# Salinity in the planted aquarium?



## Nexed (Aug 7, 2008)

I use some aquarium salt in my planted tanks.. I was just wondering if anyone knows the correct specific gravity for planted aquariums? Does it harm the plants? Thanks!


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

I don't know what the tolerances are, but as a rule, folks with planted tanks don't add salt to them. I would imagine some plants would be much more tolerant of salt levels than others.


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## dj2606 (Oct 15, 2008)

Are you trying to make a brackish water setup?

My Brackish water setup is kept at a 1.0009 salinity. Be cautious adding more salt because even as water evaporates the salt DOES NOT, therefore adding more and more will only increase your salinity. This means as your water evaporates (which happens faster in brackish setups) your salinity increases, then you add water (no salt) and your salinity will go back to original amount. There are few fish that can withstand such a fluctuation in water parameters. PLEASE READ THE LAST LINK

Here is a plant list of brackish adaptable plants
http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=8

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/bracplants.htm

And this is something I recommend that you read to understand how to keep your plant and live stock happy
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/brackish/brackish.html


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Nexed,

When dealing with a Velvet outbreak in my 30 gallon planted tank I used 1 tablespoon of aquarium (non-iodized) salt per 5 gallons of water in conjunction with a parasite medication. After treatment for about 7 days, I did a 50% water change. My plants showed no ill effects.


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## uglybuckling (Jun 28, 2004)

Unlike humans & other animals, plants have cell walls and therefore the size of their cells does not change significantly when the osmolarity of the surrounding fluid is altered. 

That being said, the salinity of most natural plant habitats is very low, and I would imagine that most freshwater plants lack any specific adaptations for dealing with salinity. (There are plants that DO have adaptations for salinity--I know that red mangroves, for instance, limit salt intake at the roots via an ultrafiltration mechanism, while white mangroves can actually excrete salt using what can only be described as a leaf-based "primitive kidney," but I don't know of similar adaptations in any freshwater plants.) I would imagine that if you took the salinity high enough, you could probably cause enough water to leave the cell that you could separate the plasma membrane from the cell wall, which would likely cause some problems. Since mangroves live in typical seawater and they require special adaptations to survive there, I'm guessing that seawater is probably sufficiently saline to harm freshwater plants. 

Hence, I think the "correct" salinity for a planted tank is "low" (1.000 or thereabouts), but that if you're off that by a sufficiently small margin, you will not hurt your plants in any significant way.


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## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

If you are using salt it should be fine, depends on your plants


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

If you do end up deciding to add salt, keep in mind that salinity will increase over time if you keep adding it, as it doesn't evaporate, and utilization is minimal at best.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Bert H said:


> If you do end up deciding to add salt, keep in mind that salinity will increase over time if you keep adding it, as it doesn't evaporate, and utilization is minimal at best.


Right, and as long as you're not trying to create a brackish environment, there's really no reason to add it. I remember people adding a bit to prevent fish diseases, but that's not necessary if you take care of things.


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