plants for salty livebearers

[Steve]

In another thread, there is discussion suggesting that livebearers
really need slightly salty to brackish water conditions. Does anyone
know what plants, if any, are compatible such conditions? Thanks.
Steve

[Koi-lo]

"Steve" > wrote in message
...
> In another thread, there is discussion suggesting that livebearers really
> need slightly salty to brackish water conditions. Does anyone know what
> plants, if any, are compatible such conditions? Thanks.
> Steve
======================
I had American Vals, Java moss (not Java fern) and hornwart tolerate more
salt than any other plant. These do well in the hard alkaline water so many
of us live with in our aquariums. The hornwart and moss make excellent
places for the newborn fish to hide.
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[Miss_Morg]

I have kept brackish for years. I have found most livebearers (not sailfin mollies) can live happily with only a little tiny bit of salt. Basically, without salt, livebearers are especially prone to ich and bacterial infections. They often 'waste away'. However, salt kills most plants. If your water quality is immaculate, you should not need much salt.

I have heard that you can keep plants with a nominal amount of salt, just acclimate them slowly. (I currently use a tiny bit of salt in my planted tank, but not much.) Use a power-compact and supplementation and your plants should do fine. Also keep in mind many livebearers eat large amounts of plant materials when they are bored, especially sailfins. This should not be a problem if you have a lot of plants.

However, if you wish to keep a true brackish tank (with scats, gobies, archers, puffers, etc) I would not reccomend plants. These guys need a lot more salt an you will probably need to fluctuate it, increasing it as they get older.

Good luck and happy fishkeeping!
Morg

[Daniel Morrow]

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"Steve" > wrote in message
...
> In another thread, there is discussion suggesting that livebearers

> really need slightly salty to brackish water conditions. Does
anyone
> know what plants, if any, are compatible such conditions? Thanks.
> Steve

I recently increased my salt content of my tanks for the fancy guppy
fry, to 1 teaspoon aquarium salt per 5 gallons of aquarium water, and
now the fancy guppies seem to be doing great. My plants are probably
unaffected by that much salt as recommended by the educated elaine t
on this newsgroup. I have java fern, amazon sword plant, hornwort and
that's about it for my plants so far. So far the plants seem fine,
but only time will tell ultimately. So that's my experience - good
luck and later!

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