Platystacus species.

In terms of algae control, your best bet is a mix of Nerite snails and blue-leg hermit crabs. Otherwise, forget about the algae: it's natural, and the fish like it. Simply scrape off the front glass periodically. Spotlessly clean rocks and sand looks horrible, and once the algae takes over, your aquarium will be far more natural-looking.

Cheers, Neale

 

[invader]

I'm pretty sure those are jacks or something similar, not silver dollars.

 

[dizzied]

I just noticed something.

"He said he made it marine by adding coral"

So maybe it was just a freshwater tank with corals and clownfish, and not guppies and pleco in salt?

 

[starrynightxxi]

not only couldn't they live like that, they didn't.

"Yeah, I had them for a few months but then some of then died and the rest killed eachother."

they wouldn't die immediately, but they would eventually.

 

[poopsydrew]

wasnt there a thread awhile back that had an article proving guppies could survive in 200 percent seawater? Anyone know where it is?

Drew

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Those fish are definitely needle fish, they are everywhere in the Caribbean where I used to live. Those others, look like some sort of jack to me, but I could easily be wrong.

 

[GuppyDude]

Well if that's you in your avatar, he was probably just trying to impress you, you are quite cute.

Anyway, yes guppies can be carefully acclimated to marine conditions, i have read up to 200% salinity.

Plecos on the other hand would be dead in under a minute.

And unless your friend is a toddler, any fish as long as his arm would require a very large tank to survive. And if he had such a marine tank, he would know that adding coral does not make a tank marine.

 

[jayjay]

any idea what plec is actually was, there are some brackish ones, so it's not altogether impossible.

Off the top of my head, I think I remember Neal Monks posting about there not even being any type of BW plec.

All plecs are really intollerant of salt too.

Ah, this is a quote from nmonks replying to a threah titled "Is there a plec for the BW tank?"

In a word, no.

While there are some Hypostomus species that either live in (weakly) brackish waters in the wild, as with Hypostomus watawata, or else seem to tolerate such conditions in exotic locations, as with Hypostomus plecostomus in Florida, there's no plec that will do well (or even survive) at the mid to high salinity conditions your monos and scats will need.

Ah touché Max. I did not mean high end brackish, I just thought low end, somewhere around 1.005.