# Adding salt to Planted tank



## Bubbs (May 31, 2007)

I've been reading past threads and links on plants in brackish conditions but am still unsure if some of my plants are ok with salt. The reason for adding aquarium salt to my planted tank is to help with the stress of my new rainbows and susceptible infections they are likely to get from the stress (plus the LFS guy said rainbows prefer a little salt). So far I've only added 4 teaspoons in. I have 2.5ft approx. 35gals tank and the plants include:

Anubias Barateri Nana (ok with brackish conditions)
Giant Vals (ok..i think)
E. Tennelus (suitable)
3 Java ferns (suitable)
3 Large Anubias afzelii (UNSURE)
1 Crypto wendti green (UNSURE)

Anyone know or had expereince with A. afzelii and C. Wendti in brackish water?


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Oh, the LIES of LFS owners!!

Your anubias will be fine, and depending on how much more salt you are planning on adding, your crypt will be ok....it may melt slightly, but it will adapt and come back. Rainbows are fine without being in brackish water. Do you think the LFS guys put salt into the aquariums, or that they came from a supplier that put salt into their raising tanks or ponds? Probably not. You can adapt them to brackish water, if that is what you want to do. But I wouldn't go overboard with the salt. Maybe 2 tablespoons per five gallons would be ample. However, you could be fine with no salt as well.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

There are some plants that do well in brackish conditions, others do not. Most plants will be ok for short period of time, when salt is used sparingly. 

As far as I know Rainbows do not require salt added to their water. I've kept them in the past with no salt added.

As long as they are aclimated to your water conditions, are healthy specimens and your water parameters are good; you should need not worry about stress causing illness. 

Of course, if you perfer adding salt in the beginning that is up to you. I just would not continue with it for a extended amount of time.


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## black_lung (Dec 19, 2006)

what sort of rainbowfish are you keeping? the only species i know of that lives in brackish conditions are the celebes rainbows. with any of the other species, you shouldn't need to add any salt to the tank unless the lfs was previously keeping them as brackish, in which case you should gradually convert to freshwater. also if the fish are healthy and acclimated well, they shouldn't suffer from any bacterial problems, so there should be no reason to add salt. as far as your plants go, they should all be fine, except for possibly the crypt wendtii.


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## tkos (Oct 30, 2006)

Also what sort of "salt" are you adding? Freshwater aquarium salt? That may be fine for treating things like ick but it will not make brackish water. For that you will need a marine mix of salt. The"all fish need a little salt" arguement is a very old myth. What freshwater fish really need is nice clean water.


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## Bubbs (May 31, 2007)

I don't intend on continously adding salt to the tank, just only for the first week or so until my fish settle in. In the past when I add fish to a new tank ocassionally one or two fish out of the lot would develop ick, I found that by adding a bit of aquarium salt to the tank it reduces the severity. Also I'm sure that most Rainbowfish including my species don't require brackish conditions. That is to say I don't believe everything the LFS guy says any way, adding the salt was more to help my fish settle into the tank.  
To answer the questions, I've got a pair of M. trifasciata and a bristlenose at the moment but will be adding prehaps 4 more in within the next few weeks. Also its aquarium salt that I'm using.


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Some LFS want you to add salt when a tank is cycling to help with nitrite poisoning.
http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/1998/spring/nitrate.shtml


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