Is this Cruel???

[benter]

I recently purchased a 55 gal tank,(used), to make a sump..the only deal was I had to keep the guys daughters fish alive...They are 2 cichlids....IN SALTWATER.....they have been in my tanks for a month or so now !!! They show no signs of stress and one has even become best buds with my dogface puffer...I don't know wether this is something they have gotten used to and would be better off left alone ..or should I take them to the lfs and get them a freshwater home :notsure:

 

[speg]

how the heck....

 

[benter]

the best part is ..he says he has had them for over a year...I didn't believe him and took a refractometer when I picked them up...1.023b right on the money!!!

 

[jedi]

Some ciclids can be acclimated to live in salt water.
Many of the African species frequently have Salt water levels in the waters they live in.
Very cool to have. although they will eat everything they can pu tin theier mouths.
Jedi

 

[bobothewizard]

Pics please.

 

[weazil]

they are brackish water fish. Guess if he started them in fresh water and slowly raised the salt until they got aclimated to just salt water.

 

[guineawhop]

i have never heard of a cichlid living in saltwater before :thinking:

 

[teresaq1]

I have a black molly :thinking:

 

[benter]

here he is next to the dog face puffer!!!!

 

[ophiura]

Huh, that's a south American cichlid, isn't it? :notsure: Not the best with figuring those guys out. Anyway, it is odd to me....

 

[benter]

me either..not much of a freshwater junkie...kinda weird, huh? I know him and the puffer are best buds though....

 

[kaotik]

yeah, Weazil is right. Most ciclids are brackish and stay in rivers near the ocean so they get some salt. Actually, the same is true for most freshwater puffers and several others as well. I have actually never seen one in that high of salinity before tho.

 

[kails83]

I haven't seen one in a salt tank either. However I have heard other similar cases of it happening. If I remember right it was where the owners were inexperienced or didn't have complete advice, strated them out in brackish water and when cleaning the tank anded more salt. However since salt doesn't evaporate the salt content got high, the fish survived for awhile..........I don't know though........there is always a first time for anything and if that is what they are used to I would leave them there! :yes:

 

[farmboy]

A picture is worth one thousand words.
Maybe they should rename this site SALTWATER/(and freshwater-acclimated to live in more than brackish levels of salt)FISH.com
It doesn't exactly roll of the tongue. . .
Great pic!!

 

[fish_nooob]

I'm almost sure thats a peacock cichlid, theyll grow to 2 feet in length. Pretty cool, never saw or heard of that.

 

[1journeyman]

I've heard of saltwaterfish living in freshwater, but never the reverse.
Impressive.

 

[cross]

:happy: thats awesome. keep us updated..

 

[harlequin]

African ciclids come from FW lakes in Africa, no where near the ocean. The SA kind come from all over so it is possible that it might be from a brackish water area. But still, to see them in full salt is just odd, especially for long term heheh.

 

[ophiura]

I wouldn't call cichlids brackish water fish - yes, some can be into brackish water, but most are freshwater (African lakes, Amazon Basin, etc) and may experience some brackish conditions. Just seems a little bit like a waste of some valuable saltwater bioload space But if you got 'em as part of a deal, well ...

 

[lion_crazz]

wow that is weird because that definitely looks like a south american cichlid (which usually does not live in salty water). The africans live in more of a salty enviroment, but that doesn't look like any african that I know. Very weird...