# Brackish environment plant suggestions



## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

I am building a brackish tank for mudskippers and want to use plants on the back wall. Assuming I water with freshwater and keep the plants away from any brackish splash, will broms, orchids, etc be ok? I would also need to keep the roots away from the water line I assume.. 

Any thoughts? 

Also any suggestions or ideas on water plants for brackish would be great as well. Planning on mangroves and java fern currently.. thanks!

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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

I trialed several plants for this kind of idea and wrote a magazine article about it. 

I'm curious why you wish to put orchids and similar stuff in a brackish tank(?). They will be sort of out of place and it may be difficult to keep salt away from them.


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

hydrophyte said:


> I trialed several plants for this kind of idea and wrote a magazine article about it.
> 
> I'm curious why you wish to put orchids and similar stuff in a brackish tank(?). They will be sort of out of place and it may be difficult to keep salt away from them.


I second this. It might look cool in your mind, but likely wouldn't work due to the extreme difference in environmental preferences.

You mentioned mangroves and I believe those would be appropriate for the type of environment you are looking to offer your mudskippers


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## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

varanoid said:


> I second this. It might look cool in your mind, but likely wouldn't work due to the extreme difference in environmental preferences.
> 
> You mentioned mangroves and I believe those would be appropriate for the type of environment you are looking to offer your mudskippers


The idea is to have a shallow amount of brackish water and a large planted back wall.. 

As for extreme differences in environmental preferences.. not sure it would be that much different from my dart frog tank aside from the shallow brackish pond.. high light, high humidity, freshwater misting and airflow... 

Not trying to argue, just wanting to know what the differences are? 

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## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

Also, the tank is 120 gallon.. 4x2x2.. the brackish water will be at the bottom 6-8 inches or less... 

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## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

hydrophyte said:


> I trialed several plants for this kind of idea and wrote a magazine article about it.
> 
> I'm curious why you wish to put orchids and similar stuff in a brackish tank(?). They will be sort of out of place and it may be difficult to keep salt away from them.


The idea is to have a brackish shoreline meeting a rock wall / forest bank with plants growing.. 

Any link to the article you wrote? 

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## Llama (Dec 18, 2011)

You could probably get it to work as long as those sensitive plants are absolutely isolated from the salt. The issue with planting them in a background is that most backgrounds wick water, bringing the salt with it. I second using mangroves instead though, I kept a brackish tank for dragon gobies and fiddler crabs many years ago and I grew mangrove trees in it, they looked very cool. They'd outgrow the tank eventually though. I think there may be a few anubis that can tolerate salty water as well( correct me if I'm wrong), You could grow them emmersed too. I think java moss and java ferns are also likely candidates.


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## Tanks (Jan 14, 2019)

Hello 🙂 I’ve grown anubias, Java moss and fern in a brackish paludarium before, alongside mangroves. Daily misting of the mangrove leaves are necessary due to salt buildup/excretion. These salts will end up in any substrate on the floor...and everywhere else (rock, driftwood) due to “salt creep”...and becauseof salt creep, I would definitely avoid orchids. Many ferns seem to be surprisingly tolerant of salts too, at least in the wild, but I’m not sure about any we use in the hobby. I’ve recently acquired Pyrossia piloselloides which grows along coast lines and mangroves. 
Also, for greater success, most plants (anubias, Java moss/fern, etc.) should be slooowly acclimated to brackish conditions. What I’ve done in the past is: in a separate grow out tank, start with 100% fresh water misting and increase the salinity over a few weeks (or longer). Once they’re accustomed to the higher salt levels and new growth looks healthy, I transferred them to the brackish tank. I then reversed the process by slowly minimizing the salinity in the misting water until it was 100% fresh water. 

Another thing to keep in mind is mangroves need much higher light to thrive, while anubias and Java fern appreciate lower lighting. 

Good luck! 🙂


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## hp192 (Feb 28, 2016)

I have a mudskipper tank that I keep some broms and other plants that I've pulled from my frog tanks. I keep the salinity pretty low. It was hit or miss with the plants...some didn't make it, some thrived. Good luck.


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

GOSKN5 said:


> The idea is to have a shallow amount of brackish water and a large planted back wall..


I can picture in my mind what you are trying to do. It could be cool if it works



GOSKN5 said:


> As for extreme differences in environmental preferences.. not sure it would be that much different from my dart frog tank aside from the shallow brackish pond.. high light, high humidity, freshwater misting and airflow...


I get what you are saying. You are bringing a shallow brackish estuary to the jungle. Or maybe it's the other way around and it's just a jungle with a brackish estuary in it. Both habitats exist underneath strong sunlight, have high humidity, rain fresh water, and have wind. Problem is they don't occupy the same territory on earth. They are separate habitats with most of their respective flora and fauna adapted to survive in one habitat, not the other. The main difference and the problem I suspect you will run into is related to the salt.



GOSKN5 said:


> Not trying to argue, just wanting to know what the differences are?


I assume I don't have to tell you the differences between the two habitats themselves (brackish and jungle). As I just mentioned, the problems I see you running into relate to the salt. Many broms and even more orchids you may want to consider I suspect are not salt tolerant. If you are using fresh RO water for misting, nothing to worry about right? Wrong. You still need to worry about salt creep. Even with no splashing of the brackish water directly onto your broms and orchids you are going to experience some salt creep. When salt water evaporates, does it leave all the salts behind? No. Some of it is transported in the air. Not a lot, but some and not a very long distance either. That is why when you are on the coast you can often taste salt on your skin even without ever having been in the ocean. There are large number of plants that I could not grow when I lived a half mile from the beach in San Diego due to their salt intolerance. Ever know someone with a salt water aquarium and look in the cabinet where the sump is housed? There is salt all over the sump, cords, and walls of the cabinet. In your tank salt will make its way to the background I promise. So a good starting point for you would be to look at salt tolerant bromeliads and orchids.


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## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

Thanks I appreciate the feedback and insight! I have a 180 gallon reef tank so I'm all too familiar with the salt creep...

I have been researching as you say some salt tolerant plants.. I figure it is worth a shot.. 

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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

I think you should research other smaller plants that grow near the sea. There are various that grow in habitats like rock crevices that might work on the background. This will be more interesting than just using orchids and will probably give you better results. 

There are a few orchids and other epiphytes that grow on trees in mangrove swamps, but they are specific species. 

Here are some search terms you might try to use and combine in different ways to find possibilities and sources.


estuary
brackish
mangrove
cliff
Mexico
Caribbean
Mediterranean
Australia
flora
pdf
Hawaii
Florida 
cactus
Texas 
South Africa 
California
salt marsh
orchid
salt tolerant
coastal
native plant
sand dune
rock crevice
lithophyte
native plant nursery
native plant seeds
groundcover
succulent

Here's something I found with a quick search. Maybe somebody with a university login can help you get it to read...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268076617_THE_AERIAL_PLANTS_OF_MANGROVE_FORESTS_THE_UNAPPRECIATED_BOTANICAL_PARTNERS_THAT_HAVE_IMPORTANT_FUNCTIONAL_ROLES

Here's something else neat. You would want to cross reference, but at least some of these plants grow pretty close to the salt water. Many of these are full sun plants...

https://calscape.org/plantlist/1129/ord-popular/page-all








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## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

Thanks for the help! I am certain I can find some plants... but sourcing them will be the challenging part... gonna keep reading up..

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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

I have found I can sometimes find plant sources by combining the name of the plant with "nursery" or "buy live plant" or "buy seeds" in the Google search.

Also search eBay. You can find a lot of unusual plants on eBay and the prices are usually lower.










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## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

Here is what I came up with... going to give a few plants a try on the background.. planning a couple mangroves and some water plants too... also a couple brackish fish..









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## kimcmich (Jan 17, 2016)

Greetings,

The pieces of the cork part of your background that dip into the water are going to conduct salt up into the area where you are trying to grow the bromeliads. If at all possible you should really try to put a moisture barrier between the brackish water and your planted areas. Alternatively you could use branches that are made of a non-absorbent material. Salt creep is going to be a definite problem with the current setup.


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## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

Thanks, certainly a possibility although there is some separation between the pieces that touch the water and the top.. it is made of many different pieces with some gaps... as I said, its really an experiment.. I am prepared to plant the water section and use some fake plants on the background if needed... I have some ideas for some realistic options

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## hp192 (Feb 28, 2016)

I've had success with Bacopa aff. monieri growing semi-submerged and Drymonia Pendula on the land.


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## mayanjungledog (Jun 5, 2017)

I also have a mudskipper tank and have experimented with trimmings from my planted tanks. I've had successfully grown in there mostly emersed Cryptocoryne wendtii, Java moss, Java fern, Alternanthera reineckii, Hygrophila coryambosa compacta, Hydrocotyle tripartita, Bucephalandra sp., Suesswassertang. The salinity is pretty low ~1.005-1.010. I have not had much luck growing things immersed in there. I do have a mangrove plant that grows very well in there.


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## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

mayanjungledog said:


> I also have a mudskipper tank and have experimented with trimmings from my planted tanks. I've had successfully grown in there mostly emersed Cryptocoryne wendtii, Java moss, Java fern, Alternanthera reineckii, Hygrophila coryambosa compacta, Hydrocotyle tripartita, Bucephalandra sp., Suesswassertang. The salinity is pretty low ~1.005-1.010. I have not had much luck growing things immersed in there. I do have a mangrove plant that grows very well in there.


Thanks for the info.. any pics of the setup?

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## mayanjungledog (Jun 5, 2017)

GOSKN5 said:


> Thanks for the info.. any pics of the setup?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk




Let’s see if I can get these posted (sorry they’re crappy cellphone photos):


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## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

mayanjungledog said:


> Let’s see if I can get these posted (sorry they’re crappy cellphone photos):


That's pretty fantastic! Are those mangroves in the middle?

What species mudskipper do you have and how many?

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## mayanjungledog (Jun 5, 2017)

Yes, those are mangroves in the middle. It’s a 40 gallon breeder with 3 Indian mudskippers in there. Thanks!


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## GOSKN5 (Dec 31, 2011)

mayanjungledog said:


> Yes, those are mangroves in the middle. It’s a 40 gallon breeder with 3 Indian mudskippers in there. Thanks!


Are they in brackish water? What other plants do you have in there?

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## mayanjungledog (Jun 5, 2017)

GOSKN5 said:


> Are they in brackish water? What other plants do you have in there?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk




Yes. Salinity is about 1.005-1.010. List of plants are in a previous above.


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