How much salt...?

[Silverfox91429]

How much salt would you put in a 30 gallon to make it brackish?

Does it matter how much salt you put for different brackish species or is it the same for all brackish fish?

 

[Lycanthropic]

hmm... thats a toughie. Are there fish allready in the tank? Beacuse if so, I suggest a move of .002 gravity per/ 2 weeks.
Mine was more of a guess when I started up mine.... I had no fish in it so I played around with the salt until I got it where I like it.

 

[jpappy789]

What SG are you shooting for?

How salty should I make it?

Well, that depends on what you want to keep. Many brackish water fish will do fine in a SG as low as 1.005. This is considered low-end brackish. Many common fish such as most gobies and figure-8 puffers will do fine for the entirety of their lives at the low end of the spectrum. This is a bonus if you want to keep plants as well, since most plants that tolerate brackish only do so at the low end of the spectrum. Other species, such as Ceylon puffers and Columbian sharks, will require low to mid end brackish as juveniles and move on to high-end or even full marine as adults. The particular requirements of your specific livestock will help you determine what your target salinity should be. Research and double-check your information well before starting the tank to ensure that your species are compatible and that you are willing and able to provide the proper habitat.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=2052750

 

[krytan]

Don't add the salt directly to the tank. Make up your water to the sg you want in a bucket first then add that to the tank, keep doing this until you get to the sg you want.
What type of salt are you using?

 

[Rythic]

What I've been doing for my skipper tank is pre-mixing the salt in a gallon milk jug, then I have an empty milk jug that I drain the water in the tank into, then I put the new water in the tank. I have been doing this once a week and it is working good. So I'm doing an exact gallon water change every week to get the salinity I want. To me it's a little easier to do that way. Then again I dont have a tank full of water so that may or may not work for you.

 

[Silverfox91429]

the fish we have was sold to us as freshwater, so we were going to gradually add in salt dissolved in water (instant ocean marine salt), but we didn't know how much sat makes it brackish.
(Tank is a temporary home for a violet goby)

 

[krytan]

I would only raise the sg by .002 every day or two so you don't kill off your bacteria.

 

[Twistersmom]

You are going to need a hydrometer to measure salt gravity, but to just give you a ball park figure, my low end brackish tank, I add around 3 tablespoons salt per 10 gallons water.
As already stated, you will want to slowly add this salt, so you do not harm your cycle.
Research and new fish, all brackish fish can not be housed together, some prefer higher and lower salt levels.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I would only raise the sg by .002 every day or two so you don't kill off your bacteria.

More like every week or 2. Rough estimate is a little under 1/2 cup of marine salt/5g will raise the SG around .002. Don't raise it more than that per week. Aim for a SG of around 1.005 for the violet goby.