The Puffer Forum

hello all

right lets start at the beginning,,,i bought 2 puffers that i was told were fresh water, but after a post in the puffer pics section they are indeed brackish...

i know that i have to raise the salinity of my water slowly to reach between 1.010 - 1.015 but no more than 0.002per week

my question is and it might sound stupid can this be done without a hydrometer as I'm broke until the end of the month and cant afford to buy one and i want to do whats right for these comical little fellas

i do 50% water changes each week using a gravel cleaner,do i just add the salt to the water before it goes into the tank if so how much ive asked
my lfs but they are not very helpful on this as they haven't came across this before
and i cant help thinking that fresh water isn't the best for them
any advice is much appreciated

I don't think its a good idea to try to do without a hydrometer. It can probably be done by someone very experienced in doing it but I wouldn't try it otherwise.

When you do your water changes with a salted tank, make sure you top off the water that has evaporated first, ESPECIALLY if you are doing it without a hydrometer. The salt doesn't evaporate and if you just salt the water you are changing, it will raise the total amount in the tank.

You can raise it slow enough over the course of a month that you won't need a hydrometer to check immediately. If you go slow enough it won't even register on the hydrometer for a while anyway.

As I think I mentioned in the other thread, just start by using 1 tablespoon each week. That's enough to start the increase, but low enough to be barely noticeable.

It takes a few tablespoons in a 10 gallon water change to register. Your tank is 20g, correct? So it won't be going up by more than 0.002 at a time.

But please do try and get a hydrometer quickly.

thanx for the replies

my tank is 48l,12w,18h which is 37 uk gallons which is about 44 us gallons i believe.
so i add a tablespoon of salt to the water that i put back into the tank, now do i just put the salt into the last bucket that goes into the tank or do i spread the salt into all the the buckets that go into the tank.i use a bucket that is 10 litres when full so each one would be just a pinch

so i need to do this each week with my water changes till i reach the required salitilty what do i do once ive reached the right level how do i maintain it
sorry for all the questions this is all new and im still trying to get my head round it

i will be buying a hydrometer at the end of the month

Put the salt into your replacement water when doing 50% water changes.

You can put the salt into any one of the buckets, just make sure you dissolve it completely by stirring it before you pour it in. It may be a good idea to mix up a bucket of your salt water the night before to give it a chance to completely dissolve. Some people even aerate and heat their replacement water to aid in dissolving. This is especially useful when using a lot of salt, like in a marine tank.

For the first 3 weeks use 1 tablespoon with each 50% change.
On the 4th week, and for 3 weeks afterwards, use 2 tablespoons with each 50% water change.
The next week use 3 tablespoons, etc, etc.

By that time you will have a hydrometer so you can test it. But if you do it this way it will be slow and gentle enough that you won't have to worry about using too much.

Continue on in this manner until you are using enough salt to reach your target SG. Once you're there, just keep adding the same number of tablespoons to your replacement water to maintain that level.

Keep an eye on your SG with regular testing to watch for salt creep. As water evaporates, it leaves salt and minerals behind. You can top off with fresh water to keep it from creeping upwards. But doing 50% weekly changes should keep it pretty steady, unless you have a lot of evaporation (due to high temp, really high flow, or an air bubbler).

excellent that's what i needed to know many thanx

i will be doing the first water change tonight if i need anymore advice i dare say i will post again

may i just say this has been a very helpful site with loads of great advice thankyou all

If you can afford it when the time comes go for a refractometer, you can get one for just over £20 on ebay.