Brackish Plants

[Wonderboy]

Very soon (3 months), I will be starting a 60 gallon brackish tank. I was wondering if there is any chance for a brackish tank to be planted? Will plants be okay in brackish water?? I was thinking of making it a real nice planted tank with co2 and great lighting, or should I stick with plain old rock-scaping?

ps - I was going to go with monos and several (4 or so) gobies.
pss - Plecos in brackish? Otocinclus??

Thanks!

~ Wonderboy!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

All of the following accept brackish water:
Aponogeton crispus

Bacopa monnieri

Cladophora aegagropila

Crinum calamistratum

Crinum natans

Crinum thaianum

Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia

Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Mi Oya'

Glossostigma elatinoides

Lilaeopsis brasiliensis

Lilaeopsis macloviana

Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae

Microsorum pteropus ''Narrow''

Microsorum pteropus ''Undulata''

Microsorum pteropus ''Philippine''

Microsorum pteropus ''Red''

Nymphaea lotus (zenkeri)

Samolus valerandi

Shinnersia rivularis

Spathiphyllum wallisii

Vesicularia dubyana

 

[nmonks]

Plants for the brackish water aquarium can be divided into those that tolerate brackish conditions (e.g., giant Vallisneria) and those that naturally inhabit brackish water and are presumably specifically adapted in some way (e.g., Crptocoryne ciliata). That's how I've divided them up in the Brackish Aquarium FAQ, and I suggest that the former be kept at SG 1.003 or less and the latter up to 1.005. In terms of hardiness, Java ferns, C. ciliata, and the Crinum species probably get the nod.

There are a few Loricariidae catfish that naturally inhabit brackish water (see this thread here for a couple of examples). However, the vast majority of species of plec traded as aquarium fish are intolerant of salt and should not be kept in brackish water. Otos are definitely not suitable.

There are some brackish water algae eaters (Florida flagfish and mollies, for a start) but basically the only way to keep a brackish water tank algae free is to use lots of plants. In tanks with mostly rock and the odd Java fern, algae has to be manually removed.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[phlawed]

mangroves handle high salt very well from brack-marine

 

[nmonks]

Agreed, but given that they are (a) trees and (b) need an open top aquarium with very strong lighting, I tend not to think of them as aquarium plants in the general sense. Having said that, mangroves are just the thing for a tank containing monos and scats.

One other thing: not all gobies need brackish water (e.g. candy stripe gobies) and the specific gravity suitable for knight gobies (1.005) is much less than that preferred by, say, violet gobies or mudskippers (1.010) or more.

Monos are fine even at relatively low salinities, and I've heard of people keeping them in freshwater for years (and these people even get them to spawn!). Scats and figure 8 puffers, on the other hand, do need quite high salinities, and so cannot be kept with plants. Scats will eat the plants anyway.

Cheers,

Neale

mangroves handle high salt very well from brack-marine