Salt Level

[cdawson]

I'm having alot of trouble with my salt levels in my new 50g tank I filled the tank up when I got it cycled it, however I put in the salt. When I drained it and re-filled it (leaving only an inch of water) I then filled it back up and again added a tablespoon of salt per 10 gallons. That's when I realized that my hydrometer was a piece of garbage it showed 1.019. It's a corallife deepsix, I went out today to replace the hydrometer with a floating hydrometer (see post "floating hydrometer). it just floated around at 1.000, I then added another two cups of salt, it now says it's 1.021. It also says my 10g tank with 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons is 1.19 as well. the same reading. I don't understand, I let the hydrometer sit for 24 hours in water and then used it. Is there anything I can do to reset it so I can get proper readings? I need to get this tank ready, I've got fish on the way (being shipped) and I can't afford a new floating hydrometer right now! or could someone tell me what level this would be without a hydrometer till I can afford one?!

[Pufferpunk]

What kind of fish are you getting? You need to find out what salinity the place you're getting them from have been keeping these fish. Then I can probably give you a guesstimate on how much salt to add. Sorry you're having so much trouble, it seems like you're really trying to make things as natural & right for you fish as you can. Keep up the good work!

[cdawson]

I have a green spotted puffer in what i guess would be between 1.012-1.014... As i said the hydrometer is garbage. im also getting 2 mono argentus juveniles. i have 44 lbs of silica sand in a 55gal (i know how big monos get and im going to make up for it)
i think tha salt level should be between 1.014-1.016

[goldfish freak]

How much salt did you put in the tank originally before you drained it and refilled it? If you added the same amount of salt that you did when you refilled it, plus the 2 cups, you should not have anywhere near an SG of 1.019. It takes about 10 cups of salt to result in a specific gravity of 1.014 in approximately 35 gallons of water. I own a Coralife Deep Six hydrometer as well and I find that it works fine. One thing that you have to watch out for is that there are no air bubbles stuck to the swinging arm that gives you the reading. If there are you will get a false reading every time. Do you still have the deep six? If so give a try again after adding the appropriate amount of salt. What I find works well to avoid bubbles is to fill it up in the water you are testing , pour out the water , then repeat this once more. Fill it up once again, but this time lower it into the water slowly so that it fills up slowly. I find that if I do this procedure that I will usually not get any air bubbles sticking to the swing arm. This unfortunately is a little problem that you have to deal with with these type of hydrometers.

[cdawson]

it's funny that you say that about still having the deep six, I almost lost it the same way I lost the other hydrometer. I dropped it off my stand and lost a little corner off of it but it shouldn't affect the reading because it should have nothing to do with the lever or the water running in. I see what your saying about trying a few times because I've had proper readings before just not frequently. Thanks for the help, I added when first filling the tank up about 4 tablespoons of salt, then emptying to about 1 inch of water. I then re-filled and added 4 tablespoons of seachem brackish salt. I then (after thinking the salt level was way too high) emptied about 25 gallons of water, refilled with freshwater and then added aprox. 3 cups of salt. So i should have a reading of about approximately 1.10 then right?

[cdawson]

should the lever go up to the gravity level then go back down to the bottom or should it go up to the gravity level and stay there until you empty the water out? so far, no air bubbles. same reading. 1.019. Could my hydrometer be off by 5 points or so? How can I be sure my hydrometer is even getting right readings? When I had the floating hydrometer it wasn't much help either it just stayed at 1.000. I should have at least 3 cups of salt in the tank so I should at least get a reading of 1.010 or 1.011 shouldn't I?

[goldfish freak]

Is that 4 tablespoons of salt per gallon that you added, or 4 table spoons to the whole tank? If it is 4Tbsp/g then I would estimate that after you removed and added the water, then added the 3 cups of salt that you would now have approximately 9 cups of salt in your water. If not then would have just over 3 cups of salt. If you have 9 cups of salt then you should be around an SG of 1.010 or maybe a point or two lower. I don't remember how much salt I used it acheive an SG of 1.010. If you have just over 3 cups of salt your SG will be alot lower. The lever should go up to the specific gravity level and stay there. If you are sure that the hydrometer is not broken anywhere on or around the lever or where it fills up with water, then you might just have a defective unit. Myself and others have used this particular hydrometer with sucess.

[Pufferpunk]

To see if your hydrometer is accurate, why don't you take it to your lfs & test their SW with it, against their hydrometer.

[cdawson]

I added 4 tablespoons to the tank (like the lfs , which I now know is dumb. they keep scats in that). I should right now have around 3 cups of salt in the tank. the coral life deep six doesn't register anything lower than 1.010 so if I only have 3 cups in the tank I don't even have enough to register on it. how many more cups should I add to get a specific gravity of 1.014? All I need to know is how many cups per 10 gallons to get that gravity level.

[goldfish freak]

One problem with not owning a hydrometer is that you never know exactly what your specific gravity is. You cannot rely on measured quantities of salt. Readings of specific gravity will change using measured amounts of salt depending on the amount of moisture in the salt. If you live or keep your salt in a humid enviroment the amont of moisture in your salt can be considerable. The more moisture your salt contains the lower the specific gravity you will have. I measure amounts of salt when I mix water and fortunately I find that the amount of salt I require is the same everytime. I am speculating that the reason this is because I keep my salt sealed in a tight fitting bucket in and in a non-humid location, I also seal the bucket immediately after I take out the required amount of salt. I would approximate that in order to produce a specific gravity of 1.014 in your tank, that you would need 14 cups of salt, assuming that your 50 gallon tank actually holds 50 gallons of water. It may hold several gallons less depending on the inner measurments of your tank, amount of gravel, rocks, decorations, fish, etc. Basically anything you place in the tank will displace water. Estimate how many gallons you have and multiply by 0.286 in order to get the amount of salt you need. This is figure produces a specific gravity of 1.014 in my water.

[cdawson]

well I would say that there would be about 46 gallons of actual water, so say around 11 cups of salt is required I'm going to just go and buy a sea chem hydrometer. I've got my GSP in the tank now who i acclimated to 3 cups of salt. What should I do to add the extra 7 cups with him in there? Should I add a cup everyday over two weeks till I get my monos? in not then how? Someone needs to write a faq on this , maybe I'll try my take after all this hassle is done and over with. Also I know that monos while young can handle lower salinity should I wait till I get the monos. The monos are VERY small (about 2 inches) and still very young.

[goldfish freak]

I think you should add the rest of the salt over a longer period than two weeks, in order to avoid stressing the nitrfying bacteria. Rapid changes in salinaty while harm beneficial bacteria. It may also stress you fish. I would increase the level of salt until you reach the desired amount, over a period of 2 or 3 months. Add 2 tablespoons per da and you should reach a specific of 1.014 in 11 weeks. You could also do it over a period of 7 weeks by adding 3 tablespoons per day, but I would take it slow.

[cdawson]

thanks goldfishfreak, I really want to get this right the first time. I've been looking for mono argentus for a LONG time and apparently in vancouver they are very rare. I had some archers on hold as well but the LFS took very poor care of them and the last one I had on hold kicked the bucket.

[goldfish freak]

You are welcome Cdawson, I am glad that you want to do what is best for your fish :) . You could wait until you get the monos, to increas the specific gravity. Do you know what specific gravity the monos at the LFS are in? If it is lower or higher than what your 50 gallon tank is at, then you are going to need to get them adjusted to the specific gravity that your water is currently at or adjust the specific gravity of your water to match what they are in at the LFS. Are you planning on quarantining the monos before you put them in your 50 gallon with your puffer? I sure hope so, or you are running the risk of introducing disease to your tank.

I was wondering what you meant when you said, "I know how big monos get and I'm going to make up for it". :confused:

[cdawson]

I meant that I'll be getting a 150 gallon reef tank within the next year. I know it's a big project, but I like to do things that'll take up more time than money =)

[cdawson]

also , without a quarantine tank what can I do to make sure no diseases are spread into my tank? I WILL have a quarantine tank...just two months too late. This kind of thing concerns me being that I've seen a few dead stonefish in the tank with the monos.

[goldfish freak]

I am glad you will be getting a 150 gallon tank for the monos, they will need it. To my knowledge there is little you can do to avoid spreading disease if you do not quarantine your fish. I would not take that risk, especially since you have found dead fish in the tank with the monos. That is a pretty good sign that there is something undesireable in the water. Since the monos are quite small you can simply buy a 20 gallon tank with a cheapo lid and put the tank on the floor if you don't have any other surface that will safely support about 200 pounds. Even a 10 gallon would be fine if your not geeting more than 4. You will not need anything else besides a filter and possibly an air stone. You can get a bare 20 gallon tank, a large sponge filter and an air pump and stone for cheap. It will probably only cost you $80, less if you buy the tank used. Heck, I have a used Aquaclear "Mini" and a "200", as well as a medium sized sponge filter and an air pump that I can sell to you for cheap if you want.

[goldfish freak]

I don't see why mono argentus would be so rare in Vancouver, they are not uncommon here in Toronto. Getting these fish to there should be just as easy as getting them to here. Do you have a Big Al's or PJ's pet centres in Vancouver? I have seen argentus on several occasions in bothe stores, especially Big Al's. If you have either of these stores around you, then you can ask them to order some for you, I know that they will order fish for customers.

[cdawson]

big al's here isn't very good, they have only one wall of marine, and there's only about 20 tanks that have anything other than cichlids,guppies, mollys, angels,tetras, gouramis,barbs, and discus. They DO have some mono argentus, they're already adults a

[cdawson]

big al's here isn't very good, they have only one wall of marine, and there's only about 20 tanks that have anything other than cichlids,guppies, mollys, angels,tetras, gouramis,barbs, and discus. They DO have some mono argentus, they're already adults and are in the tank with the sharks (white tip reefs sharks and nurse shark). Other than that the only place I've seen anything brackish is the LFS close to my house who has figure 8's and silver scats.