Salinity Tips
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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chevrolet67impala
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:55 am
- My Puffers: 1 Green Spotted Puffer
- Location: San Francisco, California
Salinity Tips
I'm treating my GSP for Ick, and I purchased some marine salt...He's been in fresh water for the entire time i've had him. How much salt should I add progressively per gallon? Thanks...
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Agnate
- Former Staff Member
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(Captain Abe) - Location: Ontario, Canada
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Re: Salinity Tips
Head back to the store and pick up a Hydrometer or Refractometer if you don't already have one. For me, about 1/4 cup of marine salt per 2 gallons gives me an SG of about 1.008 (fresh water should be 1.000), and you can ONLY raise your SG by 0.002 per week (otherwise you'll crash the tank's biological filter), so you'll have to figure out how much you need based on that. Basically, you're going to need the Hydrometer, hehe.
Just make sure you pre-mix the salt in a bucket before you add it to the tank. This ensures that all of the salt is dissolved and that it will distribute more evenly throughout the tank.
Just make sure you pre-mix the salt in a bucket before you add it to the tank. This ensures that all of the salt is dissolved and that it will distribute more evenly throughout the tank.
Did our staff successfully help you? The Puffer Forum is an incredible resource and is run completely on the donations of its viewers. Proceeds from the Puffer Forum store go towards future contests and keeping the site running. Donations may also be made via PayPal.
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
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Re: Salinity Tips
Don't forget to use all the methods recommended for treating ich--heat & large water changes, every other day. You can up your salt to 1.004 by the end of the week if necessary, without worry about your biological filtration.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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chevrolet67impala
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:55 am
- My Puffers: 1 Green Spotted Puffer
- Location: San Francisco, California
Re: Salinity Tips
Thanks for all the tips, but my poor puffer fish didn't make it...
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Jase
- Mbu Puffer
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- My Puffers: RIP Hootey :(
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- Location: Montana
Re: Salinity Tips
aw, sorry to hear that. 
-Jase
edmlfc1 wrote:A house without a puffer is not a home.
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chevrolet67impala
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:55 am
- My Puffers: 1 Green Spotted Puffer
- Location: San Francisco, California
Re: Salinity Tips
me too...
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Agnate
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1203
- Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:44 pm
- My Puffers: -
1 Abei Puffer [Monotrete Abei]
(Captain Abe) - Location: Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Re: Salinity Tips
Sorry for your loss...
Did our staff successfully help you? The Puffer Forum is an incredible resource and is run completely on the donations of its viewers. Proceeds from the Puffer Forum store go towards future contests and keeping the site running. Donations may also be made via PayPal.
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)