what's the diffrence between saltwater and freshwater?

[brandoniscool]

hi,my name is arieyonna,and i'm a student from Mr.Rutherford's third grade class.And i was wondering what is the difference between saltwater and freshwater? And also i was wondering why don't all the water animals live in the same type of water?

 

[crissie]

Umm, without meaning to come across as sarcastic, the biggest difference would be that one has salt in it. As for your second question, that depends on whether or not you believe in evolution.

 

[crissie]

Umm, without meaning to come across as sarcastic, the biggest difference would be that one has salt in it. As for your second question, that depends on whether or not you believe in evolution.

And I have just realised you are a child! How horrid of me - sorry!

Salt water is only found in the ocean - fresh water is found in rivers/streams/lakes.

Fish and other water creatures have changed over time to be able to survive wherever ever it is that they live, but it takes millions of years for them to o this, so a fresh water fish couldn't be put in salt water as it would suffocate as it isn't able to breathe.

 

[ca1ore]

Hi Arieyonna -

It's a good question. The oceans are salty because over millions and millions of years minerals and salts have been washed into them by rivers and by rain. Over that same period of time, fish and other animals have adapted to that salt and cannot now survive in water without it. Freshwater, like streams and lakes, form from melting ice and rains that have not had the chance to accumulate all of that salt. The fish that live in freshwater have adapted to those much lower levels of dissolved minerals and salts.

Live on our planet it amazing though - plants and animals have adapted to live in most environments; even ones we would consider to be hard to live in. Did you see March of the Penguins? That is a good example of somewhere I'd not want to live.

 

[BigCountry74]

Some fish live in both. This green spotted puffer fish for example,

It is born in freshwater, then as a child/teenager it can travel freshwater rivers in search for food (which could be a river near the ocean which contains saltwater). It could eventually swim out towards the ocean and live in reefs.

I raised one of these in a 10 gallon fresh water tank and eventually brought it into my saltwater reef tank over time. I named it "Rocky". Here is a picture of Rocky swimming with a clown fish,

 

[snorvich]

Ok, so now I have a question for YOU! Which is your favorite fish and why is it your favorite???

 

[crock921]

hi! Great post! I wondered this same question for many years.

While it isnt always guaranteed, saltwater aquariums are usually warmer than fresh water ones. Also, there is a lot more work with maintaining salt water.

The fish are also a lot cooler, and you can have coral reefs in saltwater! Coral does not live in fresh water.

 

[el_pinguino]

Saltwater is the normal type of water on Earth. 97% of the water on earth is saltwater because it is easy to make. The water just mixes with the minerals in the Earth. Salt, like what you put in your food, is one of those minerals. There are others like calcium.

Freshwater is special. Only 3% of the water on earth is freshwater because it is hard to make. It takes energy from the sun to evaporate water from the ocean leaving all the salt behind. When it rains, you are seeing water from the ocean falling from the sky! It doesn't stay freshwater for long, though. Eventually, it mixes with the minerals in the ground and flows down rivers and back into the ocean.

Scientists have discovered that the first animals on Earth came from the oceans. After millions of years, some animals slowly adapted and changed to be able to live in freshwater.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Arieyonna -

There a couple of other examples of fish that can live in both freshwater and saltwater that you might already know about: salmon and black mollies.

Salmon are important food fish that spend most of their lives in the ocean, but swim up the particular river they were born in to deposit their eggs. The young that hatch out of those eggs spend a few weeks in the freshwater river or stream, then travel to the ocean to grow up.

Black mollies are small fish often kept in aquariums that originally come from South America, but are now found all over the world. They are highly adaptable, and can live in anything between freshwater and full saltwater, as long as the change occurs slowly.