Brackish plants?

[smm333]

I have a 20 gallon long with fiddler crabs. The water is brackish and shallow, since 1/2 the tank is sand for them to tunnel in. My other tanks all have plants and I'd love to add some to this tank, but haven't found anyone having success with brackish water. 

Does anyone have experience acclimating plants to brackish water? Specific types that work? How to acclimate? I thought I might try duckweed and anacharis since they are fast growers. Any advice would be appreciated!

[Guppysnail]

I’m not certain about good brackish plants. I can tell you for certain anacharis for me hates salt at all. I was testing with very low salt levels. Damage did not show right away but did kill the plants. They slowly lost color getting a yellowish tint then just became water logged and died. Mangrove will grow above the water kevel giving roots at least in the tank. It will eventually get to large. Pothos dies fast in salt conditions 

Beautiful crab!

Edited July 24, 2022 by Guppysnail

[smm333]

Darn, I thought anacharis would be a good one to try. My turtles like it, so I usually have it on hand. 

[nabokovfan87]

I've heard anubias likes some salt. Java fern as well.

If you can, try to find some mangrove plants.

[smm333]

I have a couple baby java ferns. Maybe I can try one. Thank you!

[Patrick_G]

What’s your salinity level? 

[smm333]

On 7/26/2022 at 6:10 PM, Patrick_G said:

What’s your salinity level? 

It is just a bit brackish. I add 1 Tbsp. Instant Ocean sea salt to each 1/2 gallon of water.

[Patrick_G]

I think that’s about 1/8th of full marine salinity or about .003 sg. That’s pretty low end brackish. 
There should be a decent list of plants you can try including most of the hardy plants like Java Fern and Anubias. I haven’t personally tried them, but I think they would be the best place to start. 

[smm333]

On 7/26/2022 at 9:26 PM, Patrick_G said:

I think that’s about 1/8th of full marine salinity or about .003 sg. That’s pretty low end brackish. 
There should be a decent list of plants you can try including most of the hardy plants like Java Fern and Anubias. I haven’t personally tried them, but I think they would be the best place to start. 

Thanks! I am going to try a java fern since I have babies available from my plant. I just hate to lose a plant through experimentation! It sure would be cool to see plants with the crabs though.

[Scot]

On 7/27/2022 at 9:09 AM, smm333 said:

Thanks! I am going to try a java fern since I have babies available from my plant. I just hate to lose a plant through experimentation! It sure would be cool to see plants with the crabs though.

Grasses would be the naturally occuring brackish water plant that crabs might run into, it grows in the long island sound which is high end brackish, and it grows thickly around river mouths. Java fern can be found where the rivers become tidal and get a little salty.

You must acclimate the plants though. Add like a 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of salt per week, until you get to 1.003 or 1.005 salinity. Then if you want to go a little further, slow down to 1/8 teaspoon per week.

If you are patient you can acclimate lots of plants....If you are careful, even the plants that reject the salt at certain levels can be saved by simply returning them to fresh water.

[smm333]

On 7/27/2022 at 9:13 AM, Scot said:

Grasses would be the naturally occuring brackish water plant that crabs might run into, it grows in the long island sound which is high end brackish, and it grows thickly around river mouths. Java fern can be found where the rivers become tidal and get a little salty.

You must acclimate the plants though. Add like a 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of salt per week, until you get to 1.003 or 1.005 salinity. Then if you want to go a little further, slow down to 1/8 teaspoon per week.

If you are patient you can acclimate lots of plants....If you are careful, even the plants that reject the salt at certain levels can be saved by simply returning them to fresh water.

Thanks so much for all the information! I will look into it, and see what works out. My family is really fond of the crabs so I think we will always have a crab set up. It will be fun to see what I can hrow to change their environment !