There used to be a video of a Flowerhorn being kept in a saltwater tank. The video is now set to private so it can't be viewed anymore.
Which cichlids can tolerate brackish salinity?
- Thread starter Stratoquarius
- Start date
Actually, orange chromides are more often found in freshwater than brackish in the wild. The red man made strain does really well in full brackish, but the wild form not so much. I could never breed them until I switched them to fresh per articles by Dr. Loiselle and Heiko Bleher ...
Very interesting Darth pike. I have heard that some freshwater fish need brackish conditions to stimulate breeding, so I suppose it could be the opposite too, like with chromides.
I always heard that orange chromides do poorly in captivity unless they are given a species tank with a lot of care. is that true?
I always heard that orange chromides do poorly in captivity unless they are given a species tank with a lot of care. is that true?
Given their size, they are surprisingly aggressive with each other and quite good at catching small rasobras. Mine killed their way down to a pair in a 40 breeder and snacked on most of the harequin rasboras I had in with them. I did find they weren't doing great in the brackish water (mine were wild ones), but after reading those articles and switching out to full fresh and putting in larger dithers (scissortail rasboras), I didn't have any troubles with them.
But I never tried to add them with any other cichlids so I can't say for sure about needing a species tank. Green chromides got to big for my tanks and the carnary chromide was unknown to me at the time nor would I risk them with the fiesty oranges.
But I never tried to add them with any other cichlids so I can't say for sure about needing a species tank. Green chromides got to big for my tanks and the carnary chromide was unknown to me at the time nor would I risk them with the fiesty oranges.
I agree about the black belts and Mayans, but I’m not convinced about Nandopsis haitiensis, Nandopsis tetracanthus, i.e. Haitian and Cuban cichlids. These are mostly found in FW and brackish. Cannot find any evidence of finding them in full marine.
I have successfully kept black belts and Mayans in sg around 1.018.
I tried the same with a Cuban which did OK at first but eventually died after a few days. It may have been unrelated to the salinity, but IMO the jury is still out.
About mayans-there is debate about certain populations becoming their own species. The ones found in saltwater might be a different species eventually. Mayan species found closer inland might not have the same salinity tolerance. IMO it’s always best to match the species with water conditions in which they are found. Especially with CA cichlids which there are differences in the same species due to their environment. And because a fish can tolerate conditions doesn’t mean it’s good for life.
I’ve seen those conjectures and there’s not a lot of evidence to indicate that they are a distinct species. A subspecies maybe or just normal regional variation.
Suffice it to say, the ones found in Florida appear to like salt. They have been found in Tampa Bay where the salinity can range from 15 - 38 ppt.
Only way to clear this up is DNA analysis. As of now looking at 8-9 possible species. Some very isolated like zebra that is only found in Xlaka cenote.
They all probably can tolerate salinity as most fish in the region can. But ones living in the ocean will do better in a saltwater tank. Not one paper I’ve read addresses the difference in origin of where the fish were collected. Just taking tank bred fish and seeing how they do with a gradual increase in salinity. Nothing on the long term, like can certain fish thrive and live long. The thing is aquarium tank raised fish can tolerate different conditions including PH and hardness where their wild caught counterparts can’t.
I’m just saying a the Mayan cichlid is not studied enough to surely know. There is a lot of speculation, and I can’t conclude they all are the same fish that will thrive in a saltwater tank. Cichlids all evolve based on their location. There are differences in the same species found in lakes, cenote and riverine. An isolated species can evolve into a sub or completely different species.
Some like h. Minckleyi even eat completely different foods.
