Brackish Aquariums

[archerman22]

So I just read another post that you cannot use "aquarium" salt to set up a brackish tank. I've been dooped then. When I first got my dragon goby, the guy at the fish store told me that it should be fine as long as I just doubled the amount that it says on the carton. I did that, but if this really isn't healthy and doesn't work then would someone please fill me in. I would like my goby to live for a little longer than a year.

[TKOS]

Aquarium Salt is a bit more complex than regular table salt but still lacks most of what truely makes up brackish water. Brackish water is a mix of fresh and salt water. So really you need to buy marine salt mix, the same stuff used for saltwater tanks. And get a Hydrometer or other device to measure the SG or specific gravity of the water. The SG should change more than 0.002 per couple of days to allow the fish to adjust easily. I don't know how brackihs gobies liek the water but probably on the higher side, say around 1.010 SG (a google search might come up with a better number).

[BeelzeBob]

just as a general guess, it sounds like you're doin a lot of your pet shopping at a place like petsmart.
these places suck when it comes to fish, and most of the information that their employees will provide you with is just bull.
i would try your best to use these places only for supplies and such, and try to find a local LFS to utilize for information.

[archerman22]

Actually, the guy who told me that was from a Jack's Aquarium and Pets. I thought that he would know what he was talking about and it is really my fault, I should have just got the instant ocean salt in the first place. The only reason that I used the "aquarium" salt is cause I already had some so I wanted to save money. The employee actually said that is would probably be best to use instant ocean, but he also said, as previously stated that "I could use the "aquarium" salt just double the dosage. Anywhoo, I will be going within the next few days and getting some ocean salt.

[Dragon Queen]

A good Hydrometer is Instant Ocean here (http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19281;category_id=1569;pcid 1=3233;pcid2=) it has enough range for the brack tanks. Most of the others arround start at higher salinities than brack.

[archerman22]

I actually did buy the instant ocean hydrometer on the 26th. I would have gotten the cheaper Deep Six hydrometer but like you said it started around 1.016 SG and I figured that I should probably go for one that is better for my fish not my wallet. My girlfriend is supposed to be bringing me some instant ocean salt today so hopefully my dragon goby will be happy/ier in about a week. The funny thing is that I tested the waters SG right now since I had used "aquarium" salt to turn it brackish and it said the water was at 1.004, I guess that even if I was able to make the water up to say 1.010 with aquarium salt it wouldn't have the right minerals and things for brackish fish. Anyway that's all I had to say, except what exactly should the water SG be at for dragon gobies?

[cherrypie]

Somewhere around 1.005-1.008 should be adequate, the minerals will balance out over time as you remove old water and add new brackish water via water changes, just avoid changing SG too dramatically with any one water change.