Pleco that lived in brackish water

[nor'wester]

Before anyone jumps on me about the pinned posts and that pleco's natural environment contains very little salt let me say that I already know that. I kept a pleco in a brackish community tank for several years without any apparent harmful effects. During that time he fed well, nearly doubled in size and was not at all timid. I'm curious if this was an anomaly or if anyone else has had the same experience. Let me know if you've ever used salt in a tank with pleco's and how that worked out.

The reason I ask is that I'm considering setting up another brackish tank, I got rid of the other one during an apartment move years ago, and am wondering if another pleco is likely to do as well as the last one. I recently read an article on a web site that rightly pointed out that most fish in the aquarium trade are dozens if not hundreds of generations away from being wild. The selective breeding over the years means that many fish are well adapted to "typical" aquarium conditions and their "native" habitat is perhaps not as important as people sometimes think. Thoughts?

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I have used salt with both my corys and plecs and have had no problems although I am wary of it as everyone says it shouldn't be done.

I added it at 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons and was totally fine. I think only a lot of salt would do harm, and it would be levels in my opinion harmful to a lot of fish.

HTH

 

[nor'wester]

Thanks for the confirmation. I found a good web site about puffers that also mentioned keeping them with plecos.

 

[Auratus]

I did it too. He was great. He actually started eating more. He went from 4 algea wafers to about 7!!!! He did good.

 

[Lateral Line]

The problem with putting salt in with fish that originate in salt free environments is that their kidney is put under greater stress then it would otherwise be. The kidney maintains the electolyte balance between the fishes internal fluids and the environment. The extra loading at low salt concentrations is rarely enough to kill outright, but is enough to make the kidney "burn out" faster then it normally would. Thus the fish dies younger. The higher the concentration, the sooner that happens.

A non salt tolerant fish can thus appear to be unaffected by the salt, but it is under stress nevertheless.

It is certianly true that many aquarium fish from line bred stock have a greater tolerance for sub-optimal conditions. The conditions kill off those that are less tolerant, so it is only the more tolerant ones that get to breed. That said, they may well still die young, it is just that they lived long enough to reproduce, but ultimately a fully tolerant race would evolve.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi nor'wester

Could do and should do are two different things.

I do not understand why anyone would want do treat a living creature in a manner that has been determined by scientists to be harmful to it. What's the point? There are so many fish to choose from that there is no need to force one to live in conditions that are unnatural for it.