Gouramis/tank salting

Question
I have recently set up a 30 gallon freshwater tank.  I went to the pet store for a couple gouramis.  The labels on the gouramis mentioned a "lightly salted" tank.  Talked to the fish guy and he explained the salting, etc. so I went ahead and purchased two dwark gouramis and salted the tank.  He told me some of the other fish I was interested in adding (mollies, platys) would benefit from the salt as well.  I did want to add some corys but understand these won't do well with the salt.  Can you recommend something else that would hang out in the bottom of the tank that would do well with the salt?  Also, would tetras do ok in the salt?

Pet store guy advised me to start with 4 teaspoons of salt for the 30 gallon tank and work up gradually to 1 teaspoon per 3 gallons.

The tank is planted, so I'm a little concerned about the fate of my plants with the salt.  But I'm willing to replace the plants for others that can tolerate the salt for the health/happiness of the fish.

Thanks, and I appreciate your time.  This advice area is such a great thing!

Answer
It depends on the plants. There are some really hearty freshwater plants such as the wisteria and ludwigia that will be fine with a little salt, but if you've got duckweed or some other rosette plants (swords and banana plants) I wouldn't recommend it. You can keep gouramis with out the salt, the salt just makes it easier to keep the fish healthy and maintain the pH levels.

As far as fish, most fish can take a little bit of salt just fine. Of course you'd want to stay away from weaker tetras like Neons, or guppies and goldfish. Dwarf gourami's are not as aggressive as say kisser gouramis, and can work in a community tank. Gouramis as a group are considered moderately aggressive and while you can keep mollies and the like with them mollies are considered community fishes. If you have your heart set on the gouramis look into barbs, larger angelfish, catfish (not cory cats), and american (not african) ciclids. African ciclids are quite nasty. Or you can stick with your hearty true community fishes which are just as colorful if you decide you like the mollies more. A good assortment of tetras, swordfish, mollies, platys, and a few other community exotics like rainbow fish or kuli loaches make a great community tank.

I hope I helped you make a decision.