# What type of Salt for Brackish water tank?



## WaterLife (21 Apr 2016)

Just aiming for a specific gravity salinity anywhere between 1.010-1.016 (general range people keep the livestock in, but I will determine what I think they do better in)

What exact salt should I use? Branded saltwater product? Table salt? Kosher salt? What specific chemical formula, and I could get that in it's purity?

I've heard the specific saltwater salt products contain added trace minerals, as they are intended for saltwater aquaria which naturally have higher levels of minerals. 
Would the lower salinity (brackish) I am going for require those extra minerals? I might be using tap water, but I do have a R/O unit and plenty of dry/powder remineralizers. Would my tap contain enough of the minerals (3dGH, 3dKH)?

Livestock for this brackish set up are, Opae Ula shrimp and Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis (a dwarf blue eye rainbowfish).


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## BigTom (21 Apr 2016)

Nice livestock choices! I'd probably still go with a reasonable quality marine salt from DnD or Red Sea or someone, but I'm not too hot on brackish stuff. Some of them have a basic 'fish only' version which is a little cheaper than the coral version. 

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## dw1305 (21 Apr 2016)

Hi all, 





WaterLife said:


> Livestock for this brackish set up are, Opae Ula shrimp and Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis (a dwarf blue eye rainbowfish).


I assume it is only a small volume tank? In which case you won't need much salt and you can just buy a branded salt of the type "BigTom" recommends.

A cheaper option might be a "natural sea salt produced by the solar evaporative process" (~£2.50 kg), it doesn't matter whether it contains an anti-caking agent (magnesium carbonate) or not.





WaterLife said:


> I might be using tap water, but I do have a R/O unit and plenty of dry/powder remineralizers. Would my tap contain enough of the minerals (3dGH, 3dKH)?


 Tap water should be fine, a marine salt mix will contain extra magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), carbonates (HCO3-) etc. but natural sea salt is still hard and buffered.

cheers Darrel


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## BigTom (21 Apr 2016)

Yeah, tap water should be fine. Not a great idea for a reef tank because even small amounts of nitrate and phosphate can annoy some trickier stony corals, but thats a non-issue for fish and shrimp assuming your water is within normal ranges. Commercial reef salt mixes will give you a KH or about 8-10 at full strength plus loads of mag, calc, etc.


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## WaterLife (21 Apr 2016)

Thanks for the info guys!
Just to know, is all the salts found in table salt, kosher salt, sea salt, brackish, saltwater, are they all the same salt compound, Sodium Chloride (NaCl)?
If so, I should be able to just dose Sodium Chloride in it's cheapest/purest form to take care of the salinity part. And I would just make sure to meet the GH/KH requirements for the livestock by using remineralizers if needed. That would work just as well, right? Haha. Was just looking at some InstantOcean brand salt water mix and the price for that would definitely add up, so if this way is doable, I would save quite a bit of money. I already have a inventory of most aquarium dry ferts/minerals (general GH/KH boosters and plant macros and micros)

What instrument is best to use for accurately measuring salinity? Hydrometer, Refractometer, etc?
I've been recommend to get a refractometer, but just wanted to get more confirmation. Think the cheap $20 eBay ones just as well as the branded ones?

I was browsing some online and I see some refractometers are used for different purposes (wine, fruit juice, sugar, to alcohol to car fluids, etc) and they have different "Measuring Range" percentages (0-100%, 0-10%, 0-28%, 0-32% Brix, 0-40% Brix scale, etc.). I have no idea what "Measuring Range" version I would get. But it seems 0-100% (0-10%) is the one I want? Most/all of them seem to be able to measure the salinity I would need (they would measure 1.000-1.070sg, some even 1.000-1.120sg). What is typical saltwater salinity? If I am getting one, I might as well get one that could do the job for Brackish and Saltwater (if I ever venture into saltwater tanks)


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## alto (21 Apr 2016)

What's in Table Salt? 

If you consider that many brackish water fish come from areas where the "brackish" component is provided by the sea, I'd use Marine or Reef formulations rather than table salt (note that depending on country, not all additives need be listed) ... depending on livestock sensitivity, table salt  may/may not act as a stressor.



WaterLife said:


> Opae Ula shrimp and Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis


these would be quite expensive in my area (& a very lucky find!), so I'd be opting for marine/reef salt _just in case _


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## dw1305 (21 Apr 2016)

Hi all, 





WaterLife said:


> I already have a inventory of most aquarium dry ferts/minerals (general GH/KH boosters and plant macros and micros)


What plants are you going to try and grow? I think your water will be too salty for most angiosperms other than Mangrove (_Rhizophora mangle_)  and "Eel-grasses" _Thalassia testudinum_, _Syringodium filiforme_, _Halodule wrightii_ and _Halophila engelmannii_. _Ruppia maritima_ and _Vallisneria americana_ might also be possibilities, some-one will know hopefully which ones will grow, and what is available commercially. 

Some marine algae should also work, there is a list <"here">.





WaterLife said:


> If so, I should be able to just dose Sodium Chloride in it's cheapest/purest form to take care of the salinity part. And I would just make sure to meet the GH/KH requirements for the livestock by using remineralizers if needed. That would work just as well, right? Haha. Was just looking at some InstantOcean brand salt water mix and the price for that would definitely add up, so if this way is doable, I would save quite a bit of money.


Table salt is sodium chloride and just NaCl (with a small amount of iodine (as NaI or KI) and magnesium carbonate (MgCO3)), it won't contain all the other constituents of sea water. I don't think you can easily replicate sea-water, and I wouldn't use table salt.

"Natural sea salt produced by the solar evaporative process" will contain the other 70 elements that are constituents of sea water. I don't see any problem with using  this.

"Marine or Reef salts" are "natural sea salt produced by the evaporative process" plus additional magnesium (Mg++ in solution), , calcium (Ca++) and carbonates (HCO3-).





WaterLife said:


> What is typical saltwater salinity? If I am getting one, I might as well get one that could do the job for Brackish and Saltwater (if I ever venture into saltwater tanks)


Sea-water is 35ppt. You can get a refractometer, but for the brackish aquarium I would use a conductivity meter, full salinity  sea water is about 53,000 microS (53 milliS/cm).

I'd mix 33:66 sea water:tap water, make sure the temperature is about 27oC and then measure the conductivity (and/or the density). When you change water just adjust the tank conductivity to the same level with added saline (too low) or tap (too high) water.

cheers Darrel


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## EdwinK (21 Apr 2016)

My advice would be to check on specific water parameters for particular fish or shrimp. As you can imagine the word "brackish" covers the area between the point from the coast to the point far away in the sea where fresh water is still apparent. In my case when I was breeding Amano shrimp natural sea salt (without iodine) and baking soda (for raising kH) was all that I needed. I had a very hard (30 gH) tap water though.


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## dw1305 (22 Apr 2016)

Hi all,


WaterLife said:


> Opae Ula shrimp and Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis





EdwinK said:


> My advice would be to check on specific water parameters for particular fish or shrimp.


There isn't really a specific salinity requirement for either species, they are both <"euryhaline">. 

According to the authoritative _<"_Home of the Rainbowfish_"> Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis_ tolerate a wide range of salinity, all the way from freshwater to hypersaline (40 ppt NaCl)_, _but are most frequently found in mangrove swamps. 





> ....Although they are most often found in brackish mangrove areas, I successfully bred and raised the fry in both brackish and fresh water over a period of three years. I had no problems keeping and breeding them under the following water conditions: temperature 21-27°C, pH 7.1-8.5, conductivity 227-560 µS/cm, TDS 230-290 ppm and hardness 130-140 ppm. Most spawning activity was recorded at a temperature range of 25-27°C; pH 7.7 - 8.5 and conductivity 265-560 µS/cm. Many hobbyists, however, report that they will live longer, breed more freely, and produce more offspring if maintained in brackish water. 25-50% seawater made up with one of the commercially available salt mixes should suit them fine.


I found a paper about breeding Opae Ula shrimps<"Reproduction and Development in _Halocaridina rubra _Holthuis, 1963 (Crustacea: Atyidae) Clarifies Larval Ecology in the Hawaiian Anchialine Ecosystem"> I had to look up "Anchialine", but the answer is





> ....a landlocked body of water with a subterranean connection to the ocean. Anchialine pools are a feature of coastal aquifers which are density stratified, with the water near the surface being fresh or brackish, and saline water intruding from the coast below at some depth.


cheers Darrel


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## Laika (30 May 2016)

Bit of a late reply but You will need marine salt like 'instant ocean' salt and i would aim for a salinity of 1.010 up to 1.015 to keep the Opae ula happy.

ps, I wouldn't use tap water with the shrimp it will probably kill them, they should be kept in RO water mixed with your marine salt.


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