Brackish Planted Aquariums

Hello, I'm curious to know if any individuals are maintaining brackish planted aquariums? I haven't researched much about the subject and unfortunetly only know of a few aquatic species which can tolerate specific gravity between 1.005 and 1.012. Species mentioned include; Vallisneria, Vesicularia Dubyana, Ceratophyllum, Microsorum pteropus, Sagittaria, Hygrophila difformis. I'm assuming there are other natives and non-natives which can endure salty water and substrates. Also, are there emergent or bog plants which would be appropriate to use in a aquarium setting? Any information or experience would be greatly appreciated.

I have two brackish tanks with tropical fish. I tried for a couple of years to keep plants going, but I gave up and went with plastic. The only thing that grew for me was water sprite.

In the past I've had a few brackish tanks. They're really not that much trouble other than finding the plants themselves and using non-herbevors (surprizingly a lot of brackcish fish will graze on plants, if not just to take a bite or two out of the leaves). The easiest way is just use the "Walstead method" and choose plants and fish wisley. (Sorry for misspellings and extra letters, Mammacat like to sit on the key board while I'm typing). Use a higher light amount than you'd use normally as it seems that most of the brackish plants come from brighter areas. Like 2 watts per gal to 2.5 WPG. (Rule of thumb) Use between 7-8 hrs of lights a day and you should be good to go. .....Jim

Eventhough I've got no brackish tanks myself my girlfriend has some.

You can get in contact with her via her blog (http://aquaristik.blog.de). The blog is written in german BUT here is a link to a list of plants which should be fine for brackish tanks. You can leave a comment under "Kommentar schreiben" and she will surely answer to any questions you might have (in english ofc).

Edited by HDP, 15 July 2008 - 01:25 PM.

I spend alot of time in temporate brackish water habitat and see very few plants suitable for aquariums in any really salty water. The only place I see plants are in some of the rivers in the intertidal zone. These areas get flushed with freshwater twice a day every time the tide goes out.
In the saltmarshes where alot of the best brackish fish are, mostly emergent plants like reeds and spartina grass grow. Further south mangroves would be included.
I've seen pictures of some nice tanks with little mangrove trees growing out. I wonder if you can make a mangrove into a bonsai? That'd look cool with a few mollies and maybe some mummichugs...

Edited by mikez, 15 July 2008 - 02:47 PM.

schambers - Thank you. I've heard that Water Sprite grows exceptionally well so I'll have to give it-a-go.

jimjim - You're funny. Why is your cat always on your keyboard? Anyway, thanks! I hadn’t thought about using more light. I'll keep that in mind. Using soil make sense though. I'd assume that plants would tolerate the conditions if provided with a nutrient rich substrate.

HDP- Cool, thank you sir. If I’m able to navigate my way through the webpage I'll send your girlfriend a message. Also, thanks for the great list of brackish aquatic plants.

mikez- I was considering experimenting with mangroves. I wasn't sure how well they'd grow in aquarium situations. Can you ID the emergent species for me? I'm not familiar with reeds and spartina grass. Those might be neat, if applicable, in a aquarium as well.

If I wasn't so lazy Im sure I'd find all the information in botany books relevant to coastal regions.

Topminnow, there are quite a few people growing mangroves in aquaria. Try this site http://www.aquaticpl...l.com/forumapc/ and do a search. They've been around for awhile and its full of good info on most any aquatic plant...Jim....The reason theres no bad typing is the cats sitting on my wifes lap top while shes trying to email..

I didn't think to use soil in my brackish tank, that would probably help.

I do have a small mangrove seedling I got about three months ago. They grow really slowly, mine has six leaves on it now. It had two when I got it.

jimjim - I've been to that site many times but haven't searched for information regarding mangroves. I'll check it out.

schambers - I should of known soil would work well but I couldn’t find any information about its use in brackish water aquariums. There’s also mention of folks using Epsom salt with mangroves.

"Red mangroves have the ability to replace sodium ions, which are present in salt water, with magnesium ions. If you have a salt water tank, it is recommended to look after the level of magnesium present in your aquarium, the plants can consume it quite fast. When level of magnesium ions is low, mangroves can't replace sodium ions. The plants during that time are in condition of stress, the leaves become yellow and rough. In my aquarium with mudskippers, where the water is somewhere in between salt and fresh (brackish), I regularly add magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) which can be found in a drug store. If you grow mangroves in freshwater you don't have worry about anything."

I don't actually know much about growing mangroves or what species.
I believe we have 3 species native in the US. The species vary in how salty they're willing to tolerate.
It's possible a non-native mangrove is used in aquariums.

Speaking of substrate, I have used kitty litter a couple of times in freshwater. When I visited Florida on a fishing trip and got into the mangroves, I noticed the slippery, fine, clingy mud was the exact texture of wet kitty litter. I remember thinking if I ever tried growing magroves I'd use kitty litter.

mikez - There are three species of mangroves (maybe others?) endemic to Florida that I know of. Red (Rhizophora mangle), Black (Avicennia germinans), and White (Laguncularia racemosa) mangrove. Red mangrove is commonly used in aquariums. I'm not sure about the others. I'm not one to try cat litter but your suggestion is interesting. Soil/sand should work fine, IMO.

I'm pretty sure mine came from Florida, but I don't know which species it is.

That's interesting about the Epsom salts. I'll have to remember that.

...keeping this thread alive, hope no one minds.

Has anyone experience with Adinia xenica or other omnivores? Are there aquatic plants or a specific type of algae which can be grown for grazing purposes?

Edited by topminnow, 17 July 2008 - 09:58 AM.

A little back on topic. I've been reading a bit more information and it seems very few aquarists have confidence in their plants and gravel when specific gravity reaches 1.009 . I'm interested to see if soil and proper lighting will allow some aquatic plants to tolerate higher SG.

"A low-salinity brackish water aquarium can be treated as a freshwater aquarium for most practical purposes. Gravel, silica sand, slate, bogwood, and ceramic ornaments will all work fine in such a tank. Practically all aquarium plants tolerant of hard, alkaline water will also do well in slight brackish water at SG 1.003. A small but serviceable selection will thrive at SG 1.005 ..."

"In higher salinity aquaria plants become problematical, as very few freshwater plants will do well above SG 1.009, the notable exceptions being Java fern, which has been taken up to SG 1.013, and Samolus valerandi, which has been adapted to waters as salty as SG 1.020! These exceptions aside, once you get above SG 1.005 it is simply much easier to either use plastic plants or forget about plants altogether. Plastic algae- and kelp-type plants are especially good in this context, being exactly the sort of thing that you'd see in an estuary or mangrove. Mangroves are another option, but since most of their growth is above the water line, they aren't that useful for the average aquarium.-Monks"

Edited by topminnow, 17 July 2008 - 10:07 AM.