Swordtails And Most Livebearers

[Markw19]

I've been told they do best with a high DKH and a bit of salt in the water, and without these they have a much greater illness rate and lower lifespan.

Is this true?

 

[Bryan1957]

I've been told they do best with a high DKH and a bit of salt in the water, and without these they have a much greater illness rate and lower lifespan.

Is this true?

Hi Mark,
No, not true in my experience. Some tropicals are raised in a mild salt solution. Most tropical livebearers aren't raised in brackish water. Most domestic raised tropical livebearers are raised in fresh water and have no reason to be in satl. The natural habitat of most livebearers is fresh water.
I am trying to inject CO2 in my tanks for plant growth and can't seem to get the KH of my tanks above 3 degrees of KH during the photo period. That is a low KH (a subject for another forum). The GH of my water from the tap is about 11 degrees or mildly hard. The fish don't suffer from disease, they swim and browse for bits of whatever on the plants all the time.
My experience would dictate that you don't need salt, and you use the water you get from the tap after using a dechlorinator.
HTH
Bryan

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Salt is only really beneficial as a med or on mollys as they are often raised in semi brackish enviorments, for fish like platys, swordtails and guppys it is often worse for their health to have salt in the long run as they bodys aern't evolved to processs it 24/7 for long periods of time.

 

[osteoporoosi]

10-20 DKH is the ideal hardness for most livebearers.

 

[nmonks]

Hello,

There is a common misconception about the relationship between hardness and salinity. It is true that saline waters (like sea water) have a high hardness, but adding sea salt to freshwater does more than increase the hardness, it raises the salinity. Hardness and salinity affect fish in different ways, and freshwater fish -- even species adapted to very hard, alkaline waters, like Tanganyikan cichlids -- can be quickly dehydrated by salt or brackish water.

Apart from mollies, the common livebearers (platies, swords, guppies) want freshwater that is moderately hard with a neutral or slightly alkaline pH (pH 7 to 7.5). Assuming that your local water supply matches these requirements, then there's no need to add salt or anything else.

Mollies prefer hard, akaline water (pH 7.5+), and some will also do well in brackish water. Black mollies and "wild type" sailfin mollies adapt readily to fully marine conditions, and can be safely converted from fresh to marine conditions in just a few hours.

Once you move onto the rarer livebearers, things get more complicated. Some, like Celebes halfbeaks and freshwater stingrays, prefer soft, acid water.

Cheers,

Neale

I've been told they do best with a high DKH and a bit of salt in the water, and without these they have a much greater illness rate and lower lifespan.

Is this true?