Cloudy Brackish Water?

[aquariagirl1976]

Hi all! I am keeping strictly mollies in a 35 gallon tank. I have decided to make this tank somewhat brackish with a density of around 1.003. To start, I did a 20% water change. I mixed the new water and salt in a pail, then added to the tank. I got up the next morning and the tank was cloudy. So for the next 2 days, I did 20% water changes gradually upping the salinity. I did a 40% water change today, and it's even cloudier. Is is the salt doing this and if so, when will it clear up? My ph is between 8.0 and 8.5. I feel so stupid I have kept freshwater aquariums with little probs but this delve into brackish has me confused!!!!

P.S. Just for info's sake, I have an aquaclear 50gal and a whisper 20-50gal filter on the tank, no aeration, no live plants, gravel substrate.

 

[scooterchick]

I assume you've removed the plec from the tank as he won't tolerate brackish conditions.

That aside, when you say you've no aereation, do you have something disturbing the surface water?

Anyway, no the salt itself shouldn't make the water cloudy, sounds like it could be a bacteria bloom. Reasons for this can be too many fish or overfeeding, most likely overfeeding.

 

[aquariagirl1976]

I assume you've removed the plec from the tank as he won't tolerate brackish conditions.

That aside, when you say you've no aereation, do you have something disturbing the surface water?

Anyway, no the salt itself shouldn't make the water cloudy, sounds like it could be a bacteria bloom. Reasons for this can be too many fish or overfeeding, most likely overfeeding.

I didn't take out the plec, I read as long as it is below 1.005 density he will be ok.

"Some of the larger species of sucking catfishes (Loricariidae) such as the pleco Hypostomus, are very robust and with care can be kept in slightly brackish aquaria, below a specific gravity of 1.005."

This was taken from this link - http/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/brackishfaqindex.html - that was found on this forum.

The 2 filters are the top hanging type, so they both pour water back into the tank thus disturbing the water surface. I must just be overfeeding. Thanks!

 

[BracKeeper75]

Hi all! I am keeping strictly mollies in a 35 gallon tank. I have decided to make this tank somewhat brackish with a density of around 1.003. To start, I did a 20% water change. I mixed the new water and salt in a pail, then added to the tank. I got up the next morning and the tank was cloudy. So for the next 2 days, I did 20% water changes gradually upping the salinity. I did a 40% water change today, and it's even cloudier. Is is the salt doing this and if so, when will it clear up? My ph is between 8.0 and 8.5. I feel so stupid I have kept freshwater aquariums with little probs but this delve into brackish has me confused!!!!

P.S. Just for info's sake, I have an aquaclear 50gal and a whisper 20-50gal filter on the tank, no aeration, no live plants, gravel substrate.

This is definately a cycle problem!!!
IMO you should never raise the sg .002 per water change. This can be harmful to the bacteria that keep the water clean. It is possible that you have cause what we call a mini cycle. You changed the sg too much for the beneficial bacteria to handle at once, and have killed them off. Watch you ammonia nitrite nitrate levels, and do water changes if required. It should clear up in 24-48 hours, the mollies are hardy and should survive the mini cycle fine, just watch for signs of stress and feed lightly untill you get this under control. Do not add more fish untill the bacteria have time to repopulate the filter. Do not further change the sg either keep it steady. You should also try to mix the salt and let the water sit for an hour or two before you add it to the tank. This makes sure the salt is dissolved full so that it will not harm your fish. If you can get you hands on some bacteria you could use that to speed up the cycle too. Be patient and just watch your fish/water closley and you will get though this...don't get discouraged!!!

scott

 

[aquariagirl1976]

Thank you sooo much Scott! I couldn't find any info on how to actually go about changing over to a brackish so I did it day by day. What you are saying makes total sense. The mollies seem to be handling my mistake fine thankfully. And I won't add any more fish. I have my tank stocked as I would like so no more fish will be going into the tank. The tank is clearer this morning tho.

Thanks again!

 

[el_vulture619]

Mix your water with a powerhead in the bucket for a few hours. Even over night is better. You may not be giving the salt long enough to disolve in the water. Wait a while before you do another water change, unless the water params are out of wack!

to brackish water!!

 

[DarkEntity]

Also there are no plecs which are brackish tolerant, so id remove him asap. There is a thread on here about the same thing, im pretty sure it was NMonks who replied to the same.

 

[aquariagirl1976]

Also there are no plecs which are brackish tolerant, so id remove him asap. There is a thread on here about the same thing, im pretty sure it was NMonks who replied to the same.

"Some of the larger species of sucking catfishes (Loricariidae) such as the pleco Hypostomus, are very robust and with care can be kept in slightly brackish aquaria, below a specific gravity of 1.005.
This was taken from this link - http/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/brackishfaqindex.html - that was found on this forum."


I wrote the above in an earlier post, I am keeping my tank at 1.003 which is under the 1.005 for plecs.

 

[DarkEntity]

You are correct, ive found the post. The question was are there any Brackish Plecs

In a word, no.

While there are some Hypostomus species that either live in (weakly) brackish waters in the wild, as with Hypostomus watawata, or else seem to tolerate such conditions in exotic locations, as with Hypostomus plecostomus in Florida, there's no plec that will do well (or even survive) at the mid to high salinity conditions your monos and scats will need.

In fact, there are *relatively* few mid to high salinity brackish water catfish in the trade. The Colombian shark is really the only common one. Hoplosternum littorale is another, but it's a low to mid salinity species. Mystus guilio is tolerant across a broad salinity range, but it's hardly traded at all, and the same goes for Aspredo and Platystacus species.

In terms of algae control, your best bet is a mix of Nerite snails and blue-leg hermit crabs. Otherwise, forget about the algae: it's natural, and the fish like it. Simply scrape off the front glass periodically. Spotlessly clean rocks and sand looks horrible, and once the algae takes over, your aquarium will be far more natural-looking.

Cheers, Neale

 

[BracKeeper75]

You are most welcome! Like I said...Hang in there and if you have questions just ask I am always around and willing to help.
For the algae/replacement of the plec...
Mollies will also pick at algae a little. If you need nerites keep in touch. As soon as I have some big enough, I can send you some! I would only ask you reimburse me for the shipping costs. As for the plec...I would take him out! I tried one at lower sg and he didn't fare well...of course this was before I knew better.

The salt that has been in question...
Are you using a marine mix like Instant Ocean?(aquarium salt is no good for brackish water)
I wouldn't worry about mixing overnight, just make sure you mix it and make sure it is dissolved fully before you add it! Salt will not cloud your water like that. If it were undissolved it might cloud your water for an hour or so but it would not last that long.

 

[aquariagirl1976]

You are most welcome! Like I said...Hang in there and if you have questions just ask I am always around and willing to help.
For the algae/replacement of the plec...
Mollies will also pick at algae a little. If you need nerites keep in touch. As soon as I have some big enough, I can send you some! I would only ask you reimburse me for the shipping costs. As for the plec...I would take him out! I tried one at lower sg and he didn't fare well...of course this was before I knew better.

The salt that has been in question...
Are you using a marine mix like Instant Ocean?(aquarium salt is no good for brackish water)
I wouldn't worry about mixing overnight, just make sure you mix it and make sure it is dissolved fully before you add it! Salt will not cloud your water like that. If it were undissolved it might cloud your water for an hour or so but it would not last that long.

Yes, I am using marine salt. I get it in a bulk bag from my local marine fish guy. I did a small change today, 15%, and I fully mixed and let the water sit for an hour and it fully dissolved and made sure that it was at the 1.003 that I want to maintain.

The only other option for my plec is to put him in a 10 gal with another baby plec, betta, red-tailed shark. He is a somewhat big guy, about 4 inches. I'm just not sure if he would be happy in that little tank

I really won't be able to stand alot of algae buildup in my tank so if there is something that can help keep it clean I am interested and don't mind paying the shipping for the nerites. When do you think you'd have some big enough

 

[BracKeeper75]

Hopefully within a month I will haave some. The plec at that sg should be fine for a little while, but I will let you know when I have some. If you dont want to wait go to aquabid.com and there is a guy on there who sells them. That is where I got My Originals. I think it is about $30 for 10 and shipping... not a bad price for both. Is you water good and clearing up?
Scott

 

[scooterchick]

None of your tanks are big enough for common plecs, I'd take them back to lfs, they might only be small at the moment but they'll become tank bound, basically it'll stunt their growth. Imagine your mum put size 2 shoes on you when you were a child but your feet were designed to grow to size 5? Same idea when keeping a big fish in a little pond.

 

[aquariagirl1976]

Hopefully within a month I will haave some. The plec at that sg should be fine for a little while, but I will let you know when I have some. If you dont want to wait go to aquabid.com and there is a guy on there who sells them. That is where I got My Originals. I think it is about $30 for 10 and shipping... not a bad price for both. Is you water good and clearing up?
Scott

I moved my pleco out into the 10 gallon freshwater for now until I decide what to do with him.

I emailed my local marine fish guy I got my marine salt from and he has some snails and crabs, so gonna get some from him tomorrow but thank you so much for the offer.

The tank is clearing up, thanks for asking

Thanks again for all the help

 

[aquariagirl1976]

None of your tanks are big enough for common plecs, I'd take them back to lfs, they might only be small at the moment but they'll become tank bound, basically it'll stunt their growth. Imagine your mum put size 2 shoes on you when you were a child but your feet were designed to grow to size 5? Same idea when keeping a big fish in a little pond.

Thanks for the reply. You seem knowledgeable on plecs....how cool of a temp can they stand? My mother is going to be doing an outdoor pond and if the plecs can stand cooler temps maybe I can give them a home there Obviously they would need to be brought in for the winter but I was thinking they could handle the summer temps here in Canada.