Interesting discussion. I'm planting firmly on the fence for a while on this one.
I have 6 Mono argentus in my 1000-gallon FOWLR tank... brackish fish that were acclimated to full salinity about 7 years ago. I've seen people keep mollies in freshwater and in full salinity after careful acclimation. However those fish are typically found in estuaries where they can naturally encounter varying conditions.
I'm not so sure I'm comfy with the idea of a "reef fish" being acclimated to a freshwater environment - something tells me there needs to be a line drawn someplace.
As has been stated above, the "fudge factor" that people exercise with freshwater tanks is of concern too. Not the high-end FW hobbyists who take as meticulous care as many reefkeepers, but the ***-mart shoppers who buy goldfish and freshwater angels from a department store and keep them in a tank with an undergravel filter or a corner box filter, overfeed them daily, never test water, and change water once a year whether they need to or not, and forget to add dechlorin
ator and wipe them all out and start again... This is the market that these creatures will be marketed to... make no mistake. This will legitimize folks not wanting to spend the money and time to adequately set up "Nemo" in a proper habitat. Many freshwater "hobbyists" do not take adequate care of their charges, of course some saltwater keepers don't either but generally they have more money invested and therefore more incentive to take proper care. But when you're talking about 10 cent comets or $1.49 neon tetras.. they are largely considered "disposable" by the buying public.
When the Nemo craze hit (and it's still going strong, BTW), people were stunned to find out that it would cost around $500 or so for a properly sized and equipped tank, filtration and accessories for a "Nemo" tank... and they were even more stunned to find out it would be more if they needed a larger tank if they wanted "Dory" too. ("But don't they only grow to their environment?!") Some spent the money and the time to do it right, but many opted for a vase and a betta, because little Johnny would call any fish, "Nemo"... and the betta was more aptly equipped (not to mention affordable) to handle the level of care that folks were willing to give.
Then again on the other hand... any fish that lives in an aquarium has been adapted to an unnatural environment... and therein lies my conflict.
I think I tend to believe that if we are going to keep these creatures in a glass box, it's probably best to simulate their natural environment to the best of our ability... skeleton and bubbling treasure chest notwithstanding :lol:
Wasn't there a similar movement afloat (pardon the pun) in recent years... aqua babies or something like that?? For whatever reason that didn't fly.
Jenn
