Added freshwater salt

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JamesShall

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jan 26, 2004
Messages
52
Location
Southern California
I'm still trying to find a solution to reduce the high pH in my tank. I stopped by the lfs again spoke to the guy working there. Fish guy suggested adding salt. Fish guy showed me what they do - they take a small container and put a hole in the top (small so fish can't get in) and then they fill that about 1/2 way with salt and sink it to the bottom. This makes for slow release so the water levels don't immediately change and stress the fish.

That night I did a partial water change and some rock cleaning. The next morning i tested pH and found it to be at 7.6+ still so I decided to test the salt theory. I added some aquarium salt to the pH test and shook it a bit to make all the salt disolve. pH dropped to a nice solid 7.2!

I drilled a bunch of small holes in a container and added 1/2 cup into it. I put that in the 72 gallon tank and left it. That night I found the container completely empty of salt and all the fish alive so that was a good sign. I checked the pH and it had made a change to probably 7.5, but atleast it was showing a change!

I tested again in the morning - still about a 7.5! I tried another salt addition with about 1/3 cup salt. That night the pH was down to 7.2! I'll check it again in a few days to see if it's apossible solution.

Previously I tried the pH down powder and it worked for immediate results, but by the end of one day the pH would rise again due to the harness of my water not allowing for any pH powder to make changes.

The powder stuff is pricey in comparison. For a pint of ph stuff it's about $10 and for a 9 pound tub of salt it's about the same cost.

I figure that the fish won't even see any fluctuation of pH if this salt does what I hope it to do. I'm hoping it can hold the water to the corrected pH level for the entire pweriod of time between my cleaning intervals without me having to add salt every few days.
 
You may end up with a SW tank before too long :lol: I have seen this done in a major pet store and was wondering why they kept a cup of salt in there.
What type of fish are you keeping? Do you have a way to read the salinity?
 
Why not just keep fish that prefer a higher pH? 7.6 really isn't that bad, unless you're keeping softwater fish like discus, rams or angels & angels really don't mind much since they're mostly tank bred anyway. Anyway, solfwater fish don't appreciate any salt at all. Most fish can adjust to pH.
 
I could be wrong but I don't think salt can run out or leave your tank, except for water changers and white crusties. You shouldn't need to add salt until you change water- and then only a little. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Pufferpunk - I had quite a lot of unexplained fish loss when I have added new fish. All these fish were supposed to be hearty (barbs, catfish, ...), but after a week or two the fish would stop being active and then die. 7.6 is the highest reading that the pH test can show. I believe the pH was much higher than that. I would atleast like to keep a pH of 7.2 which seems to be a good range for all the different types of fish I really want to keep.

I didn't get around to test the water again yesterday, but I must say the fish seem much happier in there! Their appetites are definitely up and they seem more active in there.
 
I agree with Menagerie -- if you're adding salt like this, you should have a way to test the salinity to make sure you're not overdoing it. I think you would be safe in a 72 gallon tank, but anything you add to a tank, you should have a way of testing for. I also agree with hashbaz, that the salt will not leave your tank by evaporation. People with saltwater tanks use RO water as top-off water, because the salt in the tank doesn't leave, except through some salt creep, and I wouldn't rely on salt creep to keep the levels low. In other words, don't think that salt creep will compensate if you add a little too much. I hope this makes sense and helps you out!

You could try to use a pH test for higher pH levels. The test I have does say for brackish water, even though my tank is not brackish, but it reads a range from 7.6 to 8.4. This way, you wouldn't have to rely on the test that stops at 7.6.
 
Malkore - I'm not sure how it does it either, but it works! It's a chemistr things. The lfs didn't sell me the salt - I already had it. The lfs guy showed me a few of the freshwater tanks they have running that are using this salt method so it wasn't just some experiment from the lfs guy.


An t-iasg - testing for salinity is a concern of mine. Do you know of any way to test for it? I seems like there might be a few different types of salt for aquariums. Mine specifically says it's for freshwater. I don't know what the difference might be between the salt for freshwater and salt for marine water tanks.

Anyway, it's been a couple days and the pH is holding steady at 7.2. I think I might just leave it alone because that's not a bad number for most fish to deal with. I was shooting for 7.0, but the salinity thing does bother me.
 
I can't remember, but it's a salinity reader. They go from very cheap to very expensive. Just ask the guy at the LFS and make sure you get one that can read low salinity values. The device will have an area for the water and a needle that will line up with the salinity value. This is not a water test kit, but more of a tool. I am having problems thinking of the name :roll:
 
It's called a specific gravity meter. You just put it down in the tank, it fills up with water, and the meter points to a number. But like menagerie said, make sure you get one that is made for testing low. It should start at 1.000 and have lines for 1.001, 1.002, 1.003, etc. At the VERY least atleast have them for 1.005, 1.010. If it's anything more than that, say 1.000 straight to 1.010, you aren't even going to be able to figure out what specific gravity (salinity) you have. If that's not making any sense, just go to the store and look at one. You will understand what I mean. I have a brackish tank running at 1.010, so if you are that high, you aren't even considered fresh water anymore, and it's probably not good for those fish. Good luck! :D

-brent
 
Hydrometer. Make sure for BW that it goes to 0. Also, I spoke to the folks at WetWebMedia & they said salt will definately raise your pH, not lower it. One of the experts there said, "That's one of the things marine salt is *supposed* to do: buffer your water to marine pH levels. " Which means, it will keep it up at 8+, which is what SW fish need.
 
shouldn't the specific gravity give you a salinity level. I don't do salt water so I don't know, but I thought the two (sp. gravity & salinity) were connected.
 
Good idea. also adding a bag of peat to your filter, but don't be too surprised if your water turns brown. where softerwater fish come from it's called "blackwater" for that reason. I still say, if you just went with hardwater-loving fish, you'll be fine. Any fix you make, will only be temporary & the fluctuation of pH will do your fish more harm than good.
 
Hi James,
Yes, a hydrometer is the instrument to test the salt content of the water. They are cheap ($7.49 at DrsFosterSmith); refractometers are expensive ($49.99 or 99.99 at DrsFosterSmith). Some hydrometers and refractometers have two different scales, to read both salinity and specific gravity. Salinity, I believe, is dependent on temperature, which refractometers compensate for.

Anyway, I was thinking about what Pufferpunk said too...that salt will raise pH. It will definitely raise your total dissolved solids level, which probably affects your water hardness, which affects pH. And yes, marine salt is supposed to buffer the pH. One description of marine salt on DrsFosterSmith says that it reaches proper pH quickly. But don't use that in your tank, lol!

Looking in my DrsFosterSmith catalog again, here are some descriptions of freshwater salt: Replaces lost sodium or chloride ions that sick or stressed fish need. Improves gill function and can be used in brackish or fresh water. (no mention of pH)

Marine salt: Contains major, minor, and trace elements found in natural seawater. Some marine salts contain more calcium and other elements that are naturally depleted in reef systems.

Anyway, I would say that a hydrometer would be fine; as the others have said, just make sure it reads the low levels, to be sure you're not heading too far toward brackish! I'll be curious to know at what value the pH stabilizes for you, and what your specific gravity is.
 
I don't know what to say about all the salt. I understand that adding MARINE salt would raise the pH, but maybe adding the freshwater salt is diffrent in some way? My pH definitely dropped when I added it.

Anyhow, I did the normal cleaning and water changing. For quite some time I have had a big rock sitting on top of a drfitwood log. I removed it and 1/2 the log sinks and the other half floats :roll: I drilled some holes into the bulk of the log and found the center of the log to be dry. I washed it down and put it back in the tank. The next day, the tank water was getting brown again so I guess it's soaking up water - yay! Hopefully that thing FINALLY sinks. No salt was added in with the new water.

The day after I took in a sample of my water to the lfs and had them test the pH just to check their readings against mine. They got a 7.3/7.4 which is right about what I was getting.

I bought 2 more green barbs and a pictus catfish. I was having probelms keeping these fish before so I figured they would make the best "test" fish to see if I have the water straightened out. It's been about 4 days now and the barbs are doing well! I got tiny ones and they aren't having any problems. I was worried about the pictus. For the first couple days it was hiding out under the HOB. It would come down when it was feeding time, but then I would find it up at the top again.

I changed some water again (about 15 gallons) yesterday to clear out some of the brown water. I added 1tbs of the freshwater salt per 5 gallons. The catfish is now cruising on the botom of the tank. That's where he should be so I don't know what to make of it. It's either the salt or the removal of some of that brown water.

Anyway, they had some NICE looking lima shovelnose cats at tje lfs. I just can't bring myself to buy one for $18 if it's going to have problems in my tank. I
 
to test for salinity you can also get a hydrometer - it works on the principal of specific gravity, and all you have to do is drop it in the tank then read where it sits (that also makes it reusable). I just don't know how much it costs
 
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