# General > Events, field trips and gatherings >  Field report for Aquarama 2009

## benny

Hi guys,

It's here again after 2 years. 



It's open from today, but it's only for trade. Public entrance from Saturday to Sunday as usual. However, please take note that this time, it's at SUNTEC CITY!! Not Singapore EXPO!!! It's located on the 6th floor, although the signage does not say so at the elevators.

As usual, the same big boys are there, including Qian Hu, Tetra, Eheim, Hai Feng.... etc. 









Most of the big boys are at the front of the exhibition hall. Overall, the number of exhibitors seem to be reducing. There are now other pet products on display as well, although not too many.

More to come...

Cheers,

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## benny

Here's some sample from the Qian Hu booth, which is one of the biggest at the show.





Besides the rays, Qian Hu even have baby arowanas on display. At Raffles Arowana, there was a demonstration of a mouth brooding arowana releasing eggs! There will be another one on Saturday in the after at 3pm. Watch for it.

Here's another familiar exhibitor, Sera.



And here's where the albino arowana are exhibited..



If you look hard enough, you might just spot the small corner where Dennerle is displayed.



More to come...

Cheers,

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## benny

This is undoubtedly the best booth at the exhibition in terms of new products... The Gex booth!



Incidentally, that's Coryfav, my old friend from petfrd.com! She looks so pro hor?  :Grin:  CKyeo managed to just get out of the frame on the left but we'll catch him somewhere later!

Back to new products..



New filter from Gex. Not in market yet. Expected in Aug 09.



New fan from Gex. This is larger than the one featured in the last Aquarama. Suppose to lower water temperature by 4 degrees celcius... Available from Aug 09.



LED lights! They seem to be everywhere for this Aquarama. These are from GEX and will be available from Aug 09.



GEX will introduce 2 new food timer by Aug 09.

More to come...

Cheers,

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## benny

Of course, GEX also displayed the usual staple..



Their famous sand..



Here's something new again. Micro size box filter with carbon filtration!! Available from Aug 09.



Here's something very interesting! New chillers!! They are waiting to orders from local retailers to see if they qualify for the minimum order quantity. No idea when it will hit our shores.

No prices available yet for all new GEX products.

The most amazing of all.... a special water condition that makes it possible to keep marine fishes together with fresh water fishes!!!



I couldn't believe it initially but it's true!

More to come...

Cheers,

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## benny

Another new product from Europe, but not sure if it will eventually be distributed in Singapore..



And from Dymax...



Acrylic nano tanks with LED lighting. Very cute!



New LED with T5 light set. Very bright!

Besides products, there are quite a few display tanks. 



Another famous Japanese aquarium company Kotobuki is also exhibiting here!!!



They have really stylish tanks! According to them, they are finalising distributor agreement with a Malaysia company which will eventually including Singapore! So we can officially get many of the fantastic products that they have! Yah!!

More to come...

Cheers,

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## benny

For the shrimp lovers, there are some on display..



These shrimp tanks are from the Indonesia booth.



Some of the italian designer tanks on display..



Expensive? Yes!.... Practical?... Well....

More new products.. This time from Eheim!!



These are their new Aquaball series. I lost so many small fishes that got stuck behind their suction cup plate holding the previous aquaball filter. This one certainly looks like an improvement.

And some fishes on display...



I love discus! Perhaps I should get some?  :Grin: 

More to come...

Cheers,

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## benny

Here's Green Park Tropical Fish Farm. They have some nice fish on display..



L46 Zebra Pleco for lelong!!!




Just kidding. Not sure if they are selling...



One of the new fishes on display...



Electric blue rams!! Just a color variant of the normal ram, but they sure look nice!

And here's East Ocean, with CADE tanks and Sudo products!!!



I also manage to catch Ben from Mizu World there but I was too busy catching up with him to get some pictures. Shame.

More to come....

Cheers,

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## benny

For those interested in setting up a jellyfish tank... DON'T MISS THIS!!



They come with a special LED light set where you can change the color and the mood. Cool!!



This is the stand to catch the Japanese jellyfish at. It's Sky High Enterprise. Hope it's not a reflection of their prices.

Another regular... Aquarium Muster/Tropic Marin..



Aqua Marin has some interesting setup too!



Very High tech!!!



Bio Orb with the new zen looking series. 

More to come...

Cheers,

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## marle

thanks for sharing.

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## benny

For those looking or aquarium publication, you won't be disappointed. And don't forget the nice posters too!



The Taiwan pavilion! But no transgenic fishes this time round.



Some of the Hikari products on display.



The fish clubs were also there to recruit members. Discus, Betta, Goldfish, Guppy and Pleco club! Perhaps there will be club merchandise on sale during the weekend.

Next, the fishes on display!



In previous years, the displays were always an eyesore with empty tanks and dead fishes. It seems that there is some improvement, but not much. Still for many, it will be an eye opener.

More to come....

Cheers,

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## benny

Today is the first day at the show and this is one of the first few fishes I saw....



Of course there are better ones..





One of the 'new species' on display. _Schistura balteta_ or better known as Sumo loach.





Betta is always one of my favorites!

More to come...

Cheers,

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## benny

And of course, one of our all time favorites... PLECOS!!!





This is the First prize winner! Can't remember which category though..



This is so fat and cute!



This is one mega monster!

More to come...

Cheers,

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## benny

And the finally, the plant tanks from the competition.....




Second prize winner: Richard from Colorful Aquarium







More to come...

Cheers,

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## benny

Third prize winner: Roger from Aquatic Quotient


First prize winner: William/Robert from Aquatic Quotient





Well done Robert, William and Roger!!! AQ is proud of you guys!!

Cheers,

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## benny

Okay, that's all from me for the first day at Aquarama 2009. Hope the report is helpful to give you a flavor of the show.

Unlike the other years, we will not be covering this event on a daily basis. Given the fact that the show is so much smaller than it was before, we have had a pretty comprehensive visit today. If possible, we may have another visit on Saturday and update it for the visiting public on Sunday.

Overall, it's still a good show. But is it worth the S$8 entry fee plus the horrendous parking charges, you decided from the above.

However, for those that will be visiting, please continue to share the pictures from the show in this thread.



Finally, it was a pleasure to meet so many of you guys today! It was good to catch up with you all and take care!

Cheers,

p.s. For those interested, all the above pictures were shot with my new compact camera, the Panasonic LX3!!!

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## aquanatix

Great pictures Benny,thanks for providing a sneak preview before getting there.
Wish i had a trade pass to fight the weekend crowds!
I'll be sure to check out the special conditioner from GEX,sounds and looks almost too good to be true.

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## stonespot

I think more will come if can mix marine and freshwater creatures in the same tank. Imagine CRS with marine seahorse. Wow.

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## dkk08

> I think more will come if can mix marine and freshwater creatures in the same tank. Imagine CRS with marine seahorse. Wow.


 :Grin:  Doubt we can mix CRS with Seahorses as Seahorses eat shrimps  :Huh?:

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## illumnae

wow amazing field report benny...makes me can't wait to go down! Pity alot of the new products on display won't be available for sale. Guess I have to be satisfied with lots of books, magazines and posters!

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## Toshika

thanks benny.appreciate your insights and pictures.

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## Puffer

Thank you Benny! I'm looking forward to visit tomorrow!

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## Shadow

> I think more will come if can mix marine and freshwater creatures in the same tank. Imagine CRS with marine seahorse. Wow.


wonder how they do that?

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## exotic_idiot

Thanks for sharing benny... Wonder if weekend will it be a lot of people heading down?

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## mywish4fish

thanks Benny, very nice taken pictures as well. Very much different from the days at Singapore Expo 4 years back !

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## wynx

> thanks Benny, very nice taken pictures as well. Very much different from the days at Singapore Expo 4 years back !


I just came back to. What I would say that in Aquarama, the planted tanks as compared to the ones I seen a few aquarama have really improved by leaps and bounds.

Anyhow, do go visit Aqua culture cubicle, their set up with mosses, bolbits in that 1.5 ft cube set up is really nice....got that nature feel. 

Anyhow, be prepared to see how many vendors have their LEDS lights on show. 

One item that I found quite interesting would be the dymax nano tank. That tank really will sit nicely by my work desk. Comes with LED and overflow too!

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## Rummy Nose

Wow! Thanks for sharing! Will definitely be going down this weekend! This will be my 1st aquarama... Hopefully it won't be too overcrowded!  :Grin:

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## wynx

So anyway, for those who loves apistogramma...you will be disappointed as there are no presence at this aquarama at all.

For equipment buff's ...there are much to see.

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## thinbluelinesafari

Thanks.. will be there on Sunday.

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## genes

> So, the good old caveat, "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is" doesn't apply here? 
> 
> Yea, I read about this in yesterday's paper. Another novel Japanese technology, but until we have more information on the science behind it, I will remain 50&#37; convinced.
> 
> I was thinking of popping by after church on Sunday, but since all that is on display had been covered here, I think I can safely give it miss without this naggy feeling that I'd be missing something big, thanks to Benny for the comprehensive coverage.
> How about some tweets from Ground zero?


Nothing beats seeing the tanks and other stuffs in real. We were all awe-strucked and asked how is this even possible! when we saw the GEX tank. The friendly Japanese exhibitors at GEX would gladly explain to you about the break through technology. We were told this "magic water" is a joint project with a Japanese University.

GEX is definitely the booth to visit when you guys pop down. Apart from this magic water, they have so many new products to share.

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## Cacatuoides

really must thank Benny for the great coverage!! Nice to see you again after so many years!  :Smile:  Also great to meet fellows brothers from AQ too! Enjoy the show guys!

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## torque6

thanks benny. i will drop by tomorrow.

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## FishFan

Hey Benny, 

Thanks for the preview! Missed the last show in 2007 as I was overseas. Will definitely not miss this event!

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## Desewer

Hi guys

Great pics! Will visit Aquarama tomorrow (Saturday) once I'm done with my personal errands. Have a movie to catch at Marina Square in the evening, too.

Just a question: the booths are all selling their products, right? Do the exhibitors accept cash only, or are NETS and credit cards accepted modes of payment?

Please advise, thanks!!!

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## o2bubble

Thanks very much to Benny for the great photos and guide!! At least made up quite abit for my missing the aquarama this year! And enjoy yourselves for those at the show!!

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## Condor

Thanks Mr Benny Ng for the wonderful pics

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## coryfav

Benny, here is a close-up of the cute chubby Pleco that made me visit non-stop.  :Cool: 

[IMG][/IMG]

And thanks for making Yours Truly look so professional.  :Laughing:

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## sammajor

Thanks benny for the photos. They are very well taken.

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## MrTree

cannot taste the magical water???

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## BFG

It's a slightly salty water with salinity at 1.008 or around that level. Unnatural in my opinion. I wonder how long did it take them to acclimate the fish to that salinity level? We had stuff like injecting color to fishes and now we have this abomination. I find this disturbing, trying to merge two different water bodies into 1. And for what?

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## Jimmy

Trying to be God...

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## leeruisheng

Just curious, was there a AQ booth? I thought i read it somewhere about it in earlier phases.

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## crazyhanz

I saw something disturbing on Sunday when I visited the GEX booth. There were dead clown fishes in the "miracle water". Wasn't too sure if it was because of the water or they were just stressed. I certainly feel we should just keep just fresh water and salt water fishes in their respective environments.

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## Earth

> I saw something disturbing on Sunday when I visited the GEX booth. There were dead clown fishes in the "miracle water". Wasn't too sure if it was because of the water or they were just stressed. I certainly feel we should just keep just fresh water and salt water fishes in their respective environments.


When i was at the GEX booth on Saturday, a few clown fishes were already displaying signs that they weren't doing so well in the tank. Looks like magic from "Miracle water" can only last a couple of days....

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## BFG

I did see dead clown fish in that tank. There were also seahorse in that tank too. I don't know what to say lah, some people like the idea of combining 2 different water bodies into 1 but for me, it's quite unnatural. For one, I do not want to be a part of that whateveryoumightcallit.

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## barmby

I am one of them who boycott the booth that dye fish. They were right at the corner.

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## es88k

I know I will offend a lot of people when I say this....SORRY.

I really hope that the marine fishes and corals that we can buy from LFS and have them in our tanks are breed by breeders instead of caught in the sea. For a start, for sure we need to get it from the sea, but we should not continue to take them out of the sea and put them into our tanks, every single piece of it.

Like shrimps, plecos and Beta and some others, breeders starts by getting some from the wild and continue from there (maybe some still catch from the rivers and lake, but at least hopefully not in that big qty). At least not as much harm to the eco system (although we still do) and more people can enjoy the hobby.

I hope that I am wrong that all the marine fishes and corals comes from the sea, instead most of it comes from the breeders. Otherwise, it really hurts to see that that many marine fish equipments and marine tanks was on display when I was there on Sunday. And this hobby is getting more accepted.

I am a diver, I have seen how the corals were being removed and the clown fishes were caught, chemicals were used and the damage was much bigger than the loss of a fish or a piece of coral, the chemical left behind killed much more than the item being removed, or should I say, a fish caught causes the death of another 4-5 fishes that was left behind. It really hurts.

More people understand the bad effects of eating shark fins or have a whale shark to be kept in the Singapore IR (idea was scrape, Yahoo!!), these are the big staff, but a small little clown fish and coral will have the same effect to the eco system when more are being caught and destroyed.

I really do apologize to the marine hobbyist for my 0.000002 cents of understanding and comments and I really hope that I am wrong, but if I am not, maybe you can join me in diving and when you see the beautiful underwater world and the damage that we have done, compare the difference, maybe you will feel my pain.

EK

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## BFG

Hmmm, your point is valid but lack the depth. The same is happening to the freshwater inhabitant too. Habitat lost due to human encroachment is occuring too.

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## FuEl

> I know I will offend a lot of people when I say this....SORRY.
> 
> I really hope that the marine fishes and corals that we can buy from LFS and have them in our tanks are breed by breeders instead of caught in the sea. For a start, for sure we need to get it from the sea, but we should not continue to take them out of the sea and put them into our tanks, every single piece of it.
> 
> Like shrimps, plecos and Beta and some others, breeders starts by getting some from the wild and continue from there (maybe some still catch from the rivers and lake, but at least hopefully not in that big qty). At least not as much harm to the eco system (although we still do) and more people can enjoy the hobby.
> 
> I hope that I am wrong that all the marine fishes and corals comes from the sea, instead most of it comes from the breeders. Otherwise, it really hurts to see that that many marine fish equipments and marine tanks was on display when I was there on Sunday. And this hobby is getting more accepted.
> 
> I am a diver, I have seen how the corals were being removed and the clown fishes were caught, chemicals were used and the damage was much bigger than the loss of a fish or a piece of coral, the chemical left behind killed much more than the item being removed, or should I say, a fish caught causes the death of another 4-5 fishes that was left behind. It really hurts.
> ...


Not all marine hobbyists do nothing to conserve the marine organisms they keep. Some of them propagate corals, including acropora corals. Some of them breed marine fishes. This is just not so obvious compared to FW hobby because marine organisms are so many times harder to propagate.

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## es88k

> Some of them propagate corals, including acropora corals. Some of them breed marine fishes. This is just not so obvious compared to FW hobby because marine organisms are so many times harder to propagate.


I totally agree that marine organisms are so much more difficult to propagate when you can see that by keeping them, it is more difficult.

I said it before that I really hope that I am wrong and I really hope that you guys have more success and sooner. Best wishes...

EK

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## es88k

> The same is happening to the freshwater inhabitant too. Habitat lost due to human encroachment is occuring too.


Again, I agree to that as well as I have mentioned it as well. Maybe I should say that the % of Fresh water hobbyist having their inhabitant from breeders are higher than the marine hobbyist. I just hope that they will have more success from the breeders (now that I know that they do have breeders, mentioned by FuEl) and reduce the import from the sea.

EK

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## 14litre

> The most amazing of all.... a special water condition that makes it possible to keep marine fishes together with fresh water fishes!!!
> 
> 
> 
> I couldn't believe it initially but it's true!


I can't believe it too. Did you get any information on how this was done?

Sorry to dig up an old thread. I was googling for L46 and Google brought me here somehow.  :Grin:  
Then your report was so interesting that I kept reading and came across this interesting concept.


Btw, I don't. (to answer the question in your signature)  :Very Happy:

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## 14litre

found this in another forum, shrimpnow. There's photos to explain this magic powder/water.
http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/sh...=375399&page=3

but this product is not available in the GEX website. probably it is no longer in production? It's not that I want to buy, just curious to find out more on this concept.
http://www.gex-fp.co.jp/english/fish/index.html

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## Navanod

Thats not Shrimpnow...its Arofanatics. Why would Shrimpnow be talking about magic powder for marine fishes to live with freshwater fishes?

Anyway, this could be a failed product. There is no more news or advert about it and from what I can see, is just an attempt to make brackish water that is somehow more easily tolerated by both fresh and marine fishes. However, it cannot be healthy for long term use and only a few species can truly adapt. Guppies and other brackish species perhaps. Reef and goldfish? Not likely.

The so called "secrets" are electrolytes? Electrolytes are just ions of potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium and other minerals/elements. The same things we use to create GH, KH and TDS. Nothing magical there.

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## 14litre

> Thats not Shrimpnow...its Arofanatics. Why would Shrimpnow be talking about magic powder for marine fishes to live with freshwater fishes?
> 
> Anyway, this could be a failed product. There is no more news or advert about it and from what I can see, is just an attempt to make brackish water that is somehow more easily tolerated by both fresh and marine fishes. However, it cannot be healthy for long term use and only a few species can truly adapt. Guppies and other brackish species perhaps. Reef and goldfish? Not likely.
> 
> The so called "secrets" are electrolytes? Electrolytes are just ions of potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium and other minerals/elements. The same things we use to create GH, KH and TDS. Nothing magical there.


hehe.. pai seh, surfed too many sites and quote wrongly, luckily the link is correct.

I see. No wonder it's nowhere found in the GEX product site now.

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## Navanod

It is a nice concept, but when so many people already cannot handle marine or freshwater tanks on their own, it'll be even trickier to try and merge them!
I've heard of people breeding guppies for marine tanks though

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## Shi Xuan

I've heard of that, especially for marine aquarists who are breeding guppies as feeders for their fishes. Guppies have a high tolerance of salinity, so acclimating them to a marine environment is not impossible but it has to be done carefully. There are a few experiments and write ups done on guppies, mainly by Shikano Takahito but I can only find one;

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2108/zsj.15.35

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## 14litre

> I've heard of that, especially for marine aquarists who are breeding guppies as feeders for their fishes. Guppies have a high tolerance of salinity, so acclimating them to a marine environment is not impossible but it has to be done carefully. There are a few experiments and write ups done on guppies, mainly by Shikano Takahito but I can only find one;
> 
> http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2108/zsj.15.35


I see. The link is a good read. I wonder if there's a way to mix salt water and freshwater shrimps together using the same concept.  :Grin: 

and no wonder my cherry shrimps survived the salt water dip (treatment), which I am going to post a new thread on it.

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## Shi Xuan

I don't know if it works for shrimps, I've never tried that before back then when I was keeping some shrimps but I believe the concept might not be exactly the same. 

Take for example bull sharks, which is a marine animal capable of moving into inland freshwater rivers. This is because they have a special adaption which their kidneys function and a rectal gland near their tail which excretes salt when required, acting just like a valve. Also, they have very tiny sensors on their skin which constantly monitor the salt level in the surrounding water. 

This is impossible for other marine fishes or even marine shrimps because if you subject them to a freshwater condition, their body will start to absorb water, mainly through the fine membranes of the gills in fishes, their kidneys will work really hard to pump that water out but it's not going to work. In the end, their cells will simply burst.

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## 14litre

> I don't know if it works for shrimps, I've never tried that before back then when I was keeping some shrimps but I believe the concept might not be exactly the same. 
> 
> Take for example bull sharks, which is a marine animal capable of moving into inland freshwater rivers. This is because they have a special adaption which their kidneys function and a rectal gland near their tail which excretes salt when required, acting just like a valve. Also, they have very tiny sensors on their skin which constantly monitor the salt level in the surrounding water. 
> 
> This is impossible for other marine fishes or even marine shrimps because if you subject them to a freshwater condition, their body will start to absorb water, mainly through the fine membranes of the gills in fishes, their kidneys will work really hard to pump that water out but it's not going to work. In the end, their cells will simply burst.


I see. Thanks for the explanation and illustration. It's a shame that I didn't realise there's a kind of sharks (bull shark) which can (and will) move to freshwater stream.

It's great to learn something new while reading/researching on other topics. Many thanks for sharing once again. Cheers.

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