Hi all..

[Stib]

Hi,

Not new to fishkeeping but not kept tropical fish for quite a few years, I've just shut down my marine setup and converting to tropical setup.
Debated if to use a canister filter or use the sump think I'm going down the sump route though I need to add another pane of glass to make sure the water go down through the media and not bounce on it and straight over into the next section.
I've flushed the tank quite a few times to the happiness of the missus lol, 615 liters each time (60x24x24 plus sump)
I'm not sure atm what salinity value is of fresh water as its never needed to be checked but the marine setup was 35 ppt and after the flushes its now down to 1.2 ppt am I correct thinking that's about correct for fresh water?
Undecided what I'm going to keep atm though I like the thought of some kind of planted setup which would make use of the Apex system with the ph probe

That's a little introduction will post a pic of the tank/setup later.

Cheers
Stib

 

[Byron]

Welcome to TFF.

Freshwater fish species live in water that has basically (if not exactly) no salinity at all. Salt is something that should only be used to treat specific diseases (it is excellent for parasites like ich and velvet, though some fish species cannot tolerate this) but not permanently. It does nothing beneficial, but does affect the fish's physiology. Some species are more vulnerable than others; livebearers for example tend to tolerate salt better than any soft water species, though this does not mean it is wise to subject livebearers to salt at any level.

I have an article online about the effects of salt on freshwater fish that may provide the explanation:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/SaltArtHosking.htm

Byron.