Extreme beginners question- whats brackish
- Thread starter Jayrod7
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Brackish means salty,say a density of 1012sg.I'm not really sure on that but something between 2-4 tsp per gallon of aquarium salt.Maybe someone who knows more will confirm this,or not.
Hornwort is a nice enough plant but floats off easily as it doesn't really develop roots.Needs medium to high light.
Hornwort is a nice enough plant but floats off easily as it doesn't really develop roots.Needs medium to high light.
Brackish water means water which is part way between fresh water and marine or sea water. To put a value on it, a specific gravity of around 1.005 is suitable with anything between 1.002 and 1.008 being quite acceptable.
The specific gravity is simply a measure of the density of water; the more salt added, the greater the density of the water. Pure distilled fresh water has a specific gravity of 1.000; sea water has a specific gravity of around 1.020 to 1.024 although this can vary around the world, with temperature and with the depth of water. To measure this value for your aquarium water you require an instrument called a hydrometer. These are readily available in most good aquatic retailers but one major problem exists; namely that manufacturers seem to produce them almost exclusively for the marine fish keeper. Because of this, they are only calibrated for values much higher than those required for the average brackish water aquarium - usually around 1.018 to 1.030. A good alternative is a plastic hydrometer of the kind used by home brewers. These are quite cheap and you can easily obtain one from any shop that sells home-brewing equipment. They are ideal, being designed to measure in the required range.
The specific gravity is simply a measure of the density of water; the more salt added, the greater the density of the water. Pure distilled fresh water has a specific gravity of 1.000; sea water has a specific gravity of around 1.020 to 1.024 although this can vary around the world, with temperature and with the depth of water. To measure this value for your aquarium water you require an instrument called a hydrometer. These are readily available in most good aquatic retailers but one major problem exists; namely that manufacturers seem to produce them almost exclusively for the marine fish keeper. Because of this, they are only calibrated for values much higher than those required for the average brackish water aquarium - usually around 1.018 to 1.030. A good alternative is a plastic hydrometer of the kind used by home brewers. These are quite cheap and you can easily obtain one from any shop that sells home-brewing equipment. They are ideal, being designed to measure in the required range.
I keep my brackish tank at 1.012 SG. You need marine salt not just aquarium salt. Aquarium salt lacks all the trace elements needed for brackish conditions.
The composition of marine salt is:
Element ppm
Chloride, Cl 19,500
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, Pr 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
The composition of marine salt is:
Element ppm
Chloride, Cl 19,500
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, Pr 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
Brackish tanks use marine salt, not aquarium salt! Aquarium salt is mainly used as a preventative measure.
Like already stated, brackish water is a combination of fresh and saltwater. Rivers and streams that run from the ocean have both fresh and saltwater in them, which makes them brackish. Just like freshwater and saltwater, there are some fish that are best suited in brackish water. Puffer fish, mollies, green scats and some gobies all prefer brackish water although each type is different.
Like already stated, brackish water is a combination of fresh and saltwater. Rivers and streams that run from the ocean have both fresh and saltwater in them, which makes them brackish. Just like freshwater and saltwater, there are some fish that are best suited in brackish water. Puffer fish, mollies, green scats and some gobies all prefer brackish water although each type is different.
Here is a good link about Brackish Aquariums, it might help answer some of your questions. I would not suggest putting fresh water fish in a brackish aquarium - just as you would not put a fresh water fish in salt water or vice versa.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/brackish/brackish.html
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/brackish/brackish.html
A few, very few true freshwater fish will be able to live long in strong brackish conditions. I can't explain the details with it, but it has to do with the osmosis of the cells of the fish. However most FW fish will be able to adapt very slowly to light brackish waters. This isn't something that the new hobbist would want to attempt as it can be easy to end up with a dead tank of fish. Pick either fresh or brackish to start with, learn the ropes some, and then expand out some.
You may feel that your's is a beginners question, but if you don't ask them you won't know.
You may feel that your's is a beginners question, but if you don't ask them you won't know.