PowerRanger
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2011
- Messages
- 6
how do i make brackish water with a gravity of 0.010
plz help!!
plz help!!
PowerRanger said:I am very new to aquariums and im hoing to get red clawed crabs. I read that they need brackish water with a gravity of 0.010 and i have no clue how to do that. I have aquarium salt and a 10 gallon aquarium, however i will not be filling it up all of the way so that there is still dry land 4 the crabs. PLZPLZPZL help me!
PowerRanger said:i dont have a hydrometer and i don't have enough money for one is there like a specific salt to water ratio for a gravity of 0.010?
PowerRanger said:how much would a hydrometer cost?
Tim Wheatley said:Two FLAT TEAspoons of Instant Ocean salt per gallon of RO/DI water will give you a salinity of about 1.010.
I also say you need RO/DI water because without it you'll spend most of your time scraping algae off everything in the tank, including probably the shells of the crabs.
Like 10 or 12 bucks at Petco.
Is the 2 tsps/1g water a genearl rule, or should it be tested at each mix?
So even on brackish tanks RO|DI water is a must? Because I have live plants (brackish adapted) in my GSP tank and they'll need the nutrients from my tap water.
Also do you know if I need a SW test kit, or is my FW going to be OK?
you can buy the glass hydrometers for like $3. You want to use marine salt not aquarium salt because there are different minerals in there that the fish need.
I got remarkably accurate with the 2 tsps/1g, but my tank was with a fish where a little fluctuation didn't matter. I'd have concerns with any type of crab doing it that way and relying on it. And anyway, like I said, salt is going to build due to evap.
I would use RO/DI and then add ferts of just what the plants need for best results, but if your plants are good (which I actually doubt they will be at 1.010, most plants can adapt to half that?) then they should take the nutrients from the water before algae anyway.
I've been wondering about that one lately. Aquarium salt says on the box that it is evaporated sea water, which means the salts and minerals should be the same, no?
Everything I've read says that aqua salt does not contain the elements needed to properly support brackish fish. A couple LFS sellers say it's fine, but you know how that goes .
Tim Wheatley said:heheh! It's weird though, huh? I'd be really interested to hear if they are actually the same salts as what are actually sold as marine salts. It wouldn't be surprising to me as all my tanks run on pond detoxifiers now as it's about 5 times cheaper and is exactly the same...
The way the aquarium industry is I really can imagine the same product having two different labels, uses and prices.
It also probably explains why I've been able to treat all my freshwater fish for Ich with marine salt without any negative effects whatsoever.
I'd think if they were the same thing, wouldn't people that use aqua salt regularly be turning their FW tank into a SW tank over time? I guess you could use a refactometer and test your FW tank.
Speaking of refracto's what do you think of this one?
Sea Water Salinity Refractometer 4 Aquarium Hydrometer
It's half the price of some I've seen, but I don't want one that won't work right just because it's a good price. TIA