changing from fw to bw

mf761

Registered Member
Hi!

I want to change my Freshwater aquarium to brakish water, because i bought soem silversharks and i read in a german forum that they need brakish water when the are mature.

Are their any problems i will have to fight during the change?

I've read that i should only increase the density by 0.002 per week.
It will take me 3 weeks to change, because i want to get a density of 1.005!

What will happen then?

Except some plants dying?

I have
5 ancistrus
many guppies
2 silversharks
2 swordtail
11 Rasbora hengeli

At the end:
I've read that it is very hard to have a brakish aquarium! Is that true and if it is, why is it so?

greetings from austria
mike
 
The silver sharks will actually need higher levels of salinity as they mature, and most the other fish in there will not tolerate it--they will die. Your best bet will be to setup a bracksih tank, rather than converting your existing tank, especially if this is smaller than a 65-75 gallon tank. Adult size is 9-12 inches easily, and they are very active swimmers. They will also eat anything small enough to fit in their mouths--pretty well every other fish you have currently.

Brackish tanks require more attention in many ways, and require additional testing. Maintaining salinity requires monitoring evaporation and topping off with FW as needed. Otherwise, it's the same--regular water changes, and cleaning.

What type of salt are you using?
 
Make sure it's the Sera MARINE Salt and not the aquarium salt they make.

Their marine salt is supposed to be as good if not better than tropic marin for reef tanks.
 
I looked around, and Sera does offer a marine salt mix. It's comparable to Tropin Marin apparently, but I couldn't find it on any of the test comparison lists.
 
Because I don't think sea salt is the same as marine salt.
 
Yeah, I didn't think so either, but the sales pitches I read all were for using it for marine tank water changes. And it is listed on a few forums from people happily using it for their reef tanks. Something new every day, right? ;)
 
Good--wait another week, before raising it again.
 
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