brackish to fresh.....

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I catch both of those fish here where I live or a very close approximation of them. the flounders will live in freshwater for a couple of years but will eventually die, the gobies only come into freshwater to breed. they will not live long. .002 is as close to fresh as you need to be, very few aquariums are much fresher than that unless they are keeping something that takes very soft water. Even a teaspoon per gallon would be saltier than that or close to it. If you really want to keep these fish in freshwater add calcium chloride to the water, about a tablespoon to your three gallon tank should do it. I would add it slowly over several days a little at a time but make sure it is already dissolved. Calcium chloride will keep the osmotic pressure of the fish close to normal and the small amount of salt will satisfy any need for salt they may have. Most freshwater fish will do quite well with this mixture except maybe fish that require very soft water to breed. doing this the water will still be brackish but the calcium chloride doesn't hurt fish like sodium chloride can. I do this with many of the native fish i keep so i can mix fish that live in tidal creeks at low salinity with fish that like freshwater but live in the same area. I've even kept fish like cardinal tetras like this for many years. The key is allow the fish to have neutral osmotic pressure or as close to it as possible. just like distilled water will kill a fish too salty water will as well.
 
.002 is as close to fresh as you need to be
thats what i wanted to hear lol

i didnt want to do a brackish tank but want this goby
and i know peeps keep hogs in fresh so i figured they would be ok

i cant release them and dont want to stray from fresh so i guess with the above quote in the next few days i will aclimate to fw and hope for the best

thanks for all the replies "and the light flaming on this experiment" :D
:popcorn:
 
midnight;2164514; said:
thats what i wanted to hear lol

i didnt want to do a brackish tank but want this goby
and i know peeps keep hogs in fresh so i figured they would be ok

i cant release them and dont want to stray from fresh so i guess with the above quote in the next few days i will aclimate to fw and hope for the best

thanks for all the replies "and the light flaming on this experiment" :D
:popcorn:

your going to be adding Calcium chloride to the tank, then you'll adding it with every water change, i guess on a weekly basis, just like me and numerous other people on the site.

why not just use salt? it will be exactly the same amount of effort, and give your fish the right environment to thrive, as aposed to just surviving.

do you have any other brackish tanks? or does the idea of keeping fish with saltwater seem daunting? if so dont worry. i found it daunting too. but after lurking around MFK for a while, i pieced together enough info to put a tank together a few months ago. now i have a tank with 0mgpl of ammonia. im really pleased with myself. think my green spotted puffer is too :)

add salt join the club:headbang2
 
The flounder you showed in the picture has an extremely high mortality rate in freshwater. There are some success stories, I know. But as a rule of thumb its a bad, bad idea.
Different brackish fish have different saline environments that they are used to.
What you have suggested, is the WORST possible idea.
Many LFS sell brackish as FW when they are young. If and when they survive this, they need a gradual acclimation to brackish parameters to ensure health, growth and longevity.
You are doing the total opposite, which is bad. Many fish are prone to fungal infections if kept in FW, and some fish will simply die if not transitioned to a majority marine/total marine climate.
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com