Re: [Killietalk] Hard water, salt and plants?

[Scott Davis <unclescott at prodigy_net>]

Hey John!
 
There are always those venerable old guppy tank plants - hornwort (ceratophyllum) and Vallisneria. Both come in several flavors. The Vals also include several species and sizes. Both groups of plants are distributed widely around the world.
 
I used to be very fond of a strain of hornwort I bought with paper route money $45 years ago. It was a tropical strain which faired much better indoors than some of these northern strains which seem to struggle to hold on. It was in the family for about four decades before it was neglected to oblivion. 
 
Al Castro found hornwort in the salt creek, way out in pupfish country. That has got to be incredibly hard water. Vals are found in the shallows of the Great Rift Lakes.
 
Hornwort is very sensitive to medicines. It will disintegrate in about 15 after one of those old medicinal dyes is added to the tank. 

There's always those duckweeds. ;)
 
A Cryptocoryn which needs a lot of light, C. ciliata, is sometimes found out in the sun and even close to the seashore in Thailand and in Java. Both Rataj and Kasselmann offer photos of it out in the sun (1-3 feet tall) and near brackish water. Kasselmann also found it in shady areas.
 
I'm not familiar with the Atlantic coast or Gulf Coast marshes. I wonder if there are likely hard water aquarium plants from those areas.
 
What do you have in Minnesota lakes (after a soak and serious rinsing in an alum solution) which would grow well in tanks?
 
All the best,
 
Scott
Besides the obvious choices of Java Moss and Java Fern, does anyone have any
actual experience with plants that will tolerate or even grow slowly in hard
water (GH 12) containing 1 t / gallon salt?

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