Datnoid

[damion]

Seen a 5" Datnoid in freshwater at lfs. Can it survive it's entire life on freshwater or ultimately switch over to brackish? Lookin for people with experience for this

[PumaWard]

Sorry, I don't have experience. Maybe this profile will help.
http://aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0439&view_records=1

[often dignified]

That is a cool lookin fish :cool:

[cdawson]

Datnoides are actually a BW fish and won't do well in a FW environment. ESPECIALLY in a community setting, they get pretty big and aggressive and require a rather large tank as well.
No BW fish can survive their whole life in FW, they're only in FW at the LFS because it's easier to sell them that way. Kind of sad really as alot of brackish fish don't make it out of the LFS because of that.
Although lately I've noticed quite a few shops around here setting display tanks up specifically for brackish fish due to the increased popularity of them.

[PumaWard]

It depends on the specie, as this quote from the profile says

While D. quadrifasciatus will only thrive in brackish water, D. microlepis has shown to flourish in fresh water
Sadly, I doubt many LFS's will know the difference between any of them... or at least their wholesaler can't make a distinction.

HTH

[damion]

Thanks for the profile but I already read it before. Looking for aquarists with experience on this. I know people's opinion is to keep it BW but I've had Columbian Sharks in FW their entire life and seems to be living just fine.