salt in tank

[jhebi]

could someone help me? i am strating my 55gl tank and i got the reading for the salt level and is way over the right reading.....how can i lower the salt level???

please help tks

[Ornatapinnis]

Get a couple 5 gallon buckets and remove some water from your 55 and top it off with fresh water to dilute the specific gravity (S.G.). You didn't mention how high you S.G. is so it's hard to say how much to remove and replace. You want to shoot for a S.G. of about 1.020 to 1.025. (1.023 is what most people shoot for) Also, look closly at your hydrometer when tasting your S.g. It is not uncommon that the pointer will get bubbles on it and give you a false high reading, this is espicially true with new hydrometers. If you have bubbles on the inside of your hydrometer, tap it several time to kick them off. Let me know if I can be of any additional help.....Joel

[jhebi]

thank you, already did the water chang and got the exactly reading....i m fine now, just waiting to be cycled.....about 1 month i guess??

[Fish Room Plus]

Thats impossible, what is the S.G. now? Maybe your hydrometer is faulty?

[bluedempsey]

Thats impossible, what is the S.G. now? Maybe your hydrometer is faulty?
i don't understand. what is impossible?

[guppy]

Hiya jhebi, welcome to MFK. I have very little exp. with salt or brackish but when I first starte using a hydrometer I scared myself a couple times by having it stick due to either bubbles or grit, both my fault. I did not usually mix the water as I was near the place I hd caught my fish but if the reading was right are you sure you got the ratio correct and that the salt was completely dissolved and stirred around. I did that once also and in one long 35g tank got one reading that was lightly brackish and another that was hypersaline because I had forgotten to stir it around.

[Apocalypse]

i don't understand. what is impossible?
I don't understand what Alex is talking about, either. :confused:

[jhebi]

sorry guys

just did the readin of the salt on my tank, the reading came out 1.017 and 18

and my readings are ph 8, amo 1.0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5

how are the readings??? thank you and sorry

[Ornatapinnis]

Most fish will tollerate a lower S.G. such as 1.017 or 18. Many inverts will not tollerate it though. A lower S.G. is a good way to help reduce parasite out brakes and is a common practice. I don't know anything about your set up (filtration, etc.) but assuming it is set up properly, you can add a damsel at a rate of about 1 fish per about 15 to 20 gallons to start the cycling process. You do not need to wait an extended period of time before adding your starter fish. The cycling process will not start untill you have fish in the water creating pollution. A good practice is after fish have been in your aquarium for a week or two and you have ammonia present, add some gravel or sand from a freinds or local aquarium shops healthy aquarium. This will "kick Start" your aquariums development of benificial bacteria. The reason you wait untill there is ammonia present is because in a brand new set up, there is not (or at least should not) be any waste to brake down and the bacteria culture would suffer. I question why your aquarium has an ammonia reading right now, perhaps double check that. I guess the question I should have asked first is, what type of filtration system are you using and do you understand the nitrogen cycle and how to manage it? I'm happy to help if you got questions, let me know....Joel

[jhebi]

I HAVE 2 EMPERORS 400, 2 PH MAX, HEATER, SKIMMER ARRIVING MONDAY.

I ADDED 3 COOKED SHRIMPS TO MY TANK 2 DAYS AGO, SOMEONE TOLD ME TO ADD IT AND LET IT ROT TO CREATE THE BACTERIA ON THE WATER. SHOULD I TAKE IT OUT NOW?

AND CAN I ADD 1 FISH ALREADY, DONT I HAVE TO WAIT FOR A COUPLE WEEKS?

[Ornatapinnis]

Although technically you can cycle an aquarium by adding something dead and letting it decompose, it is not my first choice. The typical cycleing process can take 4-6 weeks to complete, sometimes longer. A tank with no fish in it is not any fun. You should not add any live fish to an aquarium that has ammonia or nitrite present in it. With the method your trying, you may have an empty (no fish) aquarium for a month or so, it might take that long for the decomposing shrimp to be processed. and even at that point I question how stable your aquarium would be. Yes you can add live fish to a newly set up salt water aquarium assuming that the water parameters are correct ( S.G. is correct, 0ppm ammonia & trite, Ph of about 8.2ish, temp is stable, etc.) I feel the correct way to cycle an aquarium, weather you add live fish or choose another method is that on a daily baisis, add the same amount of "pollution" to the aquarium untill the nitrafying bacteria has populated it self great enought to neutralize the waste. In other words, If you added two fish and fed them daily the same amount of food, in theory your aquarium has had the same amount of waste produced daily and over a period of 2-4 weeks or so, the bacteria will reproduce into a population great enough to process the waste. Or another option would be to add the same amount of organic waste (not live fish) daily to the aquarium untill the bacteria has populated itself great enough to nutralize the waste. THe size of the bacteria population is directly revelent to how much waste is continually being produced. If you had 5 fish in an aquarium and the bacteria population was great enough to keep the water correct and you removed one fish, the bacteria population would decrease to equal the lower waste being produced and like wise increase if you added a new fish. What has been suggested to you is kind of like adding a really big fish for a few days, letting it pollute the aquarium, removing it and then waiting untill the water doesn't have ammonia or nitrite anymore. It isn't a good method. I would remove the shrimp. If your ammonia is at or below.2 ppm add a cheepie damsel or two and feed them sparingly. If it is over .2ppm, do a 50% water change or so to dilute the ammonia, then add a damsel or two. For the long haul, stock your aquarium on the lite side, the emperor 400 filters are great dirt traps but are not the greatest biological filters. Throw the bio wheels in your aquarium for an hour or so and then put them back in the filter. They sometimes take a long time to get fully water saturated when brand new. A protein skimmer is a great addition too asuming that it is a good quality model (lots of cheepie - lousy ones out there) Am I making any sence?

[guppy]

I fill the sections of the filter where the cabon is supposed to grow with small lava rock fragments that have been seeded with filter sludge from another tank and in my cool water brackish/salt tanks, (admittedly small and few) I use tide pool sculpins for cycling because to kill them you pretty much need to hit them with a brick. I then add keeper fish one or to at a time a couple days apart to let the bacteria growth catch up with the load.

[Ornatapinnis]

good point guppy, adding additional media to the emperor does help, espicially if it's pre-cultured. I have done that a few times myself. I think I used bio chem beads or stars from aquarium pharm. It's been so long since I used a hang on filter I forget these things......

[jhebi]

tks will do that...will get 2 damsels an dtake the shrimp out....the readings are all right...before addign the fishes will do another test to see if the readings are good.

my saline is at 1.017 to 18, is that ok or should i add little more of salt.

and also the skimmer do i put it when i add the fishes in the tank?

tks for all the advises

[Ornatapinnis]

There are differing opinions as to when is the correct time to add a protein skimmer. Both sides with good points. I personally install protein skimmers on my systems from day one. My belief is that it is good to remove as much waste from the aquarium as possible as soon as possible. This method worked well on the aquariums that I have set up. THis is of course for fish systems, reef type systems are a little differant.


Keep up posted on your progress, hope all goes well.

Joel

[jhebi]

i will put the skimmer on and let it sit on the tank tonight....Another thing joel, are my readings ok?? are they reasonable or should i do something....

and the salinity of the water, should i raise a notch?? right now is at 1.017 to 18

and wonder how come people says to wait to add fish is better, they told me to wait for a month??? but if i introduce now, would that make a difference on the long run of my tank...

And by the way, Tks Joel...you rock man

[guppy]

@ possibilities pop into mind about the recomende month wait, the first is cycling a tank with uncured live rock because of the die off period, the other is playing safe with the dead fish/shrimp cycling. Some fish are hardier than others. Even in freshwater I would use dianos or other tough fish to start a tank. A couple damsels will survive in a tank that would kill chromis or tangs. From the time I put a fw tank on the stand it takes me 2-3 weeks before I start putting in more delicate fish and a month at least to reach my full planned population density, this lets me work out the bugs, lets the smaller or less agressive fish find territories, and gives the filters time to adjust to the bioload. It is also easier on the budget.

[jhebi]

i guess i will add 2 damsels and check the stats of my tank daily and wait for a while until i add some more fish. Also can i add those cleaning shrimps and hermits into with the damsels or just wait.......tks for ur help also GUPPY........

[Ornatapinnis]

Who ever it is that has been giving you this advise.......ditch 'em!!!! Find a small independent aquarium shop. Small shops are real hobbiest who typically know what they are doing.

As per your S.G., it might be a thought to raise it up to around 1.023. Most shops should have thier fish system closer to that and it will make the acclimation of your fish into your aquarium a little easier. That brings up another great point, how to acclimate your fish. Most everyone knows to float the bag for a few minutes, 5 to 10 is plenty of time for temp acclimation...but... Even more important than temp acclimation is the adjustment from "their" water to yours. I am certain that S.G. , Ph, harness and other parameters are not going to be identical in your aquarium when compaired to the shop you buy your fish from. THis is very tough on most fish. Float your fish in the bag in your tank for 5-10 minutes, release the fish and water in the bag into a small bucket. Get a long piece of air line tubing, put one end of the tubing in your aquarium, tie a loose knot at the other end, suck on the tubing to siphen water out of your aquarium into the buckek the fish is in. Adjust the knot you tied in the tubing to make the water flow into the bucke a rapid drip. The goal here is to slowly drip water out of your aquarium into the water the fish came home in. THis will make the adjustment from the stores water into your aquarium very gentle. Now granted, this is a pain in the ass and honestlyly, you could probably drop kick a damsel into your aquarium and have it survive but, this is a great habbit to get into. Many fish (such as wrasses) and most inverts (espcially shrimp) shock and die if you float them and dump them in. Add only the fish when your are done. Do not add the shops water to your aquarium. Man I'm long winded!!!!! See ya...Joel

[jhebi]

tks....great advise guys~~~~~

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