Questions on raising salinity and test-kits

[pixiefish]

Hi everyone - I've not been on for an age but need a little advice. We've had our GSP since September and I've been slowly raising salt since getting him. The lfs was keeping them in only about 1tsp p/gal and now I have him at 1.008.
Could someone advise me as to when to switch to SW testers? At what point salinity do FW kits cease to be effective?
My worry is that with his last water change (day before y'day) I raised the salt from 1.006-1.008; today he is looking rather dark and I am worried that I may have bumped the cycle. My API FW kit is reading zero for ammonia but at this point I imagine it will no longer be accurate. Do I need a SW tester at this salinity now? Also, is .002 too much of an increase in one go or not?
Many thanks in advance, Pixie

[KIONG]

pixie!, I don't think 0.002's alot. this fishes in the wild swims straigh from marine to brackish water then fresh to breed. .002 he might handle. tt's IMO. but to be safe, do like a 10 or lesss WC. it might help remove the undetected ammonia too.

abt the switch in test kits, I cant help. Maybe brackish expert could, i got alot of queries in brackish too

[Agnate]

Two things:

1) I don't believe you need a SW testing kit until a little higher in SG (maybe around 1.012+). Wait for confirmation from someone a little more experienced, though.

2) A 0.002 increase in SG is that MAX that you should increase in a 1-2 week period. If you increase the SG too quickly, you'll kill off the bacteria in your filter, and you'll cause the tank to restart the cycling process (which is not a good idea for puffers).

What are the other readings for your tank (Nitrites, Nitrates, and pH)? Just because you don't have ammonia doesn't mean there isn't a high concentration of Nitrites and Nitrates (especially if the tank was forced to cycle again). Your FW test kit should be plenty accurate for a salinity of 1.008. Often in the FW kits, the Nitrite reader is for both FW and SW, and the Nitrate tester is really only useful for making sure your tank is cycled (at the start) and then for checking the water quality to let you know if you need to do more water changes to remove those Nitrates.

[pixiefish]

Two things:

1) I don't believe you need a SW testing kit until a little higher in SG (maybe around 1.012+). Wait for confirmation from someone a little more experienced, though.

2) A 0.002 increase in SG is that MAX that you should increase in a 1-2 week period. If you increase the SG too quickly, you'll kill off the bacteria in your filter, and you'll cause the tank to restart the cycling process (which is not a good idea for puffers).

Thanks very much for replies. Yes, it was the effect of the salt on the cycle I was worried about rather than the puff. Nitrite reads zero and nitrates are 5. BUT, the API FW amm reads zero, whilst the Hagen says 1.2 Gha! The Hagen is 2 yrs old however, so I'm unsure of its reliability. I've added Prime to help detoxify any ammonia but I think I must do a w/change just to be safe. He's pretty dark and skulking behind the mangrove root. I know they cannot tolerate any ammonia or nitrite so am a little worried. I'll post back later with some Q's on salt dosage etc. Many thanks for now.

[pixiefish]

Just bought a new Tetra ammonia test: 0.0
Hagen nitrite : palest trace.
nitrate: 5
PH : 8.0

He is eating well but still looking very dark. Is that trace of nit enough to cause this?
One other thing I forgot to mention. My daughter changed his substrate the night of the large water change.

[Agnate]

Yeah, a substrate change can DEFINITELY cause a cycling of the tank. The substrate actually contains a good chunk of beneficial bacteria, and changing it out can potentially cause problems. It's likely what's causing it.

How big is your GSP?

[pixiefish]

Thanks Agnate - yes, it was crushed coral which has a lot of surface area to colonize and my little girl wanted to change it for fine black gravel.
This is annoying as he'd been doing so well. I'll have to keep on top of w/changes for the coming week to keep him comfortable.
I hate to see him so dark.

[KIONG]

AH.... Is the crushed coral previously whitish in color??

Most prob you're looking at same kind of camoflage. GSP do try to blend into the evironment sometime. using black substrate might cause him to darken his underbelly.

But do some WC just in case. I know how you feel abt the darkening of color, can be irritating and scary sometime.

[pixiefish]

AH.... Is the crushed coral previously whitish in color??

Most prob you're looking at same kind of camoflage. GSP do try to blend into the evironment sometime. using black substrate might cause him to darken his underbelly.

But do some WC just in case. I know how you feel abt the darkening of color, can be irritating and scary sometime.

Wow! How interesting - I hadn't thought of that.
I was puzzled, because apart from the palest trace of nitrite the w/chem was good. I think the nitrite-eating nitrobacters are more sensitive to salt-increase than the others, which which is why there was a slight spike. As of today all params are perfect.
Thanks so much for this info.