Adding livebearers

[BondStreet]

Hi again,

I wanted to ask some advice. So far in my tank I have:

6 Red-eye tetras
4 yellow tetras
2 guppies
1 albino cory cat
1 spotted cory cat
1 pleco
4 neon tetras
AND Live plants!

The tank is in great shape so far. It has fully cycled, the fish all seem to be settled in.

The thing is, I want it to be a community tank and start adding a few live bearers slowly(platies, mollies etc.), however, I understand that they thrive wih some salt in the water. My questions are:

1.) What particular salt is best?
2.) Is it safe to add the appropriate amount of salt to a tank with fish that has had no salt in the water to begin with? And will that kill/affect whats in there including the plants?
3.) A long time ago(when I was younger) had several livebearers in a tank without any salt added and they all were fine. Is it essential to have salt?
4.) If it is, what are the rules when changing water? Do I add salt with each change?

Sorry for all the questions. I just want to keep my 75 gal healthy and thriving. I am slowly building a community, planted tank. I want everything to go well. I know it's a slow process, but I just want to get info for now.

Thanks for all your help!
Bondstreet

 

[Guest]

No salt in a planted tank, period. different plants tolerate different conditions, but almost none of them tolerate salt.

 

[BondStreet]

Aha!
Really good to know that. So I should just be careful in adding livebearers? What advice can you give to add livebearers to a non-salted tank?
Thanks!
Bondstreet

 

[robertmarda]

I have no salt in any of my tanks and have many different kinds of fish including the following live bearers: sword tails, mollies, platies, and guppies.

I've had one molly for about 2 years and have been breading mollies for about a year. So, I have over 100 mollies that have never lived in water with salt. They all seem healthy and thriving.

So I think you should be able to add what ever kind of live bearing fish you prefer and be fine.