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re: Freshwater Plants and Brackish Water Conditions
Jerry,
>Say
>I gradually decrease the saline level of the water over the course of
>a week and settle somewhere in the 1.08 to 1.015 range? The idea is
>to try to meet both fish and plants half way.
Rather difficult to acheive in many cases. Certainly the salinity range you
quote is *way* too high for freshwater plants (or fishes), which generally
disappear from natural waters at about 1.005. Above this the concentration
of salts approaches that of the tissues, resulting in dehydration of the
plant. To a certain extent this happens even at lower salinities, but some
plants tolerate this.
To keep bumblebess you really don't need much salt (although this depends
on the species) and 1.002 to 1.003 is probably fine. Various plants should
tolerate this. Plants don't really show distress if unhappy. They die.
An alternative in brackish aquaria is to use "dead" materials like stone
and wood. I've found large woody stems to be pretty effective at building
up a mangrove type environment. You need to be very careful with the source
of your wood though. Some plant sprays are toxic to fish. Bamboo is a good
substitute. In a large tank big boulders over a fine sand base. I've done
this with granite, which is highly decorative.
Best wishes
Neale.
You might find the Brackish Water Aquarium list of some interest. Its a
fairly quiet (but occasionally vigorous!) list, maybe half a dozen messages
a week. But there are a number of very experienced aquarists there,
including some goby experts.
The address is:
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