Can Marine fish and Tropical fish be kept in the same tank?
Posted on Sep 09, 2008 under fish tropical |I currently have a tropical tank, but I am looking to invest in a marine tank as marine fish look stunning, especially with the coral and sand in the tank, it gives you that ocean feel. I was just wondering if marine fish could reside alongside my tropical fish in the same tank? If not then I will have to look to sell my tank, along with my fish that currently reside inside it. Could someone please tell me if they can or cannot reside together. Thank you
no they cant marine are salt water and tropical are fresh water two different kinds of water you need to seperate tanks
September 11th, 2007 at 8:06 am
no they cant
Marine fish are VERY sensitive and not to mention expensive to keep
They require a lot more tank space
how big is yours??
You will need a protein skimmer ( about £150 )
A much better filtration system
A completely different lighting system
also you cannot have a hood on your tank, sounds silly i know but its got something to do with minerals building up the surface and poisoning the water.
These fish are unbelievably sensitive to PH levels, nitrate levels and temperature
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Well Im fairly sure they cant. you'd have to put salt in the tank for the marine fish and tropical fish can't handle that.
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:07 am
no, you can not put them in the same tank. Tropical fish need warm water and marine colder water
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:08 am
No no no. Marine are salt water fish, tropical are fresh!
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:09 am
no they cant marine are salt water and tropical are fresh water two different kinds of water you need to seperate tanks
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own a marine tank and a tropical tank
September 11th, 2007 at 8:09 am
No they have totally different requirements
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:09 am
you cannt mix fresh and salt water fish together and did you -know-that all those marine fish lose there colors in a few months -its a little secret the pet shop will not tell you ?
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:10 am
they can not stay in the tank together as marine fish live in very salty water. if you not sure go 2 a shop that sells fish and ask someone. marine fish are very hard to look after so i would advise you to talk to someone
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:10 am
tropical fish live in fresh water salt water fish live in salt water so they cant be raised together but,depending on how big your tank is you can sell your fresh water fish back to the fish store get a credit and put it towards your salt water fish rember that it takes longer to set up a saltwater tank so don't expect to put fish in your tank for atleast 4 weeks its not anything like fresh water
good luck!
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:11 am
There are some brackish fish that can go either way if they're acclimated correctly.
I read somewhere that mollies can, but don't take my word for it.
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:12 am
only if they are both salt water fish if not they will die or one kind will the fresh water ones but marine fish will not survive in fresh water
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:12 am
No they can`t
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:12 am
Nope. Marine fish need salt. Tropical fish can not tolerate it.
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:18 am
Nooooooooooo. marine are in salt water and tropical in fresh. I think you'd better get a book and read up on the subject. Marine fish are more care, you have to buy the salt and mix it up, ideally let sit a while. Then you have to know how the test the salinity, etc. Here's some info. that will give you an idea:
http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/sbegin-longterm.html
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Boyfriend in the fish business 35+ years; I have dabbled in keeping them.
September 11th, 2007 at 8:21 am
They cannot reside together for the same reason that they are not found residing together in nature.
Water temperature, PH and Salt requirements are all different for these 2 kinds of fish.
What's good for one will kill the other.
Marine tanks are a much more expensive and care intensive hobby. After reading up about it well, make sure the added fuss is taken into account when you make this decision. Marine = Ocean. You need plenty of room for fewer fish, a
real big tank and salt/protein level controls.
By comparison it is easier to keep multiple schooling fish in a relatively smaller tropical tank.
Good luck!
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:26 am
do not put marine fish in fresh water or even any saltwater plants or coral. u can sell your fish n use your tank n set up for trigger fish n coral but u can not go back to fresh water ocean fish need more room n more hiding habitat if your tank is not 35 gallons or more stick to tropical fish some tropical fish are just as cool as ocean fish they are hard to keep alive n a lot of care if u need to ask this do not get ocean fish try fresh water plants n rocks u can make a bridge with n fresh water drift wood n fresh water coral i had both n did well but ocean fish are to much work n die easy n cost to much you will regret the ease of fresh water
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:30 am
Simply put NO.
They each require different water conditions to thrive.
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September 11th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Most definately and positvely NO!!!
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September 11th, 2007 at 9:03 am
In general, NO! Marine fish need to have a specific concentration of sea salts in their water to live. That level of salt would kill most freshwater fish. "Tropical" merely refers to the temperature at which the fish are kept. There are marine tropicals, just as there are marine and freshwater "coldwater" species.
Getting back to why I said "in general" freshwater fish can't survive in marine conditions, there are a few freshwater species that are actually better consider "brackish", meaning they should have some salt in their water. These can make the transition to saltwater if the salt is added to their water slowly (a few days to a week is best). These would be guppies and mollies. If you have these, you can keep these with peaceful marine fish (small enough that they wouldn't eat the guppies and mollies). Just follow the drip acclimation procedures discussed in this link: http://www.fishlore.com/acclimating-tropicalfish.htm or add sea salt mix by the teaspoonful to their tank (no more than 1 per hour or so) until you get the correct salinity.
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I have also worked in pet stores and keep three marine tanks of my own (along with freshwater fish) and have used both mollies and guppies to cycle marine tanks - I currently have a trio of spawning saltwater guppies
September 11th, 2007 at 9:53 am
i just asked a question about the difference between tropical fish and fresh water fish and the only difference is that tropical fish require warmer water temp. so the answer to your question is no. tropical fish cant live in saltwater tanks. but a marine tank is consider a tropical tank due to the water temp.
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September 11th, 2007 at 9:54 am
NO they cannot live together in one tank! Marine fish are VERY VERY hard to look after and are alot different from tropical fish - only very experianced topical fish keepers can keep marine fish successfully. Do lots of research and make sure you have lots of money and you should be fine
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September 11th, 2007 at 9:57 am
no..for 1 huge reason…
MARINE fish need SALT water…
"TROPICAL" fish need FRESH water!
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September 11th, 2007 at 10:59 am
No, they need 2 completely different water requirements-one fresh water one salt water.
But, the tropical fish mollies, can be acclimated to full marine conditions. I've seen them in full salt water tanks at a pet store before-the first and only time I've seen that. But, it's a very slow process to do that, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you knew what you were doing.
Otherwise, I can't think of any tropical fish you may have in your tank that could be adjusted to marine conditions. Why not buy another tank to use for a salt water set up? Or, you could find a store willing to take/possibly buy your fish, that way you wouldn't need a new tank for a salt water tank.
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September 11th, 2007 at 11:38 am
you can put mollies in a marine tank but thats about it
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September 12th, 2007 at 7:06 am
no they have totally different water qualities
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September 12th, 2007 at 11:45 am
no tropical live in fresh water marine live in salt water also some one else said you cant have a lid on marine not true i had a lid on my juwel 125 litre for 2 years and that was thriving when i upgraded to a rena 440 littre depending on what fish you keep some need a lid morey eals as they can stick there heads and body way out of water they can also push lids up if not secured down also you only need a protim skimmer for corals you can safley keep a just fish setup with a good cannister filter as i didnt have a skimmer on my 125 litre and had that 2 year and lost only 3 fish
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September 14th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Some Brackish fish can be acclimated to saltwater…. just to let you know
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September 15th, 2007 at 12:25 am
the only freshwater species that I know of that can adapt to the marine environment are mollies and monos
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