Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Guys

I have problems with Trichodina in my starting set up. So i plan to raise Salinity to 5 to 6 ppt. The Problem is that un iodized salt is not realy avaiable here in the Philippines, except Seasalt, but i Need to order that online and its Xmas time, that will take like for ever for delivery.

So i came up with the plan to raise salinity with adding seawater to my tank, since i live close to the sea.

Seawater salinity is according to the web roughly 35 gramms salt per Liter. I run a 3000 Liter tank, raising that amount of water to 6ppt would need around 18kg salt.
With 35 gramms of salt per Liter seawater that would Need around 500 Liters of seawater added to my tank.

What you guys think of that? Anybody has experience with adding seawater instead of NaCl to the tank?

Thanks for your reply

Tom

My concern with adding sea water would be the potential of introducing something else you don't want into your system.

Swimming pool salt should be available

Im pretty sure I had Trichodina a couple of yrs ago on my little murray cod , I went with the potassium permanganate dip .

I thought I would kill them all it was pretty confronting , however some were swimming on their sides near enough dead so had little to lose . They all recovered in a system salted to 3ppt.

I have read of people using sea water to add trace elements , you could heat water to boiling if you were concerned about adding pathogens .

Hi Guys

Thanks for the replies. I did it a raise with seawater to 3ppt 3 days ago..and so far so good, seems the tilapias feel fine, and i can observe less strange "Scratching" behavior.
One thing realy amazed me when i added the seawater.
The whole swarm of 400 Tilapia Fingerlings where Swimming in the flow of the pure Seawater when i added it..i did feed them while adding the water..they went short to eat in the middle of the Pond, and directly back into the the saltwaterflow after, like they loved it very much..

They probably know its doing them good!

Tilapia are often farmed in brackish water actually, and I hear that flavour is improved if their last few weeks is in saltier water.

It would be interesting to know what level of salt most plants can tolerate (I hear strawberries are sensitive), as most freshwater fish will normally grow better in water with some salt, as less energy is expended on osmo-regulation. Perhaps the general risk of fungal and bacterial infections is reduced too, not to mention nitrite and ammonia toxicity.

Thanks for all your replies..finally found a store where i can buy swimming pool salt (industrial salt), so no worries anymore about getting my tankwater contaminated with bugs which might be living in the seawater..