The salty scene

[OceanMaiden]

Are there any plants out there at all that I can get to tolerate brackish to marine conditions. Seaweed maybe?? LOL I'm trying to plant my tank with real plants as plastic ones have a tendency to tear fins, especially on the more delicate fish. If anyone knows where I can find Giant Silk plants that would work great as they dont sell very often where I'm at. Hopefully I can figure something out to form a planted salty scene with all of your help. Thanks in advance!!!

 

[czcz]

Here's Plantgeek's list for "brackish adaptable," which I assume means you must adapt the plant gradually: http://plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=8

Tom Barr used to post around forums about a marine planted tank using macroalgae, but I haven't read anything in a while. Might be worth doing a google search on "plantbrain" and "marine."

 

[OceanMaiden]

SWEET!! Thanks czcz , now I can acclimate these plants into my brackish tank and it won't look so fake and naked. LOL The fish will appreciate the smooth no tear REAL plants. The plastic ones tend to be fin slicers at times! Couldn't be happier. With that huge list I'll be able to cover the tank easily. Will flourescent bulbs be okay for lighting, what would you use

 

[czcz]

I like CF but am intruiged by T5HO and ODNO. A lot of those plants aren't demanding of light though, so a regular flourescent strip with T8 bulbs should work great. We can use some new standards to figure out good lighting levels if you know which plants you want to try (or lighting level) and post your tank dimensions.

I do not know if there's issues with CO2 and brackish, but if there are, it would be wise to limit the tank to low/med light.

 

[OceanMaiden]

Since I have a dragon fish in this particular tank, medium light levels would be best. The platys, barbs n swordtail aren't picky about lighting as long as they have nice hiding spots. So in a 29 gallon what brackish medium light plants can I grow? When the fish are moved to a 55 gal with medium lights the plants would be the same right?

 

[czcz]

According to Ozz's lumens/sq in measurement (lighting sticky), 3 24" T-8 bulbs (you can use T-12 fixtures from the hardware store) will give you solid ~medium light over the 29gal. Using T-12 lights in those fixtures will work too, but give a little less light. A 55w CF will get you there as well.

Ignoring the brackish adaptation issues, the only plant on Plantgeek's brackish list I think you'll have issue with at these lighting levels are Micro sword, Glosso, and the Hairgrass. The stem plants listed as higher light have been proven to grow fine (less color, smaller leaves, slower growth) in ~med light in FW.

Less light than above should still grow most of the plants on Plantgeek's list while easing the planted tank learning curve, if wanted.

After you adapt the plant I think you should be able to move it across setups with similar salinity without issues, but am not certain.

 

[OceanMaiden]

Thanks czcz, I'll put that info to good use, I can't wait to have a beatiful real planted tank!!!