How to increase pH?

I had to switch their tank since their other tank which was plactic was leaking and I used the same filter from that tank. I read somewhere here that adding a teaspoon of salt per gallon will help decrease the nitrite and nitrate levels and also doing water changes daily would help. I was told by the lady at the fish store where I bought the ghost catfish that they only grew about 1- 1 1/2 inches and also keeping 1 or 2 was fine. I will be returning the catfish tomorrow.

I now have only 3 mollies since the other one, I believe, had swim bladder problems.
 
after doing some research, it seems that all you need max is a tiny portion of a teaspoon of salt in the whole tank. Now I'm interested - there might be a thread on this tomorrow. Until then, save some money and stop adding salt.
 
MollyFan1 said:
wataugachicken, I just added two today. They are called glass (ghost)cat fish. Will these be okay in brackish water?
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If I remember right, glass cats are also scaleless fish and so I think salt would be a bad idea for them at least in higher amounts and over a long period of time. They are also not going to do well in a brightly lit tank so you are going to have to find a way to give them some 'shade' in the tank if you want to see them more often. They should really be kept in a group of five or more and even if you think that they look fine in just a pair, they really can get stressed out about not having enough friends, so to speak, and that is going to lead to other big problems down the road.

As for the brackish idea, you really do not need to keep mollies in brackish water at all and it will not hurt them in a very big way. They are actully a saltwater fish that has the ability to acclimate themselves to brackish water and then to freshwater. This is a rare case where it wont really matter to them at all, unlike fish like some puffers that need freshwater when they are young but will suffer if not put in brackish water as adults.

Besides, like was pointed out before, brackish water tanks are not just water with any old type of salt, they really need to have marine salts since they have the trace minerals/elements that regular salt does not have. So, you would incur higher costs from buying the right salt as well as having to keep a hydrometer or refractometer so that you can monitor the salinity. I believe that true brackish water has a salinity/spacific gravity of around 1.010, which is must closer to salt water than it is to freshwater.

I also wanted to point out that if you are going to dose aquarium salts (which many people feel is not needed and wrong in many ways, while others feel it is benificial) you need to only dose 1 tablespoon per every 5 gallons for regular cases but when there are scaleless fish in a tank, the dose has to max out at 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons. The one spoon per gallon, even if it is a teaspoon is too much and your scaleless fish like the cory cats and probrably the glass cats are going to be irritated.

Lastly, it is VERY important for you to realize two things...your tank is not cycled yet and so you shouldnt be putting any more fish into it until the ammonia and nitrite levels are always at 0 and the nitrates are as low as possible. The only good way to get rid of nitrates is through water changes, but the others will be 'transformed' into nitrates on their own. Ammonia and nitrites are very toxic to fish in low amounts so you need to focus on how well your fish are doing and base water changes on that for now. Mollies are tough enough to acclimate to saltwater but also to poor water parameters so that is why they can usually make it. The other fish probrably cannot take it that well.

The other thing you need to keep in mind is that salt is going to stay in the water all the time and the tank will get more and more salty as water evaporates and you add more water and more salt. The only way to get the salt out is to do a water change really so you should be careful not to over dose the tank with any type of salt until you have a way to measure the salinity.
 
For now, would it be okay to move the ghost cat fish to a temporary place while I return them? They both seem to be swimming very rapidly.

I feel like such a dummy now...
 
I really appreciate all the helpful information. I'm planning on returning the catfish tomorrow as they already seemed stressed out of the aquarium salt that was already added. The mollies seem to be doing fine but that's just a visual observation. Before I was adding just 1 teaspoon for 5 gallons but I read on another thread that adding a teapoon of aquarium salt per gallon will help decrease the nitrite and nitrate levels. The ammonia level is fine. I do plan on getting a bigger aquarium in a few months or less.

Thank you all so much for information.
 
MollyFan1 said:
For now, would it be okay to move the ghost cat fish to a temporary place while I return them? They both seem to be swimming very rapidly.

I feel like such a dummy now...
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Dont feel like a dummy since some one at the LFS should have asked what your tank is set up like and known that they are better off in groups of five or so. It is a mistake that I am sure most of us made before and probrably still make from time to time.

What do you have in mind as far as a temporary place to put them? I wouldnt put them in a bowl or anything that isnt heated or filtered. You could try to do a 50% water change if you really feel that it is the salt that is bothering them. Otherwise, turn off the tank's lights and give them some place to hide real quick. If you have fake plants in your tank, just put them all together in a bunch in one area of the tank so that they can have a place to hide in the more dense fake plants.
 
don't feel like a dummy! just read the forums - there are lots of people needing answers and asking for help. i hope i didn't sound harsh, already dealt with some guppies in a fishbowl tonight. way worse than the very common and misunderstood problem of salt in freshwater. also, don't trust fish store employees right away, they are always trying to sell you fish and most just plain don't know anything other than "how much is that one?" do your research first, then go in and ask questions. if you like their answers, then they are good people. if you don't, then you know you have to rely on yourself and not them.

also, the salt doesn't decrease the levels but makes them less toxic. it is easier for the fishes' gills to absorb the chloride in salt rather than the toxic nitrite. if there is more chloride (from the salt) in the water than there is nitrite (in parts per million) then your fish will not be harmed. i learned all that just now looking around for answers to your situation! maybe the hardest part is knowing what to look for.
 
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MollyFan1 said:
I really appreciate all the helpful information. I'm planning on returning the catfish tomorrow as they already seemed stressed out of the aquarium salt that was already added. The mollies seem to be doing fine but that's just a visual observation. Before I was adding just 1 teaspoon for 5 gallons but I read on another thread that adding a teapoon of aquarium salt per gallon will help decrease the nitrite and nitrate levels. The ammonia level is fine. I do plan on getting a bigger aquarium in a few months or less.

Thank you all so much for information.
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I would be very leery of any advice that states one thing or another can rid your tank of nitrites or nitrates. True, some may do it and work well, but salt isnt one of them. If it is too good to be true, then it usually is. If salt worked that way, then there would never be any nitrates or nitrites in a saltwater tank. Besides, right now the most you want to do is partial water changes to keep the nitrite levels just below what will stress your fish since you will need them to gain more of the bacteria that will turn them into nitrates so the 'quick fix' is actually just quickly slowing down your cycling process.
 
I hope once I get the hang of fishes and how to keep them in a safe environment I'll be able to give out good advice one day, lol.

I actually was planning on putting them in a bowl with warm water and rocks to relieve them of stress. I will do a 50 percent water change again without adding any aquarium salt and just add in the prime. There are plenty of real and fake plants already in the tank. I know now that I can't trust what most people tell me at the fish stores.
 
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