Hoping To Go Brackish! But Confused :(

[Nikki77D]

Hey everyone!
So I'm planning on having a figure 8 puffer in my 36 gal tank. I know about brackish tanks but I'm still confused with the water change process? Can anyone tell me their routine. Like how to make sure everything is dissolved, and how to calculate the salinity of the water so I can make it the same salinity at the end of the water change?

 

[techen]

Most people never stay in brackish as it's harder than going full marine or even running just a tropical tank.
 
Water changes would be with mixed salt water, But topping up the water with just be with normal water, If you top up the water with mixed salt water you'll rise the salinity and kill the puffer. Am unsure how much water you'd need to change in a brackish tank. As 30% is the norm in tropical and 10% is the norm in marine.
 
The way you work out salinity is with a refractometer

 

[Nikki77D]

Yah I have a hydrometer but the math still confusees me.

 

[techen]

I'd ditch the hydrometer as there not great and will give you off readings. Invest into a refractometer!
 
What are you confused of? What salinity does the puffer need?

 

[Nikki77D]

They need 1.005 and 1.008 specific gravity. I'm confused on how much water to change out, and should I make a strong salt solution and slowely add it to make the SG go to where I want it to be in thee tank? And how should I make sure all the salt is dissolved properly? I know ppl say let it sit for 24 hours with a heater and airr pump. But is there another way?

 

[iliveinazoo]

For a figure 8 SG1.003-SG1.005 will be plenty, at 1.003 there are many plants available that you could grow if you wanted to.

A hydrometer will be absolutely fine as the salinity requirements for these fish are not so limited in range just make sure it reads down to SG1.001.

People with marine tanks or brackish systems will dissolve their salt overnight as you say but at such low salinities you may not have to. I maintain my f8 tank at SG1.003@25°C and change 50% of the water weekly using 10litre buckets, I use cold tap water and water from the kettle to get to the right temperature and dechlorinate. Stirring continuously throughout means The majority of the time the salt Completely dissolves straight away but sometimes I have to stir a little longer. Basically the more salt you put in the bucket at any one time the longer it will take to dissolve hence many people doing the overnight thing.

Over time you will learn how much water you need to change by regularly testing the water, to keep the nitrate under 20 you may need to change 25%-50% weekly but they should be weekly if only to replenish the minerals

 

[Nikki77D]

Thannks for the reply that really helps . My last question is when I'm adding the salt to the buckets (5 gal bucket) it takes me about 3 buckets to change 50% out, so when I put those three buckets back in, should the SG of each bucket match the tank at 1.003?

 

[maurizio]

As already mentioned, most brackish fishes do accept (and may even benefit) small variations of the salinity, so no need to be very precise in measuring tank water salinity and salt to add. In my case, almost every second week I do a water change with fresh water only (but I have a very low salinity, SG 1.002 @ 25C).
 
I distribute the needed salt in each of the buckets I have, and use the shower to regulate temperature and fill in (no need to dechlorinate, in DK!). The strength of the flow is strong enough to mix and dissolve the salt quite well (at least visually: at a molecular level, I'm afraid things are quite different...!). Again, no need to be very precise!
 
Do use N. Monks' calculator to estimate exactly the amount of salt you need: it's fun and educational in understanding how salinity and specific gravity are related, and dependent on temperature.

 

[iliveinazoo]

Thannks for the reply that really helps

. My last question is when I'm adding the salt to the buckets (5 gal bucket) it takes me about 3 buckets to change 50% out, so when I put those three buckets back in, should the SG of each bucket match the tank at 1.003?

 
Yes if you want to maintain SG1.003.  If you want to increase to SG1.004 at any time then each bucket should be SG1.005.  Similarly if you want to decrease to SG1.002 at any time then the buckets should be SG1.001.  Because you are changing 50% of the tank volume at a time.

 

[Nikki77D]

Thanks for the information!! I understand it way better now

 

[Nikki77D]

Sorry to ask one more question but if I'm switching from fresh to brackish and raising the SG 1.002 per week and doing a 50% water change, then the buckets adding water back should ALL be 1.004? Is that right? Then next water change my water will be at 1.002, so then the buckets will need to be all 1.006 to raise my water to 1.004, and keep adding 1.004 each water change to keep it at 1.004. sound good?

 

[iliveinazoo]

Sounds about right

 

[Nikki77D]

Great! Thanks for the help!

 

[maurizio]

How did it go? F8 is going to be my next fish, for sure!

 

[Mads]

I was in doubt with the salinity as well. Sg 1,003 at 25 C means 6,2 grams pr. liter, but Initially I thought that SG was almost the same as grams per kilo water (1/1.000 g) at 25 C.
 
I use a hydrometer too, which seems to be pretty precise