Archived message board.
Brackish setup
Badmans Tropical Fish Message Center:
Beginner freshwater : Brackish setup
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Michael
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Wednesday,
February 20, 2002 - 06:30 pm
As many of you know I'm trying to keep my mollies allive
and well I went to the LPS for some advice and they say
that the mollies whould be better of in a brackish setup
when i asked him what he was talking about he pointed to
a section of the store there was some plants and salt and
a bunch of other stuff.( he was really busy at the time)
I went home and try to find out what he was talking about
and came up short. Can you help me again ?
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Ronnie-Sue
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Thursday,
February 21, 2002 - 08:43 am
A brackish set up is kind of part-way between fresh water
and marine. There is salt in the water, but not as much
as a marine set-up. Mollies do prefer brackish water. Add
1/2 teaspoon Freshwater Aquarium salt (not table salt,
not marine tank salt) per gallon of water. You have
to be careful of salt buildup, because salt will not evaporate
out. When you do water changes, only add as much salt as
would be for the water you've removed during the change,
not enough for the whole tank again.
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patm
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Friday,
March 08, 2002 - 11:25 pm
Yes, brackish is between fresh and marine water. However,
I tend not to judge the amount of salt to put in the tank
by teaspoons and such, as it can get risky with wierd salt
levels. I guess if you only intend to keep mollies you can
get away with it, but if you're seriously considering
a brackish setup go out and but a hydrometer, which measures
salt levels. It is simple to use and costs under 10 bucks
at your local pet store. I keep my brackish tank at about
1.010 (specific gravity). Also, you MUST make sure
you top off the tank with FRESH water if you notice some
evaporation. Don't add more salt unless you are doing
water changes or notice the salt level is lower for some
reason. Oh, and by the way, I do use the marine salt, and
I don't know why this would cause problems, as long
as you don't overdose.
Good luck,
Pat
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joycedonley
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Saturday,
March 09, 2002 - 11:59 am
I have heard of other people keeping brackish fish like
puffers and mollie that also use marine salt. If the fish
you are keeping are all brackish fish and not a mix of fresh
and brackish using marine salts should be fine.
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Anonymous
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Sunday,
March 17, 2002 - 01:27 pm
All the salts are the same..so it really doesnt matter the
marine salt is alittle higher then the others..aquarium
salt is the same as brackish livebearer salt..just a thought
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joycedonley
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Monday,
March 18, 2002 - 07:54 am
I disagree as I have read marine salts also have some trace
elements not found in regular Aquarium salt. I can do some
research on this, but it will take time. Have to check with
saltwater sites.
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G
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Monday,
March 18, 2002 - 12:36 pm
The aquarium salt we carry at my place of work is nothing
more than evaporated seawater...it even says so on the box.
In this case, I would be willing to bet that there are still
some minerals and trace elements found in it (although
probably not in as much quantity as synthetic salts where
the minerals and trace elements are added, but you never
know). From the various sources and people I've
heard from, I've never known there to be a problem with
using marine salt instead of aquarium salt or vice-versa.
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joycedonley
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Monday,
March 18, 2002 - 06:21 pm
I got the following from a site that sell marine salts.www.aquacraft.net
There is other info out there, but this is one of the trace
elements I was talking about...
"Magnesium is a major component in the composition of
synthetic seawater. At a specific gravity of 1.026/35 ppt
@ 78ºF/25ºC there is 1350 ppm of Mg. That is 3.37
times more than the amount of Calcium, 3.46 times more than
the amount of Potassium and 20.76 times more than Bromide.
Magnesium salts cost about 3 times more per pound than common
table salt. When a marine salt tests low in magnesium, the
weight can be made up by adding common table salt."
Common table salt is in fact very close to regular Aquarium
salt. G you may have some special brand at the store, but
the cheap stuff I have in a cannister does not say it's
evaporated saltwater.
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joycedonley
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Monday,
March 18, 2002 - 06:34 pm
Kent Marine also promotes their superior Sea Salts
"Considerations for use: 1) First use an excellent
grade of synthetic marine salt (of course Kent Sea Salt
is the finest available, but there are some other excellent
salts on the market). Some salts are made from evaporated
seawater and contain dead plankton and other heavy organics
that will foul the water from the beginning. Cheap salt
is no bargain!" These are some other trace elements
Kent claims to add to their products.
"calcium, strontium, iodine, iron, cobalt, rubidium,
lithium and many others."
Anyways I sure wouldn't use my cannister of tropical/goldfish
Jungle Aquarium salt in a Marine tank!
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