Determining the salinity and temperature tolerances of the goldfish (Carassius auratus, Linnaeus, 1758), black molly (poecilia latipinna, Lesueur, 1821) and the guppy (Poecilia reticulata, Peters, 1859)

In this study, the salinity and temperature tolerances of the guppy (Poecilia reticulata, Poecillidae), The black molly (Poecilia latipinna, Poecillidae) ve Goldfish (Carassius auratus, Cyprinidae), which are some of notable aquarium fish species, were determined. The fish were observed for 4 days after the experiment, and their mortality was taken as the indicator. Guppy and the black molly were found tolerant of a decrease up to 15 °C after being subjected to gradual test temperatures (1°C per hour). Three of the species, which were suddenly transferred from 26 C to the environments of ± 9 °C, remained unaffected by these temperature changes.Three of the species, when gradually acclimatised to different salinity intensities from fresh water (1g/L/hour), guppy and the black molly were tolerant of the salinity up to 24g/L, while goldfish were tolerant of the degrees up to 9 g/L. However, the tolerances of the fishes were low at sudden transfer to the saline environments; guppy and the black molly being tolerant of up to 15g/L, while goldfish was up to only 6 g/L of salinity.It is recommended that water temperature should not be downer than 15°C for guppy and the black molly while keeping in greenhouses in winter months, and that saline water intensity should not exceed 24 g/L for gradual adaptation, and 15 g/L for sudden transfers in salt water bathing. As to goldfish, the salinity should not exceed 9 g/L for gradual adaptation, and 6 g/L for sudden transfers.