# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Livebearers, Plants, and Aquarium Salt?



## imported_George (Mar 28, 2003)

I am currently cycling a high-tech, heavily planted 29 gallon aquarium. I am using zebra danios to get through the cycling period. I want the flag-ship fish-type to be livebearers....swordtails and platys.... with a variety of plant types. However, many of the references recommend adding aquarium salt(1 tablespoon/5 gal.) even with the swordtails and platys. I knew that mollies inhabit brackish water environments so that's why I did not include them in the planned fish population. Of course, adding salt to the aquarium will severly limit the variety of plants that would "thrive" in a saline environment.

I am looking for opinons, experiences, and recommendations concerning the question "Is the addition of aquarium salt required for platys and swordtails to flourish and breed?" In addition, what type of plants will thrive if salt is added to the aquarium? Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

George


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## imported_George (Mar 28, 2003)

I am currently cycling a high-tech, heavily planted 29 gallon aquarium. I am using zebra danios to get through the cycling period. I want the flag-ship fish-type to be livebearers....swordtails and platys.... with a variety of plant types. However, many of the references recommend adding aquarium salt(1 tablespoon/5 gal.) even with the swordtails and platys. I knew that mollies inhabit brackish water environments so that's why I did not include them in the planned fish population. Of course, adding salt to the aquarium will severly limit the variety of plants that would "thrive" in a saline environment.

I am looking for opinons, experiences, and recommendations concerning the question "Is the addition of aquarium salt required for platys and swordtails to flourish and breed?" In addition, what type of plants will thrive if salt is added to the aquarium? Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

George


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## The Bishop (Mar 11, 2004)

I keep and breed livebearers (most of them not all that common) in planted aquaria without the addition of electrolytes.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Actually, unless you get the wild types, most livebearers should do just as fine in regular water. You really don't need to worry about adding anything, such as sea salt. Having said that, I do occasionally dose a very minute amount of it to my tank, which has several guppies and swordtail. I think this has more to do with my psychological mindset, though That just-to-be-sure ideology.


Paul


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I have keep Mollys and platys with no salt added to the water with no problems. They do just fine without it.


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## Justin Fournier (Jan 27, 2004)

No salt it is!


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## georgedv (Jun 23, 2005)

Platys, mollys and other live bearers do well in reg fresh water. I mostly use salt when i quarantine new fish.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

what kind of livebearers do you keep?


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## The Bishop (Mar 11, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by SurWrathful:
> Actually, unless you get the wild types, most livebearers should do just as fine in regular water. You really don't need to worry about adding anything, such as sea salt. Having said that, I do occasionally dose a very minute amount of it to my tank, which has several guppies and swordtail. I think this has more to do with my psychological mindset, though That just-to-be-sure ideology.
> ...


Actually, I have found the wild types to be even more hardy than the aquarium strains. I keep Mayland's Molly with no added salt, as well as several Xiphophorus species and two "populations" of Endler's.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

awww nice!!! you got endlers??? can you post some pics please?


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## The Bishop (Mar 11, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Algae Grower:
> awww nice!!! you got endlers??? can you post some pics please?


Heh. I'd love to, but I'm not the best photographer and my camera is definitely not anywhere near 3 megapixels.


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## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

I add aquarium salt to all my tanks. 1/2 tablespoon/5gal I use black mollies for algae control and this seems to keep them happy. It all so helps in keeping a healthy plant tank. It doesn't hurt any of the plants that I grow but there are some plants that don't like any salt. I think that the small amount of salt keep fungus from forming in a tank. I've been doing it for 3 years now without any problems so I will keep doing so until I have problems. Why rock the boat.

Hawk


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## Tenor1 (Mar 3, 2003)

Tropical Fish Hobbyist ran an article on the use of salt in freshwater tanks just a few months ago. The bottom line suggestion is not to use salt at all even in cichlid tanks. There were some interesting comparisons between salt and freshwater fish. Salt water fish need the salt and salt is taken in through their gills. But it is the complete opposite for freshwater. Freshwater fish expel salt through their gills. Their suggestion is not to add salt for freshwater fish. This does not include brackish fish. 

Regards,
Carlos


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

This is totally my opinion, but I don't think that mollies should even be classified as brackish fish. They are purely freshwater fish. Yes, they are known to be found in the salty deltas, but they are very hardy fish. The way I see it, mollies can decide what water to swim in or not.

I've kept mollies for years, and it seems that I will never have a planted tank without a couple! I absolutely love the fact that they skim the protein layer off the surface of the tank, but unless you starve them, they aren't all that great at eating algae. They seem to be the dumbest of all fish, but they also appear to be the most sociable.

Mollies are hardy. They can have problems with temperature fluctuations, but they are fairly resillient to moderate pH swings (not immediate). I had a severe accident once that reduced my tank to sludge and fish to daisies, but the lone survivor was a molly.

Anyhoo, good luck. I don't think you will find mollies a difficult fish.


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## The Bishop (Mar 11, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Avalon:
> This is totally my opinion, but I don't think that mollies should even be classified as brackish fish. They are purely freshwater fish. Yes, they are known to be found in the salty deltas, but they are very hardy fish. The way I see it, mollies can decide what water to swim in or not.
> ...


I wouldn't say dumbest...most oblivious and easily pleased, however...


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## rocco (Jan 6, 2004)

*Avalon*
i am a big fan of mollies (black, sailfin, etc). don't know why, always have been. guess it might be there happy, active, social demeanor. you seeme to have some experience.

what do you think about a planted tank with these parameters: ph 6.4-6.6, kh 6, gh 6? i wouldn't mind adding them to this tank if i thought it possible, but convention seems to suggest this less than suitable for them.

just thought i would ask, as you seem to have what i value highly: experience.


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

The Bishop:









rocco: A pH that low may pose some problems, but you might be ok. My mollies reside in hard water (KH & GH of 13-15 dH) with a pH of about 6.8-7.2, lowered by pressurized CO2 injection. I recall that they don't take to well with a pH of less than 6.6, so you might start out with a higher pH (like 7.0) and gradually lower it over the course of a 2-3 weeks. The easiest and safest way to do this is with pressurized CO2 injection (a pH controller would be ideal for this).

What I find very unique about mollies is that they are a very good indicator of CO2 levels in your tank. Too much CO2 and they are at the surface, while my Kribensis and Cardinal tetras aren't bothered. Test kits have reaffirmed this.


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## rocco (Jan 6, 2004)

Thanks Avalon. I will keep them in harder water for now, but maybe an experiment is in order along the lines of your advice. It sounds solid.


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