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What is the difference between brackish and freshwater fish2007-11-24 23:41:43

Could you explain the difference between brackish, freshwater, saltwater and pond fish.

Answers:

Freshwater fish are from streams and lakes that have no (or little) salt content. Pond fish would be freshwater fish but generally would be temperate instead of tropical, requiring cool water, like goldfish and koi. Brackish fish are fish that inhabit estuaries, rivers and marshes that get an mix of fresh and sea water. They take a varying amount of salt - some like higher and some lower levels. Salt water fish are of course ocean fish that need salinity levels comparable with normal sea water.

There are a lot of interesting brackish fish - puffers, gobies, archers, even mudskippers. then you can keep fiddler and mangrove crabs in brackish environments as well. Just do some research on the type fish you want and it's specific requirements. And with brackish, as the salinity is from sea water, you DO want to use salt mix like you would for a marine aquarium - it has a lot of trace elements that aquarium salt doesn't have and you will get a lot better results in your aquarium.

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Salt water comes from salt water lakes (rare) or the oceans

Brackwater is the combination of salt and fresh water. This usually occures in sounds and bays that meet the ocean.

Fresh water is just that, fresh water that comes out of a well or stream. it contains lots of oxygen and few if any chemicals.

Pond water is fresh water but is usually less oxygen rich than fresh water.

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Brackish fish, like cichlids, do better when a little salt is added to thier water.