damsels in brackish

[jamesh]

hello,

just wondering what our thoughts are about keeping damsels in brackish setups and what salinity you have kept them at?

also small side note cant seem to find what the highest salinity mudskipers tollerate?

 

[Pufferpunk]

I don't understand why people would want to keep a fish in conditions uncomfortable for them? Why not just keep BW-loving fish in BW?

 

[jamesh]

damsels do frequent into brackish water in the wild and are often kept like this i have just not directly spoken to someone who has done so.

the skipper question is due to my wish to add macro algae to the tank which can thrive in water of about 1.015

 

[Pufferpunk]

Visiting BW & thriving long-term are 2 different things. Please don't do it.

 

[fish keeper]

i agree with Pufferpunk 100%. they may enter brackish ,but i think full salt would be the best for a damselfish.

 

[jamesh]

on this part of the discussion you may be interested to know that many seahorse keepers are keeping them as low as 1.018 as its seen to be healthier due to bacteria(notably vibrio,sp) not being able to survive in such low salinities. lowest i ever dared to keep mine was 1.020.

with the above in mind this is what got me thinking about it again with the idea of damsels in the upper region of brackish water since i had read about it several times.

 

[Pufferpunk]

If a fish is healthy to begin with or after you get it healthy, there should be no reason to keep it in conditions other than what is best for it, to keep disease at bay.

 

[jamesh]

its something that many (typically american) seahorse keepers do, if thats the mentality why would people run UV's constantly?

 

[Pufferpunk]

I have no idea why. In the 30+ years I've been keeping fish, I've never owned one.

 

[jamesh]

nor have i in my 11,

its just one of those things of where does one thing start and another end.
for example marine is very often quoted as being from 1.018-1.026 and brackish as 1.001 to 1.024 which over laps quite a bit which is what brought up this question.

i still believe personally that damsles would thrive in water down to 1.017 as would most marines. i just wanted to speak to people who have done it and people who oppose it and why.