# Freshwater Flounders...



## g33tar (Jan 8, 2010)

I saw these things at a LFS the other day and did a quadruple-take. I couldn't believe it. They were so cool. Almost blended right in with the sand they were on. Like a real flounder but the size of a quarter. 

Anyone have / ever had one of these things in their tanks? Do they get huge? They looked pretty interesting.


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## jwm5 (May 9, 2010)

I have seen them at a LFS but dont have any info on them. I bet they would be interesting, but seems like a fully planted tank with lots of plants/roots in the sand would not be an ideal tank for them.


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## Senior Shrimpo (Dec 4, 2010)

I've seen these before, I heard it's reeeaaally hard to get them to eat. This is from a lfs employee, and lfs employees normally say things along the lines of "oh yes, _of course_ you can keep an angel, a goldfish, a figure eight and an arowana in a ten gallon! You're total is $508.87."

They're really cool though. I feel like they'd be brackish but no idea.


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## matt12 (Jan 16, 2011)

the ''freshwater'' flounder is a brackish to full marine fish. as they get older they will require a salinity of about 1.020. they get about 6-7''. they will eagerly accept live brine and blackworms and with time and patients, they will accept frozen bloodworms, brine, mysis, and krill for adults. Ive actually been able to get them eating NLS thera A at my store. Usually when you see the word ''freshwater'' in front of a fishes name it means there brackish IE: freshwater lionfish, freshwater moray eel, freshwater pufferfish. sure they'll survive for a short time (2-3 monthes) in freshwater, but for long term health they will NEED brackish or full marine conditions like the ''freshwater'' Moray Eel. if kept in freshwater for to long they will just wither away and die.


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## james0816 (Jun 26, 2008)

Yeppers...they are a brackish species which leads to failure for almost all people who see them in the LFS. Most LFS people will tell you that they will live fine in fresh water which is actually false. No salt means no flounder.

Sand substrate is preferred with moderate current and minimal decor. They need floor space. Pristine water conditions are a must. Not to discourage you. It is realy easy to keep up maintenance for them. In ideal conditions, they can get up to about 8" in captivity.


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

they can be difficult to feed as well


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## g33tar (Jan 8, 2010)

Holy crap 8". So much for that. Seems like all the neat fish I run across these days turn out to be brackish. They sure are interesting to watch though.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

There are many species of true freshwater flounder. I caught one in Bolivia- I can guarantee you that fish was fully freshwater, as it would take more than its lifetime of swimming to reach an ocean LOL

Now, whether you could find one available for sale, identify it as in fact a true freshwater species, and be a species where suitable husbandry could be provided in an aquarium are all another story...

You might like Hillstream loaches as a more appropriate and easy to find species that look very much like flounder.


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

I had a true freshwater flounder that was collected by a friend of mine (Michael Barber) from one of his trips. It was collected WAY inland, so definitely full fw. I just had a devil of a time feeding it. It would only eat live worms, no frozen or prepared and I ended up losing it when I was away for a week.


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## james0816 (Jun 26, 2008)

I would definately love to have a "full" freshwater flounder. I love these guys.

Nice suggestion on the Hillstreams too. Poor man's ray. LOL


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## drlower (Dec 14, 2010)

i tried one of these and did not find out till after the fact that they are brackish. i really think it died of starvation. it was outcompeted for food even by the tiniest shyest fish. almost would have to hand feed it.


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## WaterLogged (Feb 2, 2011)

Saying it is most certainly brackish without seeing it is weird to me. There are freshwater flounders out there so it's possible. It's just really unlikely.

There really is not an easy way to tell if the flounder is freshwater. A ray or scale count would be really hard. It's more than likely that it is brackish if its from a chain petstore.

The thing is it really doesnt matter. It will most likely starve to death no matter what type of water its in. However if it wont eat in freshwater and you move it to brackish and it does eat, theres your answer. 

I see these at petsmart every time I go and there is a new shipment every time. They sell faster than they can starve...luckily for petsmart.

Here is a link that positively IDs one species of freshwater flounder-http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php/topic/5985-freshwater-flounderhogchoker/

These fish are incredibly cool! They sometimes "hop" along the bottom searching for yum yums and when you walk up to the tank they quickly bury themselves in the sand with just their eyes popping out. They also "surf" the current like a kite. They change colors like chameleons too!

WL


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## Bettatail (Feb 12, 2009)

matt12 said:


> the ''freshwater'' flounder is a brackish to full marine fish. as they get older they will require a salinity of about 1.020. they get about 6-7''. they will eagerly accept live brine and blackworms and with time and patients, they will accept frozen bloodworms, brine, mysis, and krill for adults. Ive actually been able to get them eating NLS thera A at my store. Usually when you see the word ''freshwater'' in front of a fishes name it means there brackish IE: freshwater lionfish, freshwater moray eel, freshwater pufferfish. sure they'll survive for a short time (2-3 monthes) in freshwater, but for long term health they will NEED brackish or full marine conditions like the ''freshwater'' Moray Eel. if kept in freshwater for to long they will just wither away and die.


 moray eel can stay freshwater for life, but must be caught juvenile from freshwater. if they've adjust to saltwater, there is no way to keep them long term in freshwater.
freshwater flounder is pretty much the same, keep them in freshwater they will stay small and dont' breed, life expectancy is also shorter.
freshwater flounders have a high mortality rate in freshwater tanks because they are not the easy fish too keep, not that the freshwater kill them.


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## g33tar (Jan 8, 2010)

Went back to the LFS and took note of what they are listed as...

Achirus spp. (F.W.)

So I found this...
http://www.aqua-magica.com/achirus.html

According to that article they're from pure freshwater of the Amazon and they've kept them for many years in freshwater. I may have to set up a mini tank.


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## Mr. Leg (Feb 2, 2011)

WaterLogged said:


> Saying it is most certainly brackish without seeing it is weird to me. There are freshwater flounders out there so it's possible. It's just really unlikely.
> 
> There really is not an easy way to tell if the flounder is freshwater. A ray or scale count would be really hard. It's more than likely that it is brackish if its from a chain petstore.
> 
> ...


I have had these before, they really are awesome looking. Yes they are very picky eaters, only would eat live worms.


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