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Kribensis: A brackish-ish fish?


DTC512
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I'm not an expert on this but my understanding is they can tolerate brackish water but it isn't ideal for them. Their native habitat tends to be very soft clean river water in west Africa but they have been known to travel to locations where there is very thin brackish water.... it is not a habitat they favor. I have no clue what would happen if you forced them to live in hard brackish water full time with no escape.

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On 11/20/2022 at 6:59 AM, DTC512 said:

Hey all,

 

After much research, I'm still halfway on the fence about this. Can Kribensis happily live in a brackish tank? Some say yay others– nay. 

What do y'all think?

Appreciate you and any help/advice! 

 

best

They are bare brackish, which is like 1.001-1.003, I personally will still not recommend it.

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I think the "some say it'll work others say no" confusion comes from people who misconstrue fish that like high mineral content in the water with having to dose cichlid salt which leads to "salt" and then brackish conditions. 

It's like that game of telephone as a kid and just poor translation or understanding, probably....

https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/kribensis-the-river-rainbows/

 

Quote

Never brackish…

There’s a myth that to this day keeps doing the rounds, unsupported by sound referencing, that Kribensis are found in brackish waters. In reality they cover a vast delta that stretches from around 150km inland to the sea, but repeated surveys have shown that Pelvicachromis are only found in the fresh, usually soft waters, and never in brackish conditions.

The idea of the brackish Krib seems to have arisen many years ago, possibly started by Baensch in his aquarium atlas, but has not been subsequently corrected.

To put the record straight, every bit of quantifiable evidence points strongly at Kribs being obligatory freshwater inhabitants that are quite unsuitable for life in a brackish system.

In studies of their range, the number of collectable P. pulcher substantially drops off as researchers come progressively closer to brackish water regions.

So these fish are not big fans of salt, then.

 

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