salty fish

I ran the fish dept at petland for about a year( doesn’t sound like much but i have kept fish for over a decade and have done extensive research on most of your commonly found species, and many not so common). Salt will not kill your fish unless you use an EXTREME amount. like i said before, maybe really touchy softwater fish will die from too much salt but even for them 12 cup to ten gallons is not too much. The only concerns you need to have about your fish is if the turtles are going to create too much waste (nitrites or nitrates, ammonia) or if your turtles eat the fish… the other thing is the chlorine and chloramine need to be removed but that is a given for all reptiles and fish. Plecos especially you don’t have to worry about. They are very hardy. I have seen introduced individuals swimming in low salinity brackish water in florida. Their choice!!! You should be more concerned about your water quality and temperature than salt. There are even several freshwater fish that do very well in brackish and even salt water. All of the live bearers (swords, guppies, mollies) flourish when salt is added and mollies are found in pure salt water sometimes in their natural range. Unfortunately their small size makes them poor candidates for turtle companions. My recommendation would be to try a mixture of inexpensive cichlids(sicklids pronounced) Like convicts or severums. these fish are very attractive, inexpensive, and very very hardy. What I would not do is go to any of the mainstream petstores (petco, petsmart, etc) and ask for advice. Knowledgable employees in these kinds of stores are few and far between and the ones that don’t know what they are talking about are often the most ambitious to give out advice. You are more than welcome to contact me if you have any fish questions mantisvoodoo1@… just do so directly so i don’t keep getting my responses back in my inbox, or contact a REPUTABLE non corporate dealer. Dave __________________________________ Yahoo! for Good – Make a difference this year. http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/

Thats awesome I used to have 8 tanks totalling 1200 gallons. I love pleco there are so many kinds. My fav are the gold nugget plecos. They really don’t eat poop. There are only a few organisms on earth that actually eat feces and they are lower on the totam than fish. you’re plecos are eating any algae that may grow (thats why you probalby never have to scrub your tamks like most non pleco keepers and they will eat any left over food particles that the other animals leave (fish or turtles) they are very opportunistic but there is just no nutritional value for them in poo. Its a common misconception though. Most plecos unless otherwise stated are the common type or hybridized so much they are undistinguishable. But If you have any tanks that are only fish than there are over 200 available varieties in any color you could want. many of which dont exceed 6″ some only 4″. But you can’t always tell with juveniles. I got one that was supposed to be common but when he grew up he was a mustard spot or something like that I never had him identified. If you want to get more into fish I recommend the book Aquariums for dummies…inspite of the title it is a useful refrence for beginners and pro alike. Even if you never keep fish it is a good book though. I don’t know where you live but Plecos are one of the most successful small pond breeders available. If you like them enough you might want to look into it. Any of the southern states are ideal but its not impossible to do in more temperate climates. I have gotten out of fish until I move into a more permanant location but I do still have my 20″ baby tiger shovle nose catfish still I just can’t part with him he will be a monster. I focus mostly on snakes, tarantulas and turtles/tortoises. Just trying to get my business built so I can keep everything I want in the bast possiable environment. Well if you have any other questions or just want to chat about animals let me know. Dave __________________________________________ Yahoo! DSL __ Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com

Yeah you’re probally right….. I didn’t think about turtle poo I was just thinking about fish when I said that. __________________________________ Yahoo! for Good – Make a difference this year. http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/