HELP. How much salt do I add to a 10 gal. tank?

[sevenyearnight]

It's not even tablespoons, he just added teaspoons, so only 1\3 of what you had added. You are also totaly right that it doesn't have the proper amount of minerals, no guaranteed analysis. I believe it even says on the box that it is for freshwater fish only.
It's basically an expensive box of rock salt.

Capt Dorsal fin, PufferPunk is completely right about Petsmart's terrible advice. I worked for petsmart when I was still attending school, their training is angled to make sales, and a lot of their advice they are required to give, some of it could even be dangerous. Some of them know that it's not good advice, they would sometimes even phrase it as, "Petsmart requires me to say...." while rolling their eyes lol, but most of them don't know any better.

Why it was so important to answer the "what kind of salt question" was for that reason, because Petsmart and other places are notorious for advising on "aquarium salt", and because there is no guaranteed analysis on it. Also, to at least determine that it wasn't table salt with anti-caking agents you were speaking of; you may know better, but with just saying "salt", there was no way to know for sure. The marine salts are also not the same, and one brand to another can differ on what amount to use to obtain a target salinity.

It was probably very frustrating for you that everyone was answering your question with questions, and it probably seemed pretty convenient that Petsmart gave you a definitive and easy answer. But they advised you wrong, they are trained to do so, most of them don't know any better, and they mean no harm, but it's still wrong.

But as mentioned, don't worry about the salt for now. Brackish water can be more difficult to cycle, it's better to raise the SG later.

You can trust the advice given here, no one is trying to sell you anything, and everyone has your puffer's best interest in mind. And if you want to know how they know, check out the staff bios: viewtopic.php?f=37&t=4806

[Iliveinazoo]

Here is a brackish calculator, I've never used it though:

http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Programs/brackcalc.html

As stated on the page the salinity should always be checked with a hydrometer or refractometer.

Large changes in salinity (over .002 as a rule) will kill your nitrifying bacteria and you will have to cycle your tank all over again.

Good luck keeping that fish alive.

[greenspottedlover]

yah the thing I do like about petsmart is there prices. There advice is terrible though so its usually worth paying more, unless you know exactly what you want. I like a deal, but lately I've been finding myself buying from LFS's that have healthy pets and good help but have more expensive equipment. than big chains that don't really care about your pets.

[Capt Dorsal Fin]

Cycling actually has nothing to do with salt. A cycled tank has certain types of beneficial bacteria in it. Fish produce ammonia which is very toxic however there is a type of bacteria that converts it to nitrites. Nitrites are still very toxic so another type of bacteria converts the nitrites to nitrates. Nitrates are still toxic but much less so compared to the others. We have to remove nitrates by doing water changes.

A cycled tank has the appropriate bacteria in it so you'll never see ammonia or nitrites. This is healthy for the fish. Is there any way you can pick up some liquid test kits? From the sounds of it your tank is not cycled and this is very dangerous for your puffer. Please do a water change as soon as you can and pick up those test kits You could also try taking some water to a fish store and have them test it. If you do that then make sure they are using liquid test kits and that you get the numbers and don't just take their word that it's 'fine'. The only problem with this is that you have no guarantee that they're performing the tests correctly and therefore you don't know if you're getting legitimate readings

ETA: Please read these two pages, the should help you out. I can point out more later when you're ready to learn more
library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/
library/water-filtration/waterfiltration/

One thing I don't understand is, I was always told (and not from Petsmart, but from other Fish Stores), that you shouldn't do 100% water changes, because the tank needs to build up bacteria. When reading this article, it talked about emergency cycling and doing 75%-100% water changes each day? How is that going to give bacteria a chance to build up? Isn't there such a thing as good bacteria? And, sorry if this is TMI, but, it's kind of like a woman's "area"- if you mess with the PH level too much, you have an issue... there is bacteria, and either too much or not enough is when there is an issue.

[Capt Dorsal Fin]

yah the thing I do like about petsmart is there prices. There advice is terrible though so its usually worth paying more, unless you know exactly what you want. I like a deal, but lately I've been finding myself buying from LFS's that have healthy pets and good help but have more expensive equipment. than big chains that don't really care about your pets.

Can you find Instant Ocean @ Petsmart? Thanks for the advice. I didn't know there was a difference between marine and aquarium salt.

[Capt Dorsal Fin]

The origin of the puffer is ambiguous. He's given vague and inconsistent information about it's origin, dodgy answers, and considering this comment,

I cycled the tank by putting in 2 teaspoons per gallon.

it would seem to be best not to assume anything, and give the best advice possible with that in mind.

That's not dodgy. I answered exactly what I did- and gave the brand. I also asked if that what cycling the tank meant. I asked questions. Can you lay off please if you're just going to berate me? I understand that you have concerns, and that you care, but I am trying to learn and take this all in. This is new for me (going from SW to BW) and that's why I came here. I'm not doing it to you, so can we please just knock it off?!
Thanks.

[sevenyearnight]

It wasn't meant to be offensive, I promise. No reason to get upset.
I'm actually considered by most to be a nice person. I totaly don't even like watermelons either.
*ducks*
How is your fish doing anyway?

[greenspottedlover]

yah the thing I do like about petsmart is there prices. There advice is terrible though so its usually worth paying more, unless you know exactly what you want. I like a deal, but lately I've been finding myself buying from LFS's that have healthy pets and good help but have more expensive equipment. than big chains that don't really care about your pets.

Can you find Instant Ocean @ Petsmart? Thanks for the advice. I didn't know there was a difference between marine and aquarium salt.

I honestly didn't know this difference know the difference till about a month before I got my puffer. Its an easy mistake and actually how I found this site, because I noticed my salt said "Fresh water aquarium salt" and thought whats different about it? Then I did a google search for "salt for Green Spotted Puffer" and found puffer forum

Yah I've seen Instant Ocean products at most Petsmarts or Petcos.

[Capt Dorsal Fin]

It wasn't meant to be offensive, I promise. No reason to get upset.
I'm actually considered by most to be a nice person. I totally don't even like watermelons either.
*ducks*
How is your fish doing anyway?

He appears to be doing quite well. Eating well, swims around, greets me at the tank every time I go there.
I am trying to decide what to do about the water change- I posted about bacteria a few posts up.
I should have his bigger tank tomorrow or thursday. Big day, as we start that process. I have never had such a big tank, so that's going to take some getting used to.
I will be picking up the other things he needs (apparently marine salt) and and the reader that has been mentioned here several times.

My dog has issues with getting bladder stones, and is on a prescription diet for life. It is a common health issue for schnauzers, and he is a schnoodle, (half schnauzer) and it's all about SG in the urine, so I do understand to a fair extent about SG. At least, it's been explained to me by a vet about SG, and how you measure it and so forth. It's different with urine, but I imagine that the science behind SG is the same. The higher the SG the more concentrated the water (or in my dog's case, his urine) is. If I'm not correct, tell me now.

[Capt Dorsal Fin]

yah the thing I do like about petsmart is there prices. There advice is terrible though so its usually worth paying more, unless you know exactly what you want. I like a deal, but lately I've been finding myself buying from LFS's that have healthy pets and good help but have more expensive equipment. than big chains that don't really care about your pets.

Can you find Instant Ocean @ Petsmart? Thanks for the advice. I didn't know there was a difference between marine and aquarium salt.

I honestly didn't know this difference know the difference till about a month before I got my puffer. Its an easy mistake and actually how I found this site, because I noticed my salt said "Fresh water aquarium salt" and thought whats different about it? Then I did a google search for "salt for Green Spotted Puffer" and found puffer forum

Yah I've seen Instant Ocean products at most Petsmarts or Petcos.

Thanks.

[Capt Dorsal Fin]

.message

[Pufferpunk]

Yes, there is good bacteria but most of it lives on surfaces, like the filter material, substrate, glass & decor, not in the water column, so doing water changes only removes the toxic wastes the fish is putting out, not any of the good bacteria.

If you're really interested:
library/water-filtration/aquariummicrobespart1/
library/water-filtration/aquariummicrobespart2/
library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/
library/water-filtration/fishlessconsiderations/

[greenspottedlover]

go to where it say edit, click it and delete the text you want to get rid of.

[Blaine]

I appologize if I was abrupt or rude but we were just trying to get to the root of things to do what's best for the fish. I appreciate that you are trying to do the best you can for your fish. Also if he was the one to insult me and my dog. You sound very reasonable and considerate.

We are not trying to bash you or berate you for your intentions....but there is a mininum standard that is necessary to keep fish from SW or BW.I may have come off as a bit intense but it was because I was trying to get this across to the post-er.

Not to belittle you but it might be best to hand off the puffer to someone more prepared to keep fish of this difficulty. Not saying that you couldn't pull it off but you need to be prepared to purchase the necessary equipment and do what's right for the fish.

If you want to keep the fish then you need to get some test kits and a hydrometer or refractometer asap (like yesterday) and some marine salt. You will have to do daily (maybe twice daily) tests on the water quality and ensure that Ammonia and Nitrite readings stay low so as not to stress the fish. It will take about a month of this before the readings stabilize and you show healthy Nitrate readings to ensure a safe environment for the fish. It will take daily water changes to keep the readings low enough to keep the fish healthy and a move to a larger tank as soon as possible (within a month or so)

Please do the suggested readings and decide what you would like to do. We are behind you and will support your decision and will try to help as best we can.

[Pufferpunk]

He is moving the fish to a 55g over this weekend, which should take care of all the cycling problems. Blaine is right though, you need to keep the puffer alive that long in an uncycled tank or none of that will matter. Only way to do that is by testing & doing appropriate water changes, accordingly.