which salt is best and how long does it last?

[indie]

ive finally got my figure eight puffers in their own tank and im planning on raising the salinity.

Now the only question is, which salt is best? ive been looking at these:

http://www.fishandfins.co.uk/reef-salt.htm

id like to buy the reef cystals one, but is that one ok? just i think a 25kg bag must be massive and wont fit in a cupboard and the reef crystals one seems to be the only one that does smaller bags.
Also, how long will a 2kg or a 4kg bag last for in a 30gallon tank?
is it enough to last me a couple of months or so?


and i dont seem to have the answer to this question. when adding salt, i'll be premixing the salt in a bucket. so when i measure the salinity, how do i know how much salinity is needed? i know i need to raise it by 0.002 each week, but surely if i measure the salinity in the bucket to 0.002, then when it is put into the tank it will be alot less given that the tank is 30gallons? do u get me?

also, is this right for a hydrometer to do the lowest readings?

Instant Ocean sea test, Hydrometer
Accurate to +/- 0.001 Specific Gravity Units

Range from 1.000 - 1.032 specific gravity

0-40 Salinity ppt

[Goonerman1]

Hi Indie

I have just finished raising my Puffers tank to BW over the past 5 or 6 weeks. I simply mixed up my water in a bucket to 0.002 adding only hot water first to dissolve the salt and then adding the cold to take it up to the required temperature. Naturally, the water left behind in the tank after your water change will dilute this BW down when added to it but as you continue adding the salt water each week make it a little stronger each time(1.002....1.003....1.004.....1.005)and eventually the tank will be at 1.005 after about 5 weeks.

I think this is correct. I am sure someone will put me right if I am wrong but it worked ok for me. My Puff is now thriving in 1.005 water and all my water test results are spot on!!!

Like you I have a 30G tank too... When I do a water change I use approx. 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per bucket to get it up to 1.005 and I change 3 buckets. So, in total for each water change I am using 6 heaped tablespoons of salt. I have a 4KG box of salt and have not even used half the box yet, so that will give you some idea of how long it lasts.....quiet a while!!!

I hope this helped and Good luck!!!

[OraLacerta]

I have a 30G tank too... When I do a water change I use approx. 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per bucket to get it up to 0.005 and I change 3 buckets. So, in total for each water change I am using 6 heaped tablespoons of salt

Really? What size waterchange are you talking? It takes me 1/2 a cup (8 tbs) to raise a bucket (3 gallons) to approximately 1.005!

[Goonerman1]

Wow!!! well, I believe the bucket I use is a 3 gallon bucket too (not sure...just an average household bucket).... but as I said, 2 heaped tablespoons takes it to 1.005 for me ....and I am using a refractometer for my readings so I am guessing it's an accurate reading?????

Here is a pic of my reading....I am presuming that I am reading this correct as 1.005(or just a fraction under)....yes????

perhaps we have big mouths here in the U.K. and our tablespoons are bigger than yours!!

[indie]

hi goonerman,

once uve raised the salinity to the correct level,how do u then know how much salt to add to keep it the same? presumably less than wot u would initially add to keep raising it?

or is it trial an error to know how much to put in the bucket to raise the salinity level in the tank?

[Goonerman1]

Well once the tank has reached 1.005 you simply make sure that your buckets that you replace with when doing a water change are 1.005 and all should stay level

[Myaj]

To keep it the same, the easiest way is to mix up your replacement water at the same salinity.

So if your tank is at 1.020, mix up your replacement water to be 1.020. It might take a little math or tweaking (add a little salt, add a little water), but that's the easy part.

Keep track of what it took to raise it, so you know. For example, a half cup of Instant Ocean is supposed to make one gallon of full saltwater at 1.024. So far that's been pretty accurate for me, though I still test. If I wanted 1.012, I would use a quarter cup per gallon. If I wanted 1.006, an eighth of a cup per gallon... and since I can't remember how many tablespoons are in a cup, that's as far as I'm going with the math, but you get the idea, right?

[indie]

so does it work out differently from when the tank has no salt to when its at the correct level?

what i mean is when u start raising the salinity initially, the .002 will dilute massively in a tank with no salt.
so when its at the desired level, a bucket with .010 for example would continue to match that in the tank without it diluting right?

[indie]

i guess it;ll all become alot clearer when i actually start doing it, its just the whole dilution thing is a bit confusing.
just cos .002 in a bucket wont be .002 in a 30 gallon tank will it?

[Goonerman1]

No it won't be the same UNTIL your tank is raised to 1.005. Then when you take out a bucket of water during a water change you are simply replacing it with a fresh bucket of 1.005 water so everything should remain the same in the tank

[jacknife]

My LFS said to start with 15g of salt per litre of water. I use that to mix new water and it gives me a SG of around 1.010. Hope that helps.

[Pufferpunk]

As far as witch salt to use--find the cheapest marine salt you can find for your BW tank. No reason to use salt meant for a reef tank. Instant Ocean or a like salt, is fine.

[indie]

thanks everyone for ur advice! been really helpful! finally un-confused me! ha.

well i ordered the 'reef crystals' off the internet as i could buy them in a 2kg bag and see how i get on. so should be raising the salinity some time early next week. yipee!

thanks again everyone, you're all so helpful

[RachelS]

I get Instant Ocean from a really good guy on Ebay. Paid £20 (8kg) yesterday and it arrived this morning. As a rough guide, my sg is at 1.013 and it takes 2 large heaped cappuccino cups to maintain this so a bag lasts me around 6 weeks (60L water change weekly)

Once it hits marine (no rush), if it's taking 4 cups and probably bigger water changes as the fish grows, I'll have to buy the 25kg tubs (seen it at just over £40) or experiment with live rock and a skimmer to decrease the amount of water I'm changing. Obviously this won't be an issue with F8s