Turning freshwater fish/inverts to saltwater

[Voodoodol]

Not sure if this is the propr place for this post...but here goes.

 

I read a thread on here the other night where a guy had acclimated his freshwater mollies to saltwater. I wasn't aware that anything like that was even possible but according to what he said most any freshwater fish can be convted to saltwater.

 

Here's my situation. I have a large 29 gal tank that up until today housed freshwater fish and a blue crayfish. I re-homed all the fish but want to keep the beautiful crayfish and am wondering if a freshwater invert can be converted to a saltwater invert like a fish apparently can be? Anyone know? If yes then how is the best way to do it?

[Acielot]

Certain organisms can be converted. There are biological processes which allow these certain organisms to convert. Correct me if I am wrong but I think that the liver in saltwater fish which is able to filter out the salt more efficiently than that a freshwater fish.

 

I think that a crayfish doesn't have the ability to hydrate itself since the saltwater has a high molarity it would literally pull water out of the crayfish. Few inverts I know of can switch between FW and SW.

[jedimasterben]

Who told you that most any fish can be converted? WTF? Mollies and guppies are brackish/saltwater fish to begin with. Some other brackish fish can do well in saltwater, but not many.

[Acielot]

Who told you that most any fish can be converted? WTF? Mollies and guppies are brackish/saltwater fish to begin with. Some other brackish fish can do well in saltwater, but not many.

+1

 

Puffers also. And ghost shrimp

[jedimasterben]

+1

 

Puffers also. And ghost shrimp

Specific puffers, and specific 'ghost' shrimp, but yes.

[Acielot]

Definitely, the specific "certain"was implied in my first post.

[jedimasterben]

Definitely, the specific "certain"was implied in my first post.

[Acielot]

Disclaimer*Should you kill your goldfish because you try to acclimate it to your tropical reef (the complete opposite of goldfish habitat) Ben and myself are not at fault.

 

 

What fish did you have in mind other than the crawfish?

[RayWhisperer]

There are very few fish indeed that can live in either fresh or saltwater. Mollies are a prime example. However, as Ben pointed out. They are actually brackish fish that have been acclimated to fresh water.

 

There are certain saltwater fish that have a life cycle that includes freshwater. Salmon and stripers are two that come to mind. They can actually live their entire lives in freshwater.

 

There are a few cichlids that have been found in saltwater. I believe the green terror is one of them. However, it's believed they only use the ocean as a means to get to other streams. It isn't thought that they stay long term in a saltwater environment.

 

Inverts, I have no idea. However, I rather doubt there are too many, if any.

[disaster999]

i would set up another tank for the crayfish instead of hoping he will convert into salt water.

 

the last thing you want to see if your beloved pet die by your own hands.

[Voodoodol]

Who told you that most any fish can be converted? WTF? Mollies and guppies are brackish/saltwater fish to begin with. Some other brackish fish can do well in saltwater, but not many.

I'm not sure who stated that on a thread. I will go back and look when I get off work this afternoon.

 

i would set up another tank for the crayfish instead of hoping he will convert into salt water. the last thing you want to see if your beloved pet die by your own hands.

No worries there. I wasn't just gonna throw it in and see what happened. I love my blue crayfish. It's stunning. I will set it up another tank. I've had it over a year and it is a fascinating critter.

 

Disclaimer*Should you kill your goldfish because you try to acclimate it to your tropical reef (the complete opposite of goldfish habitat) Ben and myself are not at fault. What fish did you have in mind other than the crawfish?

None. Just the crayfish. It would have been beautiful in a saltwater environment. But it is beautiful in FW too.

 

Thanks everyone for clearing this up for me. Before reading that thread I referred to I had no idea that any FW could be acclimated to SW. Learn something new here every day.

[Tamberav]

Bet you would like a peacock mantis.

[LarryMoeCurly]

Just get one of these.

[jedimasterben]

Just get one of these.

I saw one of those Monday while collecting macros.

[jestep]

I think you've got it figured out, but most fish cannot convert and most brackish fish cannot convert fully.

 

You're basically limited to:

Molly's

Mono Sebae

Mono Argentus

Scatophagus argus

 

Almost all other brackish and FW fish cannot be safely converted. Most puffers will not survive long term in salt water.

[Tamberav]

Just get one of these.

Says they get 1 foot 2 inches?!? Once it gets big.. you could just eat it though.

[Deckoz2302]

/makes saltwater gold fish

 

/makes millions

[dtitus1]

I did actually successfully convert Amano shrimp to saltwater after posting a thread about it on here, but my results are iffy because I didn't really have the means to perform a good controlled experiment. I slowly brought up the salinity in a bucket over 2 days and put them in my display and they lived for about 4 days before the disappeared but I'm not sure if something ate them or if they starved to death or what.

[jedimasterben]

I did actually successfully convert Amano shrimp to saltwater after posting a thread about it on here, but my results are iffy because I didn't really have the means to perform a good controlled experiment. I slowly brought up the salinity in a bucket over 2 days and put them in my display and they lived for about 4 days before the disappeared but I'm not sure if something ate them or if they starved to death or what.

Amano shrimp live in freshwater post-meta. They go to estuaries to breed, but go right back into the rivers. They die otherwise.

[dtitus1]

Yeah thats the idea. They did survive full marine though, like I said, not really enough data to figure out what really happened but the fact that they lived as long as they did says something. I know if you dropped a clown in freshwater it wouldn't live five days.

[jasonnau]

I know this thread is old but when I was about 16 I completely converted a full tropical fish aquarium into a salt water without losing a single fish. I had gourami, plecos, Chinese algae eaters, barbs etc. I converted the tank to 1.018 salinity over about a month slowly adding salt. I then added a maroon clown fish. And yes, I had a maroon clown living with Chinese algae eaters and gouramis. The maroon clown was such an amazing fish that I ended up getting rid of all the other fish and starting my first salt tank. I had this tank up and running successfully for at least six months prior. As for long-term success I'm not sure but it definitely can be done. Some of the sensitive fish like neons and such might not go but I didn't lose a single fish in the short term.

[Gourami Swami]

On ‎1‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 4:43 PM, jasonnau said:

I know this thread is old but when I was about 16 I completely converted a full tropical fish aquarium into a salt water without losing a single fish. I had gourami, plecos, Chinese algae eaters, barbs etc. I converted the tank to 1.018 salinity over about a month slowly adding salt. I then added a maroon clown fish. And yes, I had a maroon clown living with Chinese algae eaters and gouramis. The maroon clown was such an amazing fish that I ended up getting rid of all the other fish and starting my first salt tank. I had this tank up and running successfully for at least six months prior. As for long-term success I'm not sure but it definitely can be done. Some of the sensitive fish like neons and such might not go but I didn't lose a single fish in the short term.

Hmm, pics?

[OldManSea]

Going back many, many  years, William Innes in his encyclopedia of freshwater fish had near the end data from experiments. In which he acclimated marine fish to fresh water.  There is a old photo that purports to show a blue damsel, if I recall correctly, in a fresh water tank.  I believe that he stated it did not have bright blue coloration after acclimation.

[BlennyBoi]

On 2/20/2013 at 2:36 PM, jedimasterben said:

Who told you that most any fish can be converted? WTF? Mollies and guppies are brackish/saltwater fish to begin with. Some other brackish fish can do well in saltwater, but not many.

yeah, its only mollies, and brackish fish. whoever told you that almost any freshwater fish can be converted was either told by a filthy liar, misread something or is lying

[BlennyBoi]

On 1/19/2016 at 7:43 AM, jasonnau said:

I know this thread is old but when I was about 16 I completely converted a full tropical fish aquarium into a salt water without losing a single fish. I had gourami, plecos, Chinese algae eaters, barbs etc. I converted the tank to 1.018 salinity over about a month slowly adding salt. I then added a maroon clown fish. And yes, I had a maroon clown living with Chinese algae eaters and gouramis. The maroon clown was such an amazing fish that I ended up getting rid of all the other fish and starting my first salt tank. I had this tank up and running successfully for at least six months prior. As for long-term success I'm not sure but it definitely can be done. Some of the sensitive fish like neons and such might not go but I didn't lose a single fish in the short term.

i do not believe a single word of this. also, why did you have that many fish in a 16l, then add a maroon? also 1.018 is prolly way too low for a maroon.