Can guppies live in brackish water?

**Dragon cqzzzzz<** · 12-24-2007, 09:12 PM

I have a 55 gallon tank with a violet goby and lots of guppies. I want to know if guppies can live in brackish water. Lots of sources say guppies can be brackish and I've seen pictures of guppies in completely marine conditions. However, out of the blue one day on MFT.net somebody told me you can't keep guppies in brackish water. This surprised and confused me, especially since the next person to post did not contradict them. Can somebody give me an answer? Please?
Note: I have "feeder" guppies, in case that makes any difference, which I doubt.

**squirt_12** · 12-25-2007, 12:01 AM

well i have my "feeder" guppies in brackish water and they are doing great...here is how you can tell:
i started out with 2 males and 4 females....in 3 months i had about 50+ feeder guppies.

brackish water is fine for them.

**Algenco** · 12-25-2007, 12:12 AM

Yes, guppies can tolerate up to 8 tsp salt per gallon

**Dragon cqzzzzz<** · 12-25-2007, 02:13 AM

Thank you.
I thought they could live in brackish water. I'm glad that somebody has verified that for me and now I don't have to worry about killing so many fish just to meet the needs of one. (If I gave them to the LFS they would be eaten because they're "feeders.")
I think I'll post here more often. I didn't have to wait overnight to get a reply.

**squirt_12** · 12-25-2007, 02:16 AM

don't just throw them into the brackish water though. Put them in a cup or something with it about 1/4-1/2 full of their freshwater. then take some of the brackish water and pour a little in about every 5-10 minutes to acclimate them to that salinity so you don't kill them. After the cup is full of water they should be at the right salinity and then you can put them into the brackish water tank.

EDIT - or are they already in the brackish water???

**Dragon cqzzzzz<** · 12-25-2007, 02:21 AM

No I'm turning the tank brackish. Most of those guppies were born in that tank. I'm trying to acclimate the tank to brackish conditions about .001 SG per week. Is that about right? How fast did you change your tank, or did you have it brackish before fish and cycling or however you did it?

**squirt_12** · 12-25-2007, 02:28 AM

well i made it straight brackish and just acclimated the fish into it. with snails...i just threw them in there. I also have some ghost shrimp in the tank if you ever want to get some shrimp.

the way you are acclimating the tank...it should be fine. it sounds like you know what you are doing.

**Dragon cqzzzzz<** · 12-25-2007, 02:42 AM

Thanks for the offer of ghost shrimp. I didn't know they were brackish. What do they do? Do they clean up waste or algae or do they just walk around being pretty?
I had one ghost shrimp once but it died because back then I didn't even know how to take care of guppies.

**NickFish** · 12-28-2007, 07:55 PM

Guppies actually prefer brackish water.
It helps fish breath and heals wounds. Unless you have live plants it is always a good idea to add some salt to a livebearer tank (just not table salt).