The Puffer Forum

Hello all!

My LFS keeps their figure 8s in brackish water.
I've read and re-read articles on how to cycle a tank; fishless and fish-y.
My question is, since they are already living in brackish water; can I cycle my tank as brackish from the start? I haven't come across any information about cycling a tank as brackish from the start.

I will be getting most of the things I need to cycling tomorrow and will plan to start cycling...just thought I'd ask the experts

much thanks!
TSarasua

Do you know the SG of the LFS water. It seems that a lot of stores call their water brackish but they only add like a teaspoon per 5 gallons. Somebody the other day was told by their pet store that they add about 1/8 teaspoon per gallon...That's not even worth the effort.

No I don't know the SG of their tanks at the moment, I was planning on going over there tomorrow to pick up a few more things.
But if it was even the slightest bit brackish, could I still cycle my tank at that SG ? Or must I start out as freshwater ?

You can cycle the tank at whatever SG the fish are in now. Buy a hydrometer & test their water with it, so you know what to make yours. Ask them if they're using marine salt.
library/puffers-in-focus/fig8/

If U do end up purchasing a hydrometer make sure it can read low sg. I bought one once for brackish, and it was deemed useless. A refractometer may be the way to go, however they are a bit pricey sometymes.

Welcome to the forum!

For BW, a hydrometer should be fine but do be sure it starts at 1.000.

try to avoid the stick on the tank ones too, i had one and it never took any accurate readings

I did it successfully, but my LFS is a huge fish warehouse that's been in the business for years and pretty much knows what they are talking about - so I just asked what salinity and started my tank out at that (1.004). I used Dr Tims to jumpstart it and it seems to have worked out fine.

It is always best to compare with your own hydrometer.

Pufferpunk wrote:It is always best to compare with your own hydrometer.

+1 Agreed!
Every ones going to be calibrated slightly differently

Although not the best way... hydrometers can be calibrated just as well as refractometers. You just have to add/subtract the difference.

Huge +1 to PP's comments - the lady knows what she is talking about. There is no inherent difference in the two instruments, but the refractometer is capable of much finer readings. As she said, for low-end BW, you can operate a well-maintained and calibrated hydrometer as well as a refractomerter. The kicker is that the simple box hydrometer is harder to maintain than the more expensive instrument, and subject to more reading errors (from mineral build-p on the box and especially the arm, from bubbles on the arm, wear on the axle of the arm or its mount, etc.).

HTH

What about a good old fashion floating hydrometer using the same +/- calibration if need be. At least they are easy to clean and maintain...Or does temperature make a difference?

Yea, temp does make a difference. I believe those are calibrated for lower than tropical temps.

Yup, +1 to PP again. And if you do not have a special glass cylinder to read them in, they are all but impossible to read accurately. They can create their own errors, especially in low BW (different surface tension than in SW).