How can I measure salinity?

[mhoward1999]

Hi all. I think my fish may be having swimbladder problems. One site suggested raising temperature to 80 deg. and adding salt to bring the level to 0.5%. How do I know what my salt level is? This is an area that has been a frustration me for a while. I have no way of knowing just how much salt is in my tank , since I haven't added salt with every water change. TIA!

 

[thecichlidaddict]

You need a Hydrometer.

 

[mhoward1999]

Thanks! I KNEW there HAD to be a devise for doing this!!!

 

[mhoward1999]

No LFS in my area carries a hydrometer that will work for a freshwater tank. One store sells test kits that are dip sticks, but they were out of stock and didn't know when they would be coming in. Still looking...

 

[Sky042]

No LFS in my area carries a hydrometer that will work for a freshwater tank. One store sells test kits that are dip sticks, but they were out of stock and didn't know when they would be coming in. Still looking...

you're trying to measure salinity on a freshwater tank?

The hyrdometer I have will measure even low levels of salinity.

 

[Dubby]

mhoward1999,

I dont have the luxury of a separate hospital tank. I use an old 2L coke bottle with the top cut off which I float in the tank. I then regulate the amount of salt in the bottle. I normally add about 2 tsps of salt.

Hope this helps.

 

[mhoward1999]

Dubby: I don't mess with a hospital tank, either. If I have sick fish then the entire tank needs to be treated anyway, so I don't get why one would bother. I could see quarentining new fish, but I have never bothered with that either. If I had reson to doubt their health I wouldn't have bought them in the first place, ya know? Thanks for the idea about the 2 liter bottle. I may do that if I need to isolate a fish. I have always used a glass one gallon pickle jar, but floating a bottle in the tank would be more stable temperature-wise.

Sky042: What I understand is that goldfish need to have a salinity level of 0.5. The hydrometers I have found only measure down to 1.01. That's double what's recommended... How low does your hydrometer go?