# Aquarium salt?



## fishbubbles

Will aquarium salt kill any of my live plants such as java moss or java fern?


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## platies pwn

java moss isn't reccomended for tanks with salt


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## Obsidian

You would need to do some research on each plant you have. The vast majority of the aquarium plants don't like salt. I have used salt in there for medication purposes without too much ill effect, but that was for a short period of time.


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## fishbubbles

Okay ill just do some water changes to take it back out. Thanks!


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## emc7

java fern will take some. It lives in my Malawi tanks. Java moss dies.


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## platies pwn

i keep my java moss in my 55 gallon,i have salt in it,and it is thriving


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## emc7

how much salt? Most plants have a tolerance. But some take more than others. It might have been something else that killed my java moss or your 'java moss" and mine are different species. Common names are never specific.


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## platies pwn

i have the one tablespoon for every 5 gallons(or was it a cup?)


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## Lysan

Yes, salt hurts aquarium plants. Salt in the water causes the plant cells to burst or collapse and death follows. There are some salt resistant plants, but they are so few among the common aquarium plants, I can list some of them. Java fern, Java moss, red mangrove, Vallisnera, Hygrophila. More are below, but don't assume because one plant is on the list, others in its family would be too. 

I wouldn't say the salt is bad for the plants, but plants are sensitive to aquarium salt. A good dosage for freshwater fish is one teaspoon of aquarium salt for every 5g your aquarium holds. Make sure that the salt is fully dissolved first!

Take the right amount of salt, put it into a cup with water and swish it around for a minute or so. Then pour the salt into the aquarium right near the filter for the salt to become pushed around the tank!


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## Guest

IMO, java moss will do fine in salt. I keep java fern, moss, moss ball in my bw tank.
The salt isn't aquarium salt but sea salt.


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## Plecostomus

I have read that salt is ok with java moss and java fern, but detrimental to most other plants.


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## Schwartzy61

In high amounts, salt can cause plasmolysis. The cell walls of aquatic plants help prevent this from happening giving some tolerance to the plant. Prolonged exposure to salts bypass the tolerance.


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