Acclimating gsp to brackish water

[LtGhost08]

I am planning on starting to acclimate
My gsp to brackish water and i have heard to raise salinity by .002 a week. How do you raise by that much? Like how much salt per gallon to reach this when i do water changes?

 

[Alyxx]

You will need a hydrometer or a refractometer to test the salinity. There is probably a calculator on the web somewhere for how many cups of salt mix to use to get a certain salinity. If you can't find one, most marine salt mixes will tell you how much you need per gallon to get to full strength saltwater (1.025 SG) and a little math can tell you how much you need to get to 1.002 or so to start with, and use that much per gallon. Be sure to dissolve it fully beforehand, never just dump salt into the tank!

 

[Reiner]

A refractometer is going be your best bet because it is going to be more accurate which is important when raising the salinity by such a small about each week. There is a link in the puffer forum that explains in detail how to raise it. The link is http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19348

I hope this helps you figure it out! It is how I figured out how to convert my gsps.

 

[Terrance]

A refractometer is going be your best bet because it is going to be more accurate which is important when raising the salinity by such a small about each week. There is a link in the puffer forum that explains in detail how to raise it. The link is The Puffer Forum • View topic - Brackish water mixing

I hope this helps you figure it out! It is how I figured out how to convert my gsps.

Its the proper way. Please read carefully.

 

[LtGhost08]

New to brackish water. Acclimating baby gsp to brackish water! Help!

Ok sorry for all of my posts but im learning and cant seem to find a direct answer and all of these sites i get transfered to dont help. I need to acclimate my baby gsp into brackish water. I checked my current water in my tank and the s.g was 1.004 (i didnt add the salt. I have a water softener so that must be where the salt came from). Idk what s.g to get him to at his small size but i read between 1.005 to 1.008. So lets go to 1.008. How much salt should i add per gallon to increase to 1.008 from 1.004 at a rate of .002 so i do not kill my bacteria. I do not need all of the math calculations. I am simply asking for a measurement ive heard 2tbs and 1/3 cup. How much per gallon to increase by .002. That way when i change my water i will go from 1.004 to 1.006 and so on. And the tank is a 20 gallon btw. Thank you all. Love this forum! And the iphone app is so sick!

 

[LtGhost08]

I am working on the math part and starting to get it..its based on 50 percent water changes. How do i base it off 25 percent?

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Gsp needs alot of flow to be happy, do you have a powerhead?

 

[LtGhost08]

I have a biowheel 100 and a 150 theres plenty of flow. And i mean no disrespect here but is the flow related to acclimating to brackish water?

 

[Terrance]

Flow helps filter the water - mainly for filter to catch the waste.

Acclimating to brackish help the fish live in more suitable water, and bacteria in your tank to convert from FW to light-BW.

Not sure if I understood your question.

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Ya me either. All im saying is that the more flow you have, the more growth you will have from your GSP.

 

[LtGhost08]

Now that i have been doing research i understand a bit more. So my tap water has a s.g of 1.004. Measured from my tap and from tank with hydrometer so im almost low brackish. Basically i want to increase my s.g by .002 each week for a few weeks to get to ~1.008. Basically i need to know how much salt to add during a water change. My tank is 20 gallons and with a 25% water change so 5 gallons. How much salt would i have to add to the 5 gallons to raise .002. So go from 1.004 to 1.006 in a water change. Or is that too much of a change in one dose? Basically looking for amount of salt per gallon or somethin..

 

[Smiles982]

Ive had a brackish tank for about 3 months now. I would raise the SG every 2-3 weeks. Im at 1.005 finally and I plan to keep it there for awhile. I have a figure 8 puffer in my tank and a few mono's in there also. I have a 32 gallon bow and I would add bout 1-2 tablespoon of salt. One think I learned recently, dont use aquarium salt, use marine salt. Much better for the puffers.
Its crazy though how much salt you have in the tank already just from the softner. I have one to, but I get no readings from my water.

 

[Terrance]

Something must be wrong if your tap is getting salt readings. Check to see if your hydrometer or refractometer is calibrated. When checking the SG, be as precise as possible when handling the instrument. Human error is common.

Use your 5g bucket to figure this out. Fill it with water and add conditioner. Then add 2-3 cups of salt and let it mix with a powerhead and heater for a few hours. For example, if 3 cups get you 1.004, then its easy to figure out how much is needed to get the water to 1.006 for 5g.

Its ok if you don't fill up the whole 5g bucket with brackish water because your tank does not hold 20g of water. Minus the displacement from substrate and decor and you end up with ~15g. So you may end up mixing 4g of brackish water, unless you fill the 5g bucket all the way up to the top.

 

[absolutangel04]

Similar threads have been merged.

 

[LtGhost08]

The reason i have salt in my water is because i have well water with a water softener which uses salt.

 

[LtGhost08]

Ok so i checked my tap water and tank water again today just for a second swing at it and now the s.g is lower than yesterday..about 1.002 or so. So im planning on adding a few tablespoons of salt with a little bit of extra water since some evaporated and my filter is now making a loud splashing noise. Then check again later and see where im at