Scats And Archer Fishes, Freshwater?

[TheRedDiscus]

Hello, I've heard rumors in the fish community that scats and archer fishes, when adapted correctly, can be accustomed to exclusivly freshwater, is this true? If it is, I will be very happy to have some of these normally "out-of-bounds" fish in my freshwater tropical aquarium.

 

[jonny5]

Hello, I've heard rumors in the fish community that scats and archer fishes, when adapted correctly, can be accustomed to exclusivly freshwater, is this true? If it is, I will be very happy to have some of these normally "out-of-bounds" fish in my freshwater tropical aquarium.

not really, i know of some people who have kept archers in full freshwater and the fish seem to do fine but always die young, plust they are much much more prone to disease in it. Scats i have no idea but they like the salt. The archer fish will be fine for freshwater shortterm, but not longterm.

 

[nmonks]

You can't keep scats indefinitely in freshwater. While some specimens may survive under such conditions, in general scats kept in freshwater tanks become increasingly prone to diseases such as finrot and pop-eye.

Archerfish are a more complex case. There are three species in the trade, all of them sold regularly. One of those three species, Toxotes microlepis, is a freshwater fish that tolerates brackish water; the other two species, Toxotes chatareus and Toxotes jaculatrix, are brackish water fish. Identifying the three species is difficult; see my web page for details on how to tell them apart. By default, it's best to keep archers in brackish water unless you know for sure you have Toxotes microlepis. There are a few other true freshwater Toxotes species, for example Toxotes lorentzi, but these are virtually never traded and if they did turn up you'd be paying through the nose for them.

Cheers, Neale

Hello, I've heard rumors in the fish community that scats and archer fishes, when adapted correctly, can be accustomed to exclusivly freshwater, is this true? If it is, I will be very happy to have some of these normally "out-of-bounds" fish in my freshwater tropical aquarium.