Here are some basic brackish questions???

[betowess]

I'm thinking about making my soon to be planted tank a brackish one for mollies and assorted livebearers.

First, are those $8.00 hydrometer testers accurate? And can I just use Morton Rock salt (non iodized) to achieve the brackishness or is there a better or easier way to get there.

Second, are there any plants that can't handle any salinity? I assume there probably are. Also, can SAE handle a brackish tank? I may not turn this tank brackish, but I'm seriously contemplating it.

Lastly, can brackish conditions affect the CO2 delivery by my soon to arrive Carbo unit? I'm guessing its no big deal. Thanks for any help. I'm green on this stuff. Bob A (betowess)[/b]

 

[Guest]

Boy 0 boy, frankly you have a lot of research to do. I don't know my stuff very much at all w/brackish. So far as I know MOST plants don't like any salt in the water, however, mollies and platties and such, thought they prefer some salt, will do fine in straight FW.

No idea on the rock salt, but i'd be pretty leery of anything not designed for aq use.

I think for the level of salt you would prefer for mollies, it's below what will register on the cheapo hydrometers.

SAE, mine are in straght FW, dunnow about brackish.

Brackish should not affect Co2.

OK, my opinion time: Just go with a well planted straight FW tank. IMO, unless you want puffers, or something that absolutely requires some salt, don't use any. I am a believer that Healthy Plants = Healthy Fish. I think mollies and such will do better in a FW tank with a good deal of plants than they would do in a straight fw with no plants.

 

[JohnnyOneBeat]

possible plants

Hi,
I'm currently going through the same problem of planting my brackish water tank. This site may help you I'm going to try some of the plant the list a hardy. They come in tomorrow so I'll tell you how it goes.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/bracplants.htm

Good Luck,
John

 

[Guest]

Cool!

We would be very interested to hear details about your tank and the results you get with the brackish plants, John.

BTW, welcome to the board!

 

[Terry]

Betowess

I have resently post 'are you thinking brackish' this has some plants on it that may be of interest for your brackish tank.

 

[betowess]

Thanks Terry, I'll check the post. Betowess

 

[madasafish]

BTW, BeToWess. I always thought it would be a good idea to add regular, non-iodized sea salt to my tank, but think about this... A good container of edible sea salt will set you back $2-5. Why spend that much, when you can get a 1/2 gallon container of aquarium salt for as little as $6 (Doc Wellfish at my LFS), and probably for even cheaper?

I think good quality *marine* salt (slightly different from aquarium salt, which is designed mainly for FW tanks) may cost a little more ($15 for a large gallon-sized container), but it still probably costs less than buying an equivalent amount of table sea salt. And, you have the peace of mind that it was specifically evaporated/designed for your aquarium! Plus, if anything goes wrong, you can legitimately sue! j/k

 

[JohnnyOneBeat]

It a very bad idea to use table salt. I not sure exactly why but what i reason is that table salt has a chemical ....for lack of better words coating that keep it from sticking together in clumps. I assume this has a negative effect in your tank and thats why they say not to use it. Also, aquarium specific salt has trace element that are good for your tank, and helps buffer the ph. I got a 15 pound bag for as little as 11 bucks. so the moral is stick with aquariums salts there safer.

Hope this helps,
Good Luck,
John

 

[Jack]

For the small amount you would be using, there is no reason not to get a quality salt. Personally, I use Instant Ocean in my brackish tank. I used IO for 7 years in reefkeeping. In nature, most brackish water is brackish due to its proximity to the ocean. Therefore, why not use a salt that replicates the ocean?

Regarding plants, I started a brackish water tank a few months ago. I have two types of hornwort, moneywort, anacharis, java moss, and an amazon sword. I recently added a couple of water sprites. All are doing fine in my tank, though I've been trying to conquer a hair algae problem for the last several weeks (hair algae problems is not likely due to the water being brackish). Though I have a refractometer, I haven't measured the salinity of my water. I have about 1/2 teaspoon salt per gallon of water.

I also doubt that you will get a decent reading from a plastic hydrometer. If you really want to know the salinity, get a refractometer. A floating glass hydrometer will likely measure the low specific gravity levels in your tank, the reading won't likely be accurate. However, if you have a friend or LFS with a refractometer that measures salinity and specific gravity, you could calibrate your floating glass hydrometer.

 

[mollyluvr]

I have a brackish molly tank and I find that wisteria and anachris do very well. In fact, my husband has a 45 gal cichlid tank and we cut the plants back in my tank to put in his tank. Cichlids are murder on anachris. I have had luck with moneywort as well, but I find that it attracts hair algae. I have a couple small java ferns that have rooted well, but they don't get very big, just big enough for the fry to hide in. I use a couple drops of Floraboost about once a month. Hope that helps.