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Re: salt
Susan Romana wrote:
> I contacted Seachem once more to determine what might have been meant by
> the words,"most plants" and the following was their reply:
> "Actually, we have not found any plant yet for which it is not safe.
> Certain plants, however, such as Crypts, are from exceptionally soft waters
> and might not adapt too easily to weak salt solutions. But that is just a
> cautionary statement. In practice, we have found all of the broad spectrum
> of plants tested to be quite tolerant, except at the higher limits we set
> on the instructions."
Thanks Susan, but it seems that they haven't answered the question, since
(at least in this quote) they haven't told you which plants they *did*
test. They also don't say what they considered to be "safe" for the
plants they tested.
Non-aquatic crops and ornamental plants and marsh plants in nature are
sensitive to salinity. Generally there is a decline in crop yields and
growth rates as the salinity of irrigation water increases. In coastal
marshes and estuaries there is definitely a zonation of different species
from fresh water marsh to saline marsh - including a distinct difference
between what will compete and grow in fresh water vs what will compete and
grow in brackish water.
I suspect that many of our aquarium plants will indeed grow in slightly
salted water, but at lower rates then they would grow in fresher water.
There might even be a few aquarium plants that are well-adapted to
brackish water and will grow faster in the salted water then in fresh
water.
Roger Miller