What type of fish can be in brackish water?

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However, stating that adding any salt to an aquarium is "unfair" to the fish is absurd.
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It's not absurd. The addition of salt dehydrates the fish and causes kidney damage, leading to permanent damage or death. However many fish reach salt naturally so they are not the type of fish I am talking about. Sweetwater, or fish that entirely in fresh water is what I mean. Most cichlids should not have salt, even if they are hardy enough to live through the effects. Fish like mollys, guppies etc. can live in BW. ( fun fact, guppies can actually live in water up to 200X the salinity of salt water. Obviously not recommended though. )

Your fish should easily reach wild size and exceed wild lifespan - then you are doing it right.
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I used to believe this as well but there are factors you are not considering.
One, room. No hobbyist can provide there fish with the amount of space the fish will have in thew wild. Therefore they are not swimming as much as they would be in the wild and therefore do not put on as much muscle which can stunt growth. ( not in the same way bad water quality does mind you) Two, genetics. Many species of fish, alligator gars included, have been bred specifically to be smaller than their wild doppelgangers. These two facts along with other factors ensure that fish rarely if ever meet there natural size.

Is this not an alligator gar? Looks like a 10' fish to me:
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That fish is no where near 10'.

Also ( sorry for the super long post) the largest gars in the world HAVE reached 10 feet. The usually don't surpass 8 and even then that is a huge gar. In captivity they reach 5-6 feet MAX. Usually only 4 feet. I have seen 8 foot gars at a public aquarium but they were wild caught and had been raised up from 4 feet. Those are the largest known gars in captivity right now.
 
I used to believe this as well but there are factors you are not considering.
One, room. No hobbyist can provide there fish with the amount of space the fish will have in thew wild. Therefore they are not swimming as much as they would be in the wild and therefore do not put on as much muscle which can stunt growth. ( not in the same way bad water quality does mind you) Two, genetics. Many species of fish, alligator gars included, have been bred specifically to be smaller than their wild doppelgangers. These two facts along with other factors ensure that fish rarely if ever meet there natural size.
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Then that species does not belong in captivity!
 
Wow ppl really don't understand genetics at all on here. Ok here is a simple analogy humans have the natural ability to grow to max height of about 7'4"(no endocrinology problems, tumors, etc...) the average height in the us is 5'9" so about 20% less than max height. Obviously we have different growth patterns and lengths of growth but the averages are about the same -20% give or take a bit. Not every single fish grows to it's max size irregardless of where it is raised, as there are genetic anomalies that must be accounted for in each specimen. Ur basically saying hey I'm not 7'4" my parents must have taken crappy care of me!! Lol
 
Then that species does not belong in captivity!
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Do you know what facepalm means? Google it.

Ur basically saying hey I'm not 7'4" my parents must have taken crappy care of me!! Lol
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This is part of what I was saying. Well put, although it's regardless, not irregardless.
 
Nothing "belongs in captivity". That's a contradiction in terms. Pushing the envelope of what is acceptable fish husbandry is what this hobby is all about. As long as the animal seems to be healthy what's the problem?
 
There are more than a few fish that show up in stores which realistically cannot be maintained in captivity in the home short of unlimited budgets and considerable professional assistance. Too many of these are just too big to be managed as a hobby fish but stores & websites like this may tell you that they can live in hobby tanks. That is unjustified. If you keep a horse in a dog crate, does it become a house pet? I suspect that you know the answer to that question. The same thinking applies to fish. Either you consider yourself a hobbyist or just a fish collector. I want to be the best, most caring hobbyist I can be.
 
Pufferpunk;4869401; said:
HUH??? If you're saying softwater species will thrive in BW, those waters are the exact opposite.
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sorry, typographical error. what i meant was i doubt soft water species will thrive in bw.
 
That's cool, maybe one too many beers.
 
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