Some FW aquarium plants will survive very low specific gravity BW. Some macroalgaes from SW will do okay in high-end BW. In mid-range BW I am not aware of anything in the trade that will survive.
Brackish water plants?
- Thread starter ChaosBlizzard
- Start date
Well will puffers (f8's) do well in a gravity of 1.000? Or is that too low for them. I want to stike a balance between them. Why can these puffers just evolve like the rest of us?
Thanks.
CP
Thanks.
CP
Why should they evolve? 
They live in one of natures most productive environments.
Better question: Why don't we have BW plants in the trade? Valid but unhappy answer: Too small a niche market, not worth the bother.
I keep F8s about 1.005 (1.003-1.008) and they do very well. Below that range IME they have more skin and eye problems so I do not suggest it. And no, I do not keep live plants with them.
They live in one of natures most productive environments.Better question: Why don't we have BW plants in the trade? Valid but unhappy answer: Too small a niche market, not worth the bother.
I keep F8s about 1.005 (1.003-1.008) and they do very well. Below that range IME they have more skin and eye problems so I do not suggest it. And no, I do not keep live plants with them.
So, if the gravity went down to say 1.004 they would start having problems? Is that little bit of a diffrence that bad? I didnt know a few grains of salt could do that.
Marine mix is far from "a few grains of salt". It is a complex mixture of many, many minerals. It provides a huge range of materiasl, with osmolarity and buffering appropriate to fish from esturine environments. And it takes a heck of a lot more than a few grains of marine mix to get water up to 1.005 specific gravity.
But if you are more concerned with plants that the fish, perhaps a BW fish is not the best selection for your tank. Decide what is primary to you and then make your selection. If you need heavily planted tanks, stick with FW puffers such as the dwarf puffers, South American puffers, etc., or go very light brackish (1.001-1.003 and keep Orange Chromides - they are not nearly as destructive of plants as most substrate-spawning Cichlids, are gorgeous, and not hard to breed.
But if you are more concerned with plants that the fish, perhaps a BW fish is not the best selection for your tank. Decide what is primary to you and then make your selection. If you need heavily planted tanks, stick with FW puffers such as the dwarf puffers, South American puffers, etc., or go very light brackish (1.001-1.003 and keep Orange Chromides - they are not nearly as destructive of plants as most substrate-spawning Cichlids, are gorgeous, and not hard to breed.
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