Salinity

[Duncan]

Hi guys. I once again need your wise advice! Okay so I'm getting a figure 8 puffer for my brackish tank. this tank is 15 gallons. My questions are- how much salt must I add to the tank if the SG fo the puffer is 1:008? How much salt must I add every 2 weeks when doing 50% water changes? Help would be appreciated! I did research but was unsuccessful. Oh , Oh, I I want to try do this without expensive equipment. Thanks guys.

[RTR]

F-8s do not need that much salt. Why 1.008? I would keep the tank at 1.005 max. 1.003-1.005 is their optimum range IME.

You cannot judge salt mix by weight or volume. It is highly hydroscopic (absorbs moisture from the air), so gets heavier every time the "dry" mix is exposed to air. You have to guestimate from your own experience and fine-tune after i is fully dissolved but before adding it to the tank..

[Pufferpunk]

For a rough estimate, it takes about 1 cup of marine salt/5g, to raise the SG .005. I wouldn't raise it more than .001-.002/week though.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19348

[Duncan]

Thanks, but will that work for a 15 gallon? Because then I could slowly add a little bit at a time until I get a SG of 0:005 and then during 50% water changes place half a cup of salt in the the new water I use to replace the 50% I took out. Will this work?

[Iliveinazoo]

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

[Duncan]

Sorry, I dont have a Mac.

[Iliveinazoo]

Sorry, I dont have a Mac.

You don't need a Mac to run the program, there's a windows and Linux download also?

[My HD PVR]

well PP what your saying can be correct about the 5g thing... but i have a different problem, i added about 3 and a half cups of salt my first time... that was dumb, because i guess my salt is very powerful? and now to get my 1.004-1.005 effect i use a cup and ahalf of marine salt...

[Pufferpunk]

That's why I always say, roughly. All salt is different. To keep my 29g at 1.005, when doing 50% WC, it took 1 3/4 cups of salt to replace what I had removed.