R.I.P Silver

[Vancouver_98683]

Sorry for your loss. It always sux. I’ve been there with a silver years ago. Yes, the hard breathing and open mouth is a sign before death. Was in 100% fresh as well.

I have a silver currently that’s about 9-10”. This time I’m fluctuating it with salinity of 1.25-1.75 cups of rock salt per 100 gallons. It’s sharing a tank with 2 big indos, 13-14” ngt , and 3x 6-7” NTT.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

So what are your thoughts on possible death causes?

I've had mine for 4 years and periodically it breaks out some parasitic infestation (according to my homework readings) which looks like mucus clumps all over the fish. The outbreak then goes away on its own. So far.

MIne is currently about a foot, hard to say in a 4500 gal.

Mine has been in fresh too all its life so far: https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/posts/7769824

 

[Vancouver_98683]

Silver species seem to stress out easier than others. Epostylus Protozoa - white fungus looking patches seem to appear if bullied. Removing the silver and adding rock salt seems to aid.

In terms of longevity. Silvers as a whole don’t have a long lifespan or grow large in captivity. How many do you know are over 8-9”? Not many. I suspect it has to do with stress levels and salinity. Their range is fresh and brackish along the Mekong delta to India. Believe locale determines the success of how long and big your silver gets.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Thank you, boss. You have definitely been one of those who had schooled me on the silver dats and your input is still there in my thread I have linked... unless you are too addressing the OP case.

EDIT: I have just realized... my question was directed to the OP and my whole post was typed keeping in mind that it would be under the OP's last post but because your post appeared sooner than mine it made it look like I am asking you, which is of course desired as well, haha... Thank you for answering.

 

[Vancouver_98683]

Thank you, boss. You have definitely been one of those who had schooled me on the silver dats and your input is still there in my thread I have linked... unless you are too addressing the OP case.

EDIT: I have just realized... my question was directed to the OP and my whole post was typed keeping in mind that it would be under the OP's last post but because your post appeared sooner than mine it made it look like I am asking you, which is of course desired as well, haha... Thank you for answering.

Haha. Thxs. Believe the OP is from the U.K. Time zone differences, lol.

Really wish more members would share their experiences with their silvers. Not many have had success growing them out 10-12” plus sizes. Including myself. I’m a believer that if the ones u have are collected from a fresh locale. They are likely to be more successful in freshwater. If it was brackish such as India variants. The odds will be stacked against ya in pure fresh conditions.

 

[robroy]

Silver species seem to stress out easier than others. Epostylus Protozoa - white fungus looking patches seem to appear if bullied. Removing the silver and adding rock salt seems to aid.

In terms of longevity. Silvers as a whole don’t have a long lifespan or grow large in captivity. How many do you know are over 8-9”? Not many. I suspect it has to do with stress levels and salinity. Their range is fresh and brackish along the Mekong delta to India. Believe locale determines the success of how long and big your silver gets.

Well I had one for several years that hit 12 to 13 inches in a 100 gallon. I had to sell it before I emigrated to Canada.
Thrived in my tank and had an amazing appetite-like the one I just lost. I was interested in reading your post about the salinity but you have to bear in mind that in this tank I’ve got some Polypterus species, Lima shovelnose and a Fire eel. I don’t think they’d appreciate the salinity so it’s something I don’t have an option for. But having successfully kept one in the past and grown it to a large size for a silver I didn’t see any problem with keeping it in full fresh.

Haha. Thxs. Believe the OP is from the U.K. Time zone differences, lol.

Really wish more members would share their experiences with their silvers. Not many have had success growing them out 10-12” plus sizes. Including myself. I’m a believer that if the ones u have are collected from a fresh locale. They are likely to be more successful in freshwater. If it was brackish such as India variants. The odds will be stacked against ya in pure fresh conditions.

Ha ha ha well spotted-I’m actually English but emigrated to Canada three years ago.

So what are your thoughts on possible death causes?

I've had mine for 4 years and periodically it breaks out some parasitic infestation (according to my homework readings) which looks like mucus clumps all over the fish. The outbreak then goes away on its own. So far.

MIne is currently about a foot, hard to say in a 4500 gal.

Mine has been in fresh too all its life so far: https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/posts/7769824


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I have no idea to what happened. Worryingly he had two large what I can only describe as boils underneath the mouth but there was no other marks anywhere on the body. The gills were flared together with the rapid breathing and the mouth was open almost like it had got something stuck but this wasn’t the case. Like all silver tigers it had a crazy appetite and it was a fat pig and I initially thought maybe had over eaten but I’m certain this wasn’t the case

I did give it a salt bath and he initially appeared to pick up but then rapidly went downhill and was dead when I woke up the following morning.

Like I said I’m gutted because I do think it would’ve hit the 12 inch mark at the rate it was going considering it had more than doubled in size from when I got it late last summer which is good growth for any tiger fish I think.

So I’m down to two smaller Thinbars in the tank and three baby Indo Tigers which I’m growing out to eventually go into the tank. I haven’t seen any Silver’s for sale since I got mine last year around here.

 

[Vancouver_98683]

Well I had one for several years that hit 12 to 13 inches in a 100 gallon. I had to sell it before I emigrated to Canada.
Thrived in my tank and had an amazing appetite-like the one I just lost. I was interested in reading your post about the salinity but you have to bear in mind that in this tank I’ve got some Polypterus species, Lima shovelnose and a Fire eel. I don’t think they’d appreciate the salinity so it’s something I don’t have an option for. But having successfully kept one in the past and grown it to a large size for a silver I didn’t see any problem with keeping it in full fresh.

I have polypterus too. X-Large and mediums. Dats as I mentioned, Apollo Sharks, a couple chalceus species, and flagtail are in the tank. 1.5-2 cups for each 100 gallon (16 tbspn per 1 cup) is nowhere near brackish. I’ve been doing this regiment for past 7 months now. I’m a semi long time Dat and Polypterus keeper. Wanting to see if this makes a difference in appetite and of course, longevity.

 

[robroy]

I have polypterus too. X-Large and mediums. Dats as I mentioned, Apollo Sharks, a couple chalceus species, and flagtail are in the tank. 1.5-2 cups for each 100 gallon (16 tbspn per 1 cup) is nowhere near brackish. I’ve been doing this regiment for past 7 months now. I’m a semi long time Dat and Polypterus keeper. Wanting to see if this makes a difference in appetite and of course, longevity.

Ah I see thats interesting. What changes have you seen so far?
Love the tank by the way-I'm a huge NGT lover. I had one back in UK-hit 12" in my 100G and was stable and pellet trained. Just don't see them for sale here in BC

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I have polypterus too. X-Large and mediums. Dats as I mentioned, Apollo Sharks, a couple chalceus species, and flagtail are in the tank. 1.5-2 cups for each 100 gallon (16 tbspn per 1 cup) is nowhere near brackish. I’ve been doing this regiment for past 7 months now. I’m a semi long time Dat and Polypterus keeper. Wanting to see if this makes a difference in appetite and of course, longevity.

Love the tank too. Very unusual and cool looking.

When you say rock salt, is it the same as table salt sodium chloride?

100 US gal = 378.5 kg = 378,500 g
30 tbspn =~ 150 g ... depends on how fine the particles are, their shape, how packed the powder is, etc., so could be more...

(150 / 378,500) x 1 million = 400 ppm of added salinity (this is in addition to your natural salinity in your source water)

Low end of brackish seems to begin at 1000 ppm so this is indeed unlikely to be brackish.

The historical data seem conflicting, with older school saying that there is usually nothing wrong with having a bit of salt in water all the time while there are some health benefits.

New school says yes, there are short term benefits but this leads to a long term stress build up and will eventually result in illnesses and premature deaths.

Like you yourself speculate on the possible difference between the silver dats harvested from freshwater and from brackish water and their long-term potential in our freshwater tanks.

I understand you are aiming to walk a thin invisible line... Interested to see what you find. Do you have a thread where you'd report your observations over time all in one place?

 

[Vancouver_98683]

Ah I see thats interesting. What changes have you seen so far?
Love the tank by the way-I'm a huge NGT lover. I had one back in UK-hit 12" in my 100G and was stable and pellet trained. Just don't see them for sale here in BC

I’m liking the regiment thus far. I got the idea from my stingray/bichir/dat buddies. That have been doing 2 cups per 100g for years. One in particular has black diamond rays and other rays. I’ve noticed an appetite increase on bichirs that are moderate eaters. Plus, noticed aggression seems to decrease. My ngt is still mean, but has calmed down quite a bit with higher salinity.