Saltwater fish vs Freshwater Fish

[Potsy]

Is it just me or do you find saltwater fish to be hardier and longer-lived than common freshwater fish? It seems that once a saltwater fish makes it past quarantine disease free, has a robust appetite, and is kept in a well maintained tank, it's good to go for a good many years whereas I'll have freshwater fish - with the exception of large cichlids and pedigree and more expensive specimens - drop dead with frequent water changes and good diet. I just find saltwater fish easier to keep.

 

[AdamD76]

I never had good luck with fresh water fish, but I never had over a 20 gallon tank. Maybe in my experience a larger more stable volume of water would have helped.

 

[trembz]

Completely agree, I often times find the larger the fish the hardier it is also

 

[Potsy]

Completely agree, I often times find the larger the fish the hardier it is also

That's certainly true. Large cichlids well cared for will live well past a decade. I bet all freshwater fish would do a lot better if kept like Discus: frequent large water changes.

When I get a clownfish I know that I'll get close to 10 years out of it.

 

[randomfishguy85]

Most people treat freshwater fish horribly. Small tanks, under-filtered, over-fed and very little water changes. Once a person gets a salt water tank and drops a couple hundreds if not thousands of dollars, they pay attention to what they are doing. Ive never kept small fresh water fish but the large cichlids i keep were basically indestructible

 

[ca1ore]

Seems reasonable, if one considers the relative environments, that marine fish are evolutionarily longer lived. Personally, I kept tetras for many years without major problems, but my longevity records are all with marine fish.

 

[stingeragent]

I have gold fish that i bought as feeder fish less than an inch long. They are in my pond now for 2 years and at least 6 inches

 

[Quiet_Ivy]

Is it just me or do you find saltwater fish to be hardier and longer-lived than common freshwater fish?

No, the opposite! I've had many freshwater tanks, and usually the biggest problem was giving away/selling the babies. I used to breed cichlids, bettas, even kilifish. I've never lost a whole tank of freshwater fish. My saltwater fish got taken out by dinoflagellates.

Cichlids are too mean to die.

ivy

 

[AdamNC]

I've never had a Cichlid die on me, whether a S.A. or African species, they are all tanks.

 

[snorklr]

kinda hard to kill everything when you can dose meds without worrying about inverts and can do 100% water changes out of the tap

 

[Arizonah13]

My clowns and goby are 5+ years old, fat and happy. I've never had a freshie last that long. (granted, the last time I had freshwater was many, many years ago)

 

[snorvich]

I kept freshwater fish (breeding angels, bettas, gouramis successfully, failing with discus) but that was a LONG time ago although I do not remember issues with longevity. Some saltwater fish have short life spans but most are long lived (at least for me). However, my koi will outlive me for sure.

 

[OllieNZ]

Alot of smaller fresh water fish don't live overly long naturally, less than 5 years. Most cichlids will get to the early teens. The common goldfish should get a foot long and live 20+ year's. So I suppose it depends on what you keep.

 

[MJV0103]

I keep saltwater, wife keeps fresh. She's doing great with her 20 fresh, esp. since she planted it.

 

[Keoki18]

Most people treat freshwater fish horribly. Small tanks, under-filtered, over-fed and very little water changes. Once a person gets a salt water tank and drops a couple hundreds if not thousands of dollars, they pay attention to what they are doing. Ive never kept small fresh water fish but the large cichlids i keep were basically indestructible

I would agree. Marine fish do very well because we really cater to their water quality. Many who have fresh water species simply treat all tropical fresh water fish with the same water quality, when in fact it can be just as diverse and complex as saltwater. I have had a few dozen tetras in a planted 90 gallon that have lived for almost 7 years now. So the little guys can hang in there too.

 

[jrp1588]

Depends on the species. One of my friends is currently housing a clown loach that I bought about 10 years ago. Clown loaches live a long time and grow very slowly. He basically looks the same size as when I bought him.

 

[OllieNZ]

I would agree. Marine fish do very well because we really cater to their water quality. Many who have fresh water species simply treat all tropical fresh water fish with the same water quality, when in fact it can be just as diverse and complex as saltwater. I have had a few dozen tetras in a planted 90 gallon that have lived for almost 7 years now. So the little guys can hang in there too.

Possibly more complex if you put in the same effort most reef keepers do but I find simple works well, work out which species will work in your water and keep it clean. I personally do 50% wc's weekly and never bother with testing or chasing numbers.
Which species of tetra have you got?

 

[Keoki18]

Possibly more complex if you put in the same effort most reef keepers do but I find simple works well, work out which species will work in your water and keep it clean. I personally do 50% wc's weekly and never bother with testing or chasing numbers.
Which species of tetra have you got?

5 congo river tetras (veiled tails) a hand full of serape tetras and a couple dozen cardinals. The cardinals were the most difficult to start up, but now the population has been stable and healthy.

 

[OllieNZ]

My some of my congos when had them.


Alot of people seem to struggle to get healthy cardinals/neons.

 

[Keoki18]

very nice. The cardinals are very sensitive to water pH when they first arrive. It took me two times to restart my population before I got it right, but now they are great! nearing the end of their life expectancy though. :/