Euryhaline fish?

[jjohnwm]

If it could be done, I doubt it would be sustainable long term.

That's the thing, right there. I'm sure the Pterois is an exceptionally adaptable and hardy fish...and I'd bet that these findings likely relate to the introduced populations in the Caribbean as opposed to their native range...but in any case, my goal in keeping any species of animal is not mere "survivability" but rather attempting to provide close-to-optimal conditions.

Keeping a fish alive for a week or a month in conditions that deviate too far from those in which it evolved does not mean that the fish is doing well, or will grow normally or live a normal lifespan. I might...might...feel comfortable trying something like this if there were documentation that the species thrives in this type of environment, long-term, in the wild. I doubt that is forthcoming.

I once caught an Umbra mudminnow in a water-filled bootprint in the middle of a muddy trail through a swamp. So...they've been "found in the wild" in such conditions; doesn't mean I want to try keeping and breeding them like that.

 

[tlindsey]

fresh/brackish areas to grow then venture back out to the ocean when bigger.

Yes that's possible.
Bumblebee Grouper get too large for the average home built aquariums so people probably get rid of them.

 

[phreeflow]

If it could be done, I doubt it would be sustainable long term. If not for chronic issues developing, then probably because a black belt Vieja (the cichlid that tolerates marine really well) would end the cohab pretty fast.
Here’s a thread I made a while ago:

Marine cichlid?

Gonna guess this is a no, and I don’t plan on trying anything...kinda just a curiosity question. Is there any cichlid that can live its life in marine? I ask because I know certain viejas migrate into the ocean occasionally for food, so I would assume they have quite a good salt tolerance...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

I just checked out your thread. Most interesting thing was the article about Lake Turkana. Didn’t know it was so alkaline and saline. Wonder what the levels are and the possibilities of Turkana jewel cichlids. Also found it funny that several people found tilapia thriving in full marine…those things are indestructible it seems

 

[phreeflow]

I might...might...feel comfortable trying something like this if there were documentation that the species thrives in this type of environment, long-term, in the wild. I doubt that is forthcoming.

This is all just an academic exercise but I too am looking for some documentation, if there were any. So far, I’ve discovered from Deadeye’s previous thread that tilapia seem to do well anywhere lol

 

[Sassafras]

I remember when I was a kid, a friend and I would fish the shallows and grass beds near Long Beach, CA and catch what was then called Tilapia (now one of the cookie fish, Oreochromis) Mossambica. This would have been pretty much full seawater. They had awesome color, much better than any I ever saw in fish stores. Chocolate brown, bright red fins and tail and a white chin.

 

[KeepsWaterAndSomeFish]

Although not a success story I recall an aquarium failing miserably when housing a very large range of species from all sorts within the same aquarium it was a disaster. Over the years I have heard of people keeping quite an array of different species in "unusual" setups. I had a friend who kept mayans, blackbelts and a few others in his FOWLR. I came home after a weekend away a few years ago to find a couple Hemichromis had hopped down into my sexlineatus aquarium and were giving it quite a hard time though I can't say how long they had been in there. They showed no ill effects and remained healthy for the next five or so years after.

 

[tlindsey]

Chocolate brown, bright red fins and tail and a white chin.

My mother had one of those back in the late 70's it was a greenish color probably due to light.

 

[phreeflow]

Heard through the grapevine that Arothron hispidus used to be marketed as freshwater puffers decades ago. I don’t ever remember seeing that but a quick search pulled these up being sold as brackish.

Brackish Stars and Stripes Puffer (Arothron hispidus)

The Stars and Stripes or White Spotted Puffer is typically found in marine and reef habitats throughout the Indo Pacific, but like several other pufferfish species it occasionally ventures into brackish water areas like estuaries and lagoons and are able to adapt to salinity as low as 10ppt...

www.aqua-imports.com