The Puffer Forum

Or dry out what you dont want and it can be used as food staple for other fish

Woo Hoo another convert!!

Psh, I can tell you converts out to wazoo. If you want to know pm me or IM me but I do warn you. You will need time to read it all, lol.

Java ferns will do well also - you've got a long time before you reach full strength sea water. Full-strength SW is 35 ppt; I started mine at 1 ppt and am about 8 ppt now.

As long as you keep the levels of nutrients high enough and enough CO2 it should be more then perfect for a few plants (got Vals in f8 tank.)

Ok...so 2 questions; a good hydrometer for BW, and are there any plants that are sold specifically for BW?

They Hydrometers I saw for sale were scaled more for SW, and on one model the high end BW were the lowest readings.

keep looking for a low end BW hydrometer, or invest in a refractometer. THere are no BW plants per se, but java mass and java fern have worked on low end BW for many of us here.

I know when I kept Scats and Monos while in college about 12 years ago, there were plants that you could 'acclimate' but I never had success. The old plastic ones seemed to work for the fish then. I'll keep my eyes peeled for a hydrometer.

I'll second the refractometer suggestion.

http://www.drsforstersmith.com has their refractometer on sale for 42.99 + free shipping for orders over $60. They also have a nice description of how they work and a picture of the view through the eyepiece.

I use a salinity meter only because, well, ahem, I borrow one from work. YSI makes some nice ones. I like their YSI 85 which has a multi-probe and does D.O. as well, but they are about $980 discounted, so put that on your list of "equipment to buy when I hit the Lottery". Old analog YSI salinity meters, such as their model 33 - (used by state fisheries departments, federal agencies, and universities). show up on ebay and sell cheap (under $25) but beware - I haven't seen one in actual working condition and YSI factory service will no longer work on these as parts are no longer available. We have a small pile of them at our hatchery.

Look for the Instant Ocean or SeaTest hydrometers.

BW plants would best be mangroves.

I'll check some of the other LFS; the chains want about $12-14 for them; I'll have to check my brewing hydrometer and see what the range on it is

That hydrometer will be calibrated for different temps. You can always order it from http://www.bigalsonline.com. That's where I get most of my aquarium stuff.

Ok, the was to show it wasn't serious, since I was sure either the range or degree of measure would be off. I'll check.

Thanks