List of brackish aquarium fish species

This is a list of commonly seen fish that can be kept in a brackish water aquarium.

Common name	Taxonomy	Tank type	Remarks
Poeciliids
Guppy	Poecilia reticulata	Community	Many color and tail pattern varieties exist, also can tolerate above ocean level salt. Normally freshwater.^[1]
Black molly	Poecilia sphenops	Community	{{{1}}} {{{1}}} Aquarium fish
Sailfin molly	Poecilia latipinna	Community	Gold and silver varieties commonly found.
Others
Four-eyed fish	Anableps spp.		These fish can see above and below water.
Diamond killifish	Fundulus xenicus
Gulf killifish	Fundulus grandis
Striped mummichog	Fundulus majalis
Longnose killifish	Fundulus similis
American Flagfish	Jordanella floridae	Community	May eat hair algae, but also may eat plants.^[2]

Common name	Taxonomy	Size	Remarks	Salinity
Common Toadfish, Toado	Tetractenos hamiltoni	4"	Rarely seen in the aquarium trade, even in Australia, where it is native. Adaptable to a wide range of conditions and habitats, from marginal, polluted freshwater-brackish creeks to fully marine seagrass flats, as long as the habitat is sheltered from strong currents.^{[citation needed]}
Figure 8 pufferfish	Tetraodon biocellatus	4"	Requires brackish aquarium conditions with very low Nitrite and Nitrate levels to be kept successfully. Freshwater compromises immune system, harms puffer, and shortens life extremely. Commonly kept in freshwater.
Green spotted puffer	Tetraodon nigroviridis	6"	Often sold as freshwater fish, but this species actually thrives in brackish water. As the fish matures, it requires the salinity levels to slowly increase with age. Must be kept in aquarium with very low Nitrite and Nitrate levels to be kept successfully. A highly varied diet is a necessary requirement for this species. Prawns, muscle meat, mysid, squid and aquatic snails are all relished. Provide Shelled food to naturally trim the puffers constantly growing teeth.^[3]	1.008-1.018

Common name	Taxonomy	Size	Remarks
Bumblebee goby	Brachygobius xanthozonus	1.5"	Often a picky eater. Will accept thawed frozen brine shrimp or mysis shrimp. Can be outcompeted for food by more aggressive fish.
Water Cow	Eleotris picta	17"
Violet goby, Dragon goby	Gobioides broussonnetii	21"	Though pet stores often label as "vicious" this fish is actually quite harmless
Barred mudskipper	Periophthalmus argentilineatus	6"	This fish requires "land" to crawl out of the water.
Atlantic mudskipper	Periophthalmus barbarus	9"	This fish requires "land" to crawl out of the water.
Knight goby	Stigmatogobius sadanundio	3.5"	{{{1}}} {{{1}}} Species of goby indigenous to South Asia

Common name	Taxonomy	Size	Remarks	Salinity
Blackchin tilapia	Sarotherodon melanotheron	11"	{{{1}}} {{{1}}} Species of ray-finned fish
Orange chromide	Etroplus maculatus	3"	{{{1}}} {{{1}}} Species of fish endemic to Southern India and Sri Lanka
Green chromide	Etroplus suratensis	15"	{{{1}}} {{{1}}} Species of fish
Mayan cichlid or Mexican mojarra	Mayaheros urophthalmus	39.4 cm	{{{1}}} {{{1}}} Species of large cichlid fish from Middle America	0 – 40 ppt

Cyprinodontiformes

Common name	Taxonomy	Size	Remarks
Siamese tigerfish	Datnioides microlepis	18"	These fish must be kept in large aquaria. ^[4]
New Guinea tigerfish	Datnioides campbelli	13"	These fish must be kept in large aquaria.^[4]
Silver moony	Monodactylus argenteus	10"	These fish are also known from marine habitats.
African moony	Monodactylus sebae	10"	These fish are also known from marine habitats.
Green Scat, Ruby Scat	Scatophagus argus	15"	A ravenous herbivore that quickly defoliates any aquatic plants in the aquarium. One of the few common brackish water plants in the trade, the Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus) appears to be toxic to these fish and should not be planted with "scats".

Common name	Taxonomy	Size	Remarks	Salinity
Indian ricefish	Oryzias dancena	1.2"	A coastal ricefish occurring in low-salinity estuarine habitat. Species-only sites in the same field survey measured 0.9–8.3 ppt.^[5]^[6]	0.9–8.3 ppt (recorded sites)
Javanese ricefish	Oryzias javanicus	1.8"	A coastal ricefish normally found in brackish habitats. A field survey found it at species-only sites with salinities of 10.5–30.0 ppt.^[5]^[7]	10.5–30.0 ppt (recorded sites)
Estuarine halfbeak	Zenarchopterus dispar	7.5"	Inhabits shallow water around mangroves in sheltered bays.^[8]
Duncker's halfbeak	Zenarchopterus dunckeri	5.5"	A typical estuarine fish that prefers brackish water; long-term maintenance at 5–15 g/L salt is recommended.^[9]	5–15 g/L

Common name	Taxonomy	Size	Remarks
Indian glassy fish	Parambassis ranga	3.1"	These fish are often dyed.
Targetfish, Jarbua terapon	Terapon jarbua	14"	These fish breed in saltwater and the young return to freshwater.
Banded archerfish	Toxotes jaculatrix	12"	These fish have the ability to shoot water to hit their insect prey.
Hogchoker	Trinectes maculatus	3"	Often sold under the misnomers "Freshwater Flounder" or "Freshwater Fluke", but is in fact a brackish water if not marine fish