Ever Kept Parambassis Ranga?

[Bryan1957]

I bought 4 Indian Glass Fish (Parambassis Ranga) at a LPS today. There is conflicting information about the fish. Some people say they are brackish, others say they are fresh water found in puddles and small pools during the rainy season. They were in fresh water at the LPS and are now in a 10 gallon fresh water tank. They are great looking fish. I know they are dyed quite often, these definately aren't dyed and never have been dyed.
I would like to know if they are in fact fresh water as some people say or brackish as others say. I checked the link in TFF about them, it says they are brackish. This link says they aren't brackish http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_glassy_fish.
I have uploaded a picture of one of the fish

TIA
Bryan1957

{Edit} Checked the post and the picture didn't show up. It is on Photo Bucket at Parambassis Ranga

 

[Fish_Mike]

This post is not to help you from any personal experience, but rather, to help figure out if the fish is brackish or not.

I know that there are two very similair fish by description, yours, and The Glass Perchlet Parambassis pulcinella

It may be that the second one is the Brackish fish, and your is completly freshwater, but this is only a complete guess.

I have seen the Perchlets and the ones you have for sale, but Perchlets were MUCH bigger. About 5 inches.

 

[Bryan1957]

This post is not to help you from any personal experience, but rather, to help figure out if the fish is brackish or not.

I know that there are two very similair fish by description, yours, and The Glass Perchlet Parambassis pulcinella

It may be that the second one is the Brackish fish, and your is completly freshwater, but this is only a complete guess.

I have seen the Perchlets and the ones you have for sale, but Perchlets were MUCH bigger. About 5 inches.

Thanks,
I searched Google for the fish, there is conflicting information about the same fish. I would like to know so I can set up the correct conditions for them. I'm sure they were in fresh water at the LPS, they were there for at least a month. I have aquarium salt if they need it. I don't want to add salt if it isn't necessary.
Some information suggested the fish are introduced to brackish water after capture, during transportation.
Bryan

 

[AndyTaylor]

Howya Bryan,

I have 5 Indian Glass Fish in a 20L freshwater tank. All the info i can find suggests that they are brackish but will happily live in freshwater. They may be more likely to catch a disease but they should be fine.
Mine are perfectly happy at the moment and the guy in the LFS who sold them to me has kept glass fish for years, and always in freshwater.

Interesting fact..... they are so plentiful in India that they are caught in their thousands and used for fertilizer, apparently! Nasty or what?
Andy

 

[andywg]

If they do turn out to be brackish then you will need marine salt and not aquarium salt..

Andy, did the lfs employee tell you how long any of the glass fish lived for, and how long they had them before selling? Remeber most lfs employees (though not all, I hasten to add) are sales-people, there to sell you fish.

many brackish fish will live "fine" in freshwater, as it will often take some time before they die from the wrong conditions. The prime example is figure 8 puffers, which are hard to get beyond 5 years in FW, yet can survive 10-20 years in low end brackish (SG 1.005).

Remember, are you a fish-keeper, or a fish-haver?

 

[Bryan1957]

Thanks for the information. I actually have marine salt. It was given to me by a friend who raised Cichlids for years and recently quit. Some of the information suggests they should be kept between 1.005 and 1.013 SG. The other information says this particular species is found in puddles and such during the rainy season. The water would be stagnant but probably not brackish. I don't want to make the tank brackish if it isn't necessary.
Thanks for the help.
Anyone else have more information?
Bryan

 

[nmonks]

Hello,

I have three of these fish in my aquarium. They're nice fish.

Anyway, as to whether or not they're brackish water fish. All I can say is that when I introduced six of them into a brackish water tank, I lost three within the first month or so. A few days before death, the body became cloudy, and the fish went off their food. Specific gravity was about 1.003. Since moving them to a freshwater tank with neutral, moderately hard water, the fish have been in perfect health as well as much more bold. Subtle colours (black markings) on the body have also become more obvious.

So, in my limited, personal experience I'd have to say I think that these fish do best in neutral freshwater.

According to Shaefer's Aqualog book on brackish water fish, these fish are essentially freshwater denizens, and he even entitles the chapter on glassfish as "Brackish water fish that aren't"! However, Fishbase does indeed list them as fresh/brackish. Other trustworthy resources, such as Baensch's Aquarium Atlas vol. 1, also recommend adding small amounts of salt to an aquarium containing these fish.

In other words, there's no consensus. I'm sure in part there's a problem with taxonomy; at least four fish are (or have been) traded as the common "Indian glassfish" -- Parambassis lala, Parambassis ranga, Parambassis siamensis, and Parambassis wolffii. There are also other glassfish such as Parambassis pulcinella and Gymnochanda filamentosa that are less widely traded but definitely known to be strictly freshwater (and soft, acid water at that!).

The usual image of these fish as shy, reticent animals simply doesn't seem to be correct when they're happy... as I sit here, the three of them are swimming at the corner of the tank next to me begging for food! They eat all kinds of things, but the thing I've found to be cheap, convenient, and very readily accepted are frozen lobster eggs. You can buy these in stores dealing with marine inverts (they're used to feed things like clams and corals). Cost about the same as bloodworms. My glassfish also enjoy live Daphnia and small pieces of prawn.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[AndyTaylor]

Thanks Neale, that's some well written info. My 5 are in a species tank and are probably the healthiest fish i own, lively, interested and they even do the begging for food thing too. They love bloodworm but i'm going to try the lobster eggs.
Andymg, while I understand that fish shops exist to sell fish and that employees will sometimes tell you anything to make a sale, this is not the case in the shop in question. Nor did I buy these fish without research.
The fish in question in LFS guys tank lived for 8 to 10 years in a freshwater community setup. The reason mine are still in freshwater is because i can't find any real info. to suggest they should be kept otherwise.
If i was a fish-haver I wouldn't be here because I wouldn't care....

Andy

 

[Bryan1957]

Thanks Neale,
Great information. I will keep them in a freshwater tank. They don't seem to be bothered at all. They are swimming peacefully in the open space in the tank, no signs of stress at all.
I agree with your assessment. There seems to be several different sub species of Parambassia with different requirements. There were 4 more at the LPS, I think I'll go there tonight and get them to make a bigger shoal.
Bryan

 

[nmonks]

Don't know where you are Bryan, but a tropical fish shop in London (Wildwoods) apparently has "Chanda" wolffii in stock. That's a 20 cm glassfish if you're not familiar with it. Saw one once, when I was a teenager just starting out in the hobby. It was an awesome fish, looked like a see-through snapper!

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Bryan1957]

I'm in Richmond, VA USA. I would love a fish like that . A few would look great in my 90 gallon tank.
I went out in the pouring rain tonight to get the rest of the Indian Glass fish from the LPS. They are exploring the tank now.
They had gotten a few more in today. I think they had about 12 in all.
Thanks for the help.
Bryan