Making brackish water

wesleydnunder · 05-09-2006, 05:33 AM

I've seen a few opinions on this subject from table salt to SW mixes. How do you make yours?

Mark

liv2padl · 05-09-2006, 05:54 AM

the composition of sea salt is shown below, in all it's elemental splendor. the composition of salt is ... well, Na and Cl. thus, regular 'salt' as sodium chloride does NOT make brackish water. though the 'strength' (specific gravity) of brackish water is actually quite variable depending on the location and tides and resulting mixture of brackish and fresh water, it always contains those elements listed ... and sometimes some other stuff we'd wish it didn't.

to make brackish water, the best method is to take some marine salt and make up some 'sea water' to a specific gravity that matches the brackish requirements of the fish you have. if the fish are a mix and thus have a varied 'requirement', an approximation is fine since brackish water varies with the tide cycle.

so, the answer to "can you make brackish water using salt" is no and neither can you make true brackish water using Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate) or other concoctions lacking in all the 'good stuff' that marine salt contains.

Chloride, Cl 19,500 ppm
Sodium, Na 10,770
Magnesium, Mg 1,290
Sulphur, S 905
Calcium, Ca 412
Potassium, K 380
Bromine, Br 67
Carbon, C 28
Nitrogen, N 11.5
Strontium, Sr 8
Oxygen, O 6
Boron, B 4.4
Silicon, Si 2
Fluorine, F 1.3
Argon, Ar 0.43
Lithium, Li 0.18
Rubidium, Rb 0.12
Phosphorus, P 0.06
Iodine, I 0.06
Barium, Ba 0.02
Molybdenium, Mo 0.01
Arsenic, As 0.0037
Uranium, U 0.0032
Vanadium, V 0.0025
Titanium, Ti 0.001
Zinc, Zn 0.0005
Nickel, Ni 0.00048
Aluminium, Al 0.0004
Cesium, Cs 0.0004
Chromium, Cr 0.0003
Antimony, Sb 0.00024
Krypton, Kr 0.0002
Selenium, Se 0.0002
Neon, Ne 0.00012
Manganese, Mn 0.0001
Cadmium, Cd 0.0001
Copper, Cu 0.0001
Tungsten, W 0.0001
Iron, Fe 0.000055
Xenon, Xe 0.00005
Zirconium, Zr 0.00003
Bismuth, Bi 0.00002
Niobium, Nb 0.00001
Thallium, Tl 0.00001
Thorium, Th 0.00001
Hafnium, Hf 7 x 10-6
Helium, He 6.8 x 10-6
Beryllium, Be 5.6 x 10-6
Germanium, Ge 5 x 10-6
Gold, Au 4 x 10-6
Rhenium, Re 4 x 10-6
Cobalt, Co 3 x 10-6
Lanthanum, La 3 x 10-6
Neodymium, Nd 3 x 10-6
Lead, Pb 2 x 10-6
Silver, Ag 2 x 10-6
Tantalum, Ta 2 x 10-6
Gallium, Ga 2 x 10-6
Yttrium, Y 1.3 x 10-6
Mercury, Hg 1 x 10-6
Cerium, Ce 1 x 10-6
Dysprosium, Dy 9 x 10-7
Erbium, Er 8 x 10-7
Ytterbium, Yb 8 x 10-7
Gadolinium, Gd 7 x 10-7
Praseodymium, Page Ranking 6 x 10-7
Scandium, Sc 6 x 10-7
Tin, Sn 6 x 10-7
Holmium, Ho 2 x 10-7
Lutetium, Lu 2 x 10-7
Thulium, Tm 2 x 10-7
Indium, In 1 x 10-7
Trebium, Tb 1 x 10-7
Palladium, Pd 5 x 10-8
Samarium, Sm 5 x 10-8
Tellurium, Te 1 x 10-8
Europium, Eu 1 x 10-8
Radium, Ra 7 x 10-11
Protactinium, Pa 5 x 10-11
Radon, Rn 6 x 10-16

MonoSebaelover · 05-09-2006, 10:46 AM

Yep, table salt or any salt other than saltwater salt, will NOT make brackish water. Brackish water is where the freshwater lakes/streams etc meet the ocean/saltwater so the specific gravity does vary based on the hour of the day (tide). Brackish water is defined as anything from about 1.003-1.020 is the general range. The majority of brackish fish like it around 1.010 but it highly depends on the species. I use Instant Ocean in all of my saltwater and brackish tanks. Anyway hope this helps and good luck!

wesleydnunder · 05-09-2006, 12:07 PM

Thanks, MSL. That's what I was lookin' for.

Mark

snakeskinner · 05-11-2006, 06:45 AM

the way I make mine is I have a 5 gallon jug from the LFS, I take a handful of marine-salt and place it in there, then put my python in there from my faucet at about the right temp and stir the container as it fills to mix in the salt. Let it sit overnight and measure the SG and add salt if it's low, add freshwater to the tank if it's high.

One thing I rationalize is that some people take the stringency of the salt level in brackish too seriously. Brackish conditions are rarely ever stable so fish that live in these conditions are usually much more forgiving of fluctuations. I purposely do not keep my SG exactly the same all the time. I fluctuate between about 1.004-1.010 over the months of water changes. I don't know that I've ever gone from one extreme to the other, usually float somewhere around 1.006-1.008 but I'm not too strict on keeping it at one level or another. Kyle

05-09-2006, 05:33 AM	#1 (permalink)
wesleydnunder Resident Cannibal Join Date: May 2006 Location: La Marque, Tx. Posts: 2,303	Making brackish water I've seen a few opinions on this subject from table salt to SW mixes. How do you make yours? Mark

05-09-2006, 05:54 AM	#2 (permalink)
liv2padl Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 47	regular 'salt' (sodium chloride) does NOT make brackish water the composition of sea salt is shown below, in all it's elemental splendor. the composition of salt is ... well, Na and Cl. thus, regular 'salt' as sodium chloride does NOT make brackish water. though the 'strength' (specific gravity) of brackish water is actually quite variable depending on the location and tides and resulting mixture of brackish and fresh water, it always contains those elements listed ... and sometimes some other stuff we'd wish it didn't. to make brackish water, the best method is to take some marine salt and make up some 'sea water' to a specific gravity that matches the brackish requirements of the fish you have. if the fish are a mix and thus have a varied 'requirement', an approximation is fine since brackish water varies with the tide cycle. so, the answer to "can you make brackish water using salt" is no and neither can you make true brackish water using Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate) or other concoctions lacking in all the 'good stuff' that marine salt contains. Chloride, Cl 19,500 ppm Sodium, Na 10,770 Magnesium, Mg 1,290 Sulphur, S 905 Calcium, Ca 412 Potassium, K 380 Bromine, Br 67 Carbon, C 28 Nitrogen, N 11.5 Strontium, Sr 8 Oxygen, O 6 Boron, B 4.4 Silicon, Si 2 Fluorine, F 1.3 Argon, Ar 0.43 Lithium, Li 0.18 Rubidium, Rb 0.12 Phosphorus, P 0.06 Iodine, I 0.06 Barium, Ba 0.02 Molybdenium, Mo 0.01 Arsenic, As 0.0037 Uranium, U 0.0032 Vanadium, V 0.0025 Titanium, Ti 0.001 Zinc, Zn 0.0005 Nickel, Ni 0.00048 Aluminium, Al 0.0004 Cesium, Cs 0.0004 Chromium, Cr 0.0003 Antimony, Sb 0.00024 Krypton, Kr 0.0002 Selenium, Se 0.0002 Neon, Ne 0.00012 Manganese, Mn 0.0001 Cadmium, Cd 0.0001 Copper, Cu 0.0001 Tungsten, W 0.0001 Iron, Fe 0.000055 Xenon, Xe 0.00005 Zirconium, Zr 0.00003 Bismuth, Bi 0.00002 Niobium, Nb 0.00001 Thallium, Tl 0.00001 Thorium, Th 0.00001 Hafnium, Hf 7 x 10-6 Helium, He 6.8 x 10-6 Beryllium, Be 5.6 x 10-6 Germanium, Ge 5 x 10-6 Gold, Au 4 x 10-6 Rhenium, Re 4 x 10-6 Cobalt, Co 3 x 10-6 Lanthanum, La 3 x 10-6 Neodymium, Nd 3 x 10-6 Lead, Pb 2 x 10-6 Silver, Ag 2 x 10-6 Tantalum, Ta 2 x 10-6 Gallium, Ga 2 x 10-6 Yttrium, Y 1.3 x 10-6 Mercury, Hg 1 x 10-6 Cerium, Ce 1 x 10-6 Dysprosium, Dy 9 x 10-7 Erbium, Er 8 x 10-7 Ytterbium, Yb 8 x 10-7 Gadolinium, Gd 7 x 10-7 Praseodymium, Page Ranking 6 x 10-7 Scandium, Sc 6 x 10-7 Tin, Sn 6 x 10-7 Holmium, Ho 2 x 10-7 Lutetium, Lu 2 x 10-7 Thulium, Tm 2 x 10-7 Indium, In 1 x 10-7 Trebium, Tb 1 x 10-7 Palladium, Pd 5 x 10-8 Samarium, Sm 5 x 10-8 Tellurium, Te 1 x 10-8 Europium, Eu 1 x 10-8 Radium, Ra 7 x 10-11 Protactinium, Pa 5 x 10-11 Radon, Rn 6 x 10-16 __________________ You're never too old to have a happy childhood

05-09-2006, 12:07 PM	#4 (permalink)
wesleydnunder Resident Cannibal Join Date: May 2006 Location: La Marque, Tx. Posts: 2,303	Thanks, MSL. That's what I was lookin' for. Mark __________________ If it can't be fixxed with a hammer, then you've got an electrical problem.

05-11-2006, 06:45 AM	#5 (permalink)
snakeskinner Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Okarche, Oklahoma Posts: 16	the way I make mine is I have a 5 gallon jug from the LFS, I take a handful of marine-salt and place it in there, then put my python in there from my faucet at about the right temp and stir the container as it fills to mix in the salt. Let it sit overnight and measure the SG and add salt if it's low, add freshwater to the tank if it's high. One thing I rationalize is that some people take the stringency of the salt level in brackish too seriously. Brackish conditions are rarely ever stable so fish that live in these conditions are usually much more forgiving of fluctuations. I purposely do not keep my SG exactly the same all the time. I fluctuate between about 1.004-1.010 over the months of water changes. I don't know that I've ever gone from one extreme to the other, usually float somewhere around 1.006-1.008 but I'm not too strict on keeping it at one level or another. Kyle __________________ Killifish, wild-type livebearers, cichlids, catfish, Badis, Bettas, Rainbows, Tetras, Barbs, Danios, Rasboras, Gouramies. Brackish: GSP, Bumblebee Gobies, 3-gallon micro-reef tank. 3-gallon micro-reef, 37 gallon reef project... www.okcaa.org

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05-09-2006, 10:46 AM	#3 (permalink)
MonoSebaelover Trigger Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Fort Collins, CO ~ CSU Posts: 68	Yep, table salt or any salt other than saltwater salt, will NOT make brackish water. Brackish water is where the freshwater lakes/streams etc meet the ocean/saltwater so the specific gravity does vary based on the hour of the day (tide). Brackish water is defined as anything from about 1.003-1.020 is the general range. The majority of brackish fish like it around 1.010 but it highly depends on the species. I use Instant Ocean in all of my saltwater and brackish tanks. Anyway hope this helps and good luck!

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