Marine salt needed ASAP

firestarter51

I, I'm about to buy a brackish set up, and need to find some marine salt in cork or someone that delivers ??

joe90

Hanly's by the Kinsale Rd, sell it.

firestarter51

I didn't even know they had a pet section, last time I was in there was for Xmas lights, thanks for the heads up, 6kg for €25 that will get me started anyway, I have never tried brackish fish so it's all new to me.
I hope they can get bigger bags of salt as I'm getting a 500l tank and it will use a lot of salt

CruelCoin

firestarter51 wrote: »

I didn't even know they had a pet section, last time I was in there was for Xmas lights, thanks for the heads up, 6kg for €25 that will get me started anyway, I have never tried brackish fish so it's all new to me.
I hope they can get bigger bags of salt as I'm getting a 500l tank and it will use a lot of salt

Hi,

Make sure it's marine salt and not aquarium salt.

Salt from RedSea is very good, but comes at a premium price.
At 500lt 10/20% water cahnges per week, you'll go through a couple of buckets a year, so maybe avoid retail pricing and try get it wholesale?

Don't worry about getting your levels exactly right.

Most brackish water fish live in tidal estuaries, where the water can go from full freshwater at low tide to full marine at high tide.
They can cope with variance in the wild, and can do it just as well in captivity.

Brackish can be described as anything between 1.004 and 1.014 or there abouts in specific gravity.

Also, post pictures! want to see this 500lt monster of yours.

firestarter51

Hi, there, I picked up the marine salt yesterday, i need to find a wholesale place alright, they also had sea water ready about 25 litres for €20 would this be any advantage to add in, it said on the drum that it contains all the bacteria ect, see my concern is the tank is set up with fish, so I need to have water prepared for the arrival of the tank and fish

thebishop

I have a marine tank and I am using sea water for about 4 yrs with no problems. Dont collect near a town as there could be a pollution problem or near where a stream is flowing in to the sea.(low salinity) .Saves a fortune.

Mr Whirly

firestarter51 wrote: »

Hi, there, I picked up the marine salt yesterday, i need to find a wholesale place alright, they also had sea water ready about 25 litres for €20 would this be any advantage to add in, it said on the drum that it contains all the bacteria ect, see my concern is the tank is set up with fish, so I need to have water prepared for the arrival of the tank and fish

Buy the cheapest marine salt you can find. The likes of Red Sea is expensive because it has lots of nutrients for corals which you don't need to worry about.

You can generally buy 25 litre drums of preprepared saltwater for €8 in most shops.

Find out the salinity of the water the fish are currently in before you get the set up. Keep about 50% of the water from the tank. Then mix up your salt and water in a drum 24 hours in advance. Refill the tank with the original 50% and your mixed water. Throw the filter back on ASAP and add the fish back in. You might need to wait for the water to heat up before adding the fish but it shouldn't be a problem in this weather.

If you use all new water make sure the salinity matches perfectly or close to perfect. Also make sure the filter doesn't dry out as that's where all your bacteria is. It'll be a much safer move if you still have some of the original water the fish were in.

firestarter51

Here are two quick snaps of the tank, I have not finished putting it together yet, or even finished filling it, all going well so far, I will post more when the tank is fully up and running

firestarter51

Two more snaps

CruelCoin

Looks good, though i would add a hell of a lot more sand for starters.

firestarter51

I will be getting sand and stuff this week,what plants are best to get, I'd like to have a couple even if they are just floating on the surface.
Fella that sold me the tank said to put something between the glass and the sand so any heavy rocks won't compact the sand and damage the glass, any idea what I can use ?

CruelCoin

firestarter51 wrote: »

I will be getting sand and stuff this week,what plants are best to get, I'd like to have a couple even if they are just floating on the surface.
Fella that sold me the tank said to put something between the glass and the sand so any heavy rocks won't compact the sand and damage the glass, any idea what I can use ?

Hi,

There are not too many plants you can use in brackish/marine set-ups.

The few i know that can tolerate it are:
Vallisneria
Anubias (this works best with roots attached to wood. Roots don't do well buried.
Cryptosporum
Java Fern
Most of these will tolerate up to a specific gravity of 1.010. Any higher than that and you're likely to see some die-back.

I don't know of any floating plants that can tolerate salt.

The scratched glass issue depends on the thickness of the sand.

The general rule is 2cm of an inch thick. Much thicker than that and you run the risk of noxious gasses building up in the substrate (mind you i never have that problem with substrate 1 inch thick or more).

A good thick bed of sand and you shouldn't have any issues.
Scrub the sand first, you would be amazed how much crap is in it.
You want sand, not dust or organic debris.

If you're still worried, you could cut a thin yoga mat to fit, and glue it to the base with a aquarium suitable silicone glue. Be carefull as some glues will leach. MUST be stated as aquarium safe of the pack.

Alternatively, try a layer of aquarium soil underneath the sand. Plants will grow far better with this that just sand alone.