View Full Version : Salt Level Question
cdawson
02-01-2003, 7:27 PM
I'm hearing alot of conflicting answers on the amount of salt to put into a BW aquarium. Can someone please tell me, how many TEASPOONS (not tablespoons!) per 5 gallons? I've got a green spotted puffer and a peacock goby, as well as 7 silver scats. They've been fine for a long time now on 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons now, but I'm getting confused about all the different answers I see.
Pufferpunk
02-01-2003, 8:44 PM
I don't measure with a spoon, I measure with a hydrometer. I keep my GSP at a specific gravity of 1.014-19. That comes out to about 2 cups of marine salt/10 gallons. Teaspoons?????
MonoSebaelover
02-02-2003, 9:28 AM
I have never measured in teaspoons either. I always use about 1 cup per 10 gallons of water. That would be 1/2 a cup per 5 gallons. It gets SG around 1.008. For Monos and Scats you might want to do a little bit more but currently I am only keeping Anableps, Mudskippers, Mollies, Dragonfish, Bumblebee Gobies, Archers, Figure 8 Puffers, etc. All my Monos and Scats have been acclimated up to saltwater. What size tank do you have. You do know that each of those Scats will get a foot long and look like a dinner plate? They will also need sw as adults.
cdawson
02-02-2003, 10:06 PM
I've used a measurement of 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons and my salt level is around 1.019. Everywhere I've gone to has told me differently but I've used this all along. The fact that no one uses this makes me weary though.
Pufferpunk
02-02-2003, 11:12 PM
That level is practically SW! There's no way 1 tsp/5gal can make that specific gravity. You might want to try another hydrometer. To get that SG, I use over a CUP of salt/5gal! Are you sure it's not 1.0019? That sounds more like it.
Agree with Pufferpunk - there must be a reading error or measurement error with whatever device or technique is being used to measure specific gravity. One tsp per 5 gallons is undetectable by most hobby test devices.
Can you describe the way you measure and maybe we can help figure it out?
cdawson
02-03-2003, 12:59 PM
I use exactly 1 teaspoon every 5 gallons and it's right below the SW level. should I use cups instead?
what could be wrong with my hydrometer, I've always gotten good readings since I bought it.
OrionGirl
02-03-2003, 2:28 PM
Do you always add salt any time you're adding water? If so, the high level might be accurate, and the result of evaporation. When water evaporates, it leaves the salt behind. If you do topoffs with salted water, the overall level of salt in the volume of water will be increasing slowly over time.
1 tsp of salt per 5 gallons of water will NOT get you to 1.019. As with most things, stability is better than a specific number. Most hobbyist hydrometers will vary and have an error of +/- .01, so 1.0019 is not likely accurate either way, since the level of error is greater than the result.
cdawson
02-03-2003, 9:40 PM
that would explain the high level, I've always removed a certain amount of water and replaced the same amount with the right amount of salt.
Pufferpunk
02-03-2003, 11:28 PM
What kind of hydrometer are you using?
cdawson
02-04-2003, 12:32 PM
just your standard hydrometer. The guy at the store said they use it for all their tanks, which is pretty reassuring because all of their fish are in pretty good shape.
Pufferpunk
02-04-2003, 12:45 PM
Is it the floating kind, or the one with a moving arrow that you fill up? Mine is the 2nd, a Seatest brand. If you don't rinse those w/fresh water after using, the needle can stick. Look at your hydrometer again. See if your measurement is 1.019, or 1.0019.
If you are removing water & then replacing the salt with fresh brackishwater, the concentration shouldn't change. Only if you just keep adding brackishwater to the tank without removing some, will the concentration be stronger.
OrionGirl
02-04-2003, 12:58 PM
I disagree. If you don't add some FW to replace the evaporated water, you will see a slow and steady climb in the overall salinity of the tank. Is 1.019 the SG for the water you prepare, or for the tank?
Pufferpunk
02-04-2003, 5:30 PM
Huh??? If you are removing BW & replacing it w/the same SG BW, why would the SG change? Also if you do a water change every week, how much could have really evaporated?
I can have well over a gallon a day evaporation - in a week I would definitely have concentration. But I always top up with tap and monitor parameters to avoid such.
cdawson
02-04-2003, 10:41 PM
I've always just topped off with freshwater I have in a rubbermaid container thats been treated. My hydrometer BTW is a Coral life Deep six.
Take a reading on your tap water it should read 1.000
OrionGirl
02-05-2003, 9:38 AM
We replace about 5 gallons every other day in the 180. If you live in a high humidity envirnment, it might not be a big deal. Local humidity is usually around 30%--it's about 60% in my home, due to the water being pulled out of the tanks.
Pufferpunk
02-05-2003, 11:00 AM
LOL, most folks use a humidifier in their homes in the winter. Because of the dry heat in my home, it causes a lot of evaporation in my tanks (especially in my river tanks) so we have a small industrial de-humidifier! The river tanks are the only ones I top off during the week. I do a 50% water change in all my tanks every week.
cdawson
02-05-2003, 12:41 PM
I figured out what was wrong, I THOROUGHLY washed out my hydrometer and now my salt level is 1.012. I'd washed it out before , obviously not enough. SO the right amount for BW should be 1 cup of salt per 5 gallons then. Am I correct or should this topic go on forever! =)
Soak your hydrometer in vinegar, rinse and then test in tap water. Continue soaking and rinsing until your tap water read 1.000. Without a baseline you have no measurement.
andruboz
02-05-2003, 11:03 PM
not to hijak the topic, but say i've been cheating a little on my mollies and violet goby[dragon fish]. they have been living a freshwater existence. so instead of just whacking them hard into brackish, i should go a quarter cup /10 gallons for a week . then a half for a week or two then a cup after about a month?
on the other hand, fish that live near oceans are used to the salt changing / coming in with the tides?
the soon to be brackish tank is the hospital tank this month anyway. for the dragonfish i have to swap out the gravel for sand.
annstack
05-13-2006, 9:07 PM
I don't measure with a spoon, I measure with a hydrometer. I keep my GSP at a specific gravity of 1.014-19. That comes out to about 2 cups of marine salt/10 gallons. Teaspoons?????
so a question then from me on this very old thread...i have a ten gallon with a 3 inch yoyo loach, med. algae eater, cherry barb and danio and I just added two bumble bee goby's two days ago...i want to make sure there is enough salt for the goby's (i think a female and a male) so I bought a (floating) hydrometer and it's showing barely more than 1.000. i add the "regular" amount of 1 tblsp. per 5 gallons prior to the goby's. should I be at 1.014 -19 for the goby's or will that kill the other fish?
It is not good practice to mix BW and FW fish. One condition or the other is best. Keep the FW fish without salt, and the BW gobies with marine mix.
What "regular amount"? There is no such thing.
annstack
05-14-2006, 7:41 AM
The "regular" amount shown on the side of the aquarium salt package for general purposes (1 tablespoon per 5 gallons)
Please read:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/water/salt.html
Don;t believe everything LFS staff tells you (especially if it involved a purchase), nor eveything that you read on product labels. Both of those things can be bad for your tank.
annstack
05-14-2006, 3:42 PM
I was also listening to my brother in law who has FW experience and currently doing SW regarding adding salt to the tank. However my problem is that the goby's were in fresh water with "a little" per the LSF dude salt in the water ( I should have asked exactly how much) and I only have one tank ATM so I need to make sure that all involved fish continue to live. I could have had a 45 gallon with stand delivered tomorrow but I'm a moron and declined so now I have to solve above problem.