ive been keeping fish with great success for over 2 years and i always looked into things before doing...as all know i am redoing my tank from a planted barb to a rocky cichlid....well i converted it all over and researched fish that i may want...i am ready to buy fish so i went to my lfs and found out new info about cichlids(lake tang) that no one on here or at my lfs told me...i need salt in the tank to make it brackish...from what i was told yesturday that american cichlids i cAn use just water but for the type i wanted i need brackish...yelo labs, electric blues and so on....so before jumping into things first do ur homework it will help greatly....
its good to research before jumping in??
- Thread starter snoce
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And while doing your homework its also a good idea to make sure the information you get is correct.
Lake Tanganyika is not brackish. Lake Malawi, the home of the fish you listed, is not brackish either.
Why in God's name your LFS would tell you that is beyond me. These are lakes found in the middle of the African continent. Where are they going to see brackish water there?
The closest thing I could think of as to why they said to add salt is to raise the GH of the water. But even this type of salt isn't the same stuff that you add to make a tank brackish. The Rift Lakes in Africa are harder than the waters of South America. But adding just salt isn't going to make it right for them. If you need to adjust the hardness and pH of your tank then you need to do some more homework to find out the right types of salts and other buffers that need to be added.
If you already have hard water with a pH above 8.0 then you have nothing to worry about and do not need to add buffers to your tank.
Lake Tanganyika is not brackish. Lake Malawi, the home of the fish you listed, is not brackish either.
Why in God's name your LFS would tell you that is beyond me. These are lakes found in the middle of the African continent. Where are they going to see brackish water there?
The closest thing I could think of as to why they said to add salt is to raise the GH of the water. But even this type of salt isn't the same stuff that you add to make a tank brackish. The Rift Lakes in Africa are harder than the waters of South America. But adding just salt isn't going to make it right for them. If you need to adjust the hardness and pH of your tank then you need to do some more homework to find out the right types of salts and other buffers that need to be added.
If you already have hard water with a pH above 8.0 then you have nothing to worry about and do not need to add buffers to your tank.
NOW THIS GUY REALLY SOUNDED LIKE HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT...SO UR SAYING I RUINED MY TALK BY ADDING THE CICHLID SALT....I WANT TO GET ELECTRIC BLUES AND YELO LABS...CICHLIDS THAT HAVE MORE COLOR TO THEM AND THEY SAID IF I WANTED THOSE FISH I NEED TO ADD CICHLID SALT...SO WHATS THE DEAL IS THIS RIGHT OR WRONG....SORRY BOUT CAPS I AM USING PHOTOSHOP AT WORK AND I NEED CAPS ON FOR CERTAIN TASKS
I think it would be more reliable to add a pouch of coral to a canister filter than to try to use salt to increase hardness. I don't keep african cichlids but when I saw the brackish thing my mouth went - > 
I find more security in buying a good book. You never know what experience a lfs person has. He/she prolly heard that from someone who heard that from someone who took it as truth. You get the picture.
I find more security in buying a good book. You never know what experience a lfs person has. He/she prolly heard that from someone who heard that from someone who took it as truth. You get the picture.
I bought a book on rift lake cichlids back before I changed my mind and decided on discus. I read that thing from front to cover and it never mentioned salt. I have never heard of cichlid salt. You might want to send a private message to cichlid man, he's got the smarts for these fish to answer that question.
I thought about this for a second and looked at a few things on the internet. Don't get frustrated. Research is a valuable tool in this hobby, but patience ranks right up there as well. Your patience in the fact that you haven't thrown any fish in there yet is very good.
It appears that some people do add some salt to those Lake tang tanks. I thought about that for a minute and in their natural habitats they come from very rock waters with mineral rich banks. The salt may be added for the mineral content and trace elements. I can tell you that cichlids DO NOT come from brackish waters. So that is not the reason they told you to add salt. The amount of salt needed for brackish waters is between fresh and marine and would be too salty for these cichlids. Your next step would be to ask WHY they told you to add the salt. If they say that they come from brackish waters that is the wrong answer. If they said to raise the pH, that is the wrong answer for freshwater fish. There are better ways to do that. If they say it has beneficial trace elements and minerals for your fish then that may be worth researching. I see now that hey make salt specifically for cichlids, make sure if you choose to take that route that you use it and not sea salt or anything else not intended for them. Follow the directions to a T, or even cut the dose in half. If it's for mineral content then the cichlids can live without it so some is okay, too much is not. So I would find out WHY they suggested that.
It appears that some people do add some salt to those Lake tang tanks. I thought about that for a minute and in their natural habitats they come from very rock waters with mineral rich banks. The salt may be added for the mineral content and trace elements. I can tell you that cichlids DO NOT come from brackish waters. So that is not the reason they told you to add salt. The amount of salt needed for brackish waters is between fresh and marine and would be too salty for these cichlids. Your next step would be to ask WHY they told you to add the salt. If they say that they come from brackish waters that is the wrong answer. If they said to raise the pH, that is the wrong answer for freshwater fish. There are better ways to do that. If they say it has beneficial trace elements and minerals for your fish then that may be worth researching. I see now that hey make salt specifically for cichlids, make sure if you choose to take that route that you use it and not sea salt or anything else not intended for them. Follow the directions to a T, or even cut the dose in half. If it's for mineral content then the cichlids can live without it so some is okay, too much is not. So I would find out WHY they suggested that.
my normal ph is always around 7.2-7.4.....before i added the cichlid salt i tested the water...nitrates and amonia where at 0 the ph was low at around 6.6 or so...my ph is always steady at 7.2....but now i am using argonite sand which i think is crushed coral so thats why my ph is low....so what should i do now ...water changes till the salt is out of the water....i am stumped now
Ok, you didn't say anything about cichlid salt in the first post, you were talking about brackish. This made me very confused. And don't worry, you haven't ruined anything.
There are several different types of cichlids salts by a couple of different makers. Some only provide trace elements and minerals, while others are buffers. Whats the name of the stuff that you bought?
Rift Lake cichlids really do thrive better in water that has the chemistry close to that of the lake they come from. This is why replicating the water in our tanks is important. I buffer all my Tanganyikan tanks with regular epsom salt for GH, and Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) for kh and pH. I recently have starting using Kents Cichlid essential (sp). The Kents is a liquid that just adds trace elements and minerals. Probably not really needed, but can't hurt.
In short, they do best in hard, alkaline water. This really will bring out better color than if kept in softer more acidic water. And agian, I don't think that you ruined anything by adding the cichlid salt. In the end it may be unnessicary, but I can't see it harming the fish or making the tank unsuitable for them.
There are several different types of cichlids salts by a couple of different makers. Some only provide trace elements and minerals, while others are buffers. Whats the name of the stuff that you bought?
Rift Lake cichlids really do thrive better in water that has the chemistry close to that of the lake they come from. This is why replicating the water in our tanks is important. I buffer all my Tanganyikan tanks with regular epsom salt for GH, and Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) for kh and pH. I recently have starting using Kents Cichlid essential (sp). The Kents is a liquid that just adds trace elements and minerals. Probably not really needed, but can't hurt.
In short, they do best in hard, alkaline water. This really will bring out better color than if kept in softer more acidic water. And agian, I don't think that you ruined anything by adding the cichlid salt. In the end it may be unnessicary, but I can't see it harming the fish or making the tank unsuitable for them.
sorry bout not mentioning it was cichlid salt i just assumed you would have thought that was what i was using....again sorry...i dont know the name right now i am at work...it says to use 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons...i have crushed coral but also a large piece of dritfwood...my reading were b4 i added salt 0 for amonia and nitrates..ph was under 7...i havent done readings since i added salt i will do it when i get home....so what it sounds like is that i am ok ....should i continue to use the cichlid salt when i do water changes or isnt it needed....
Orion - what would be the best way for him to buffer his water? Baking soda or a commerical buffer? It appears his pH and/or buffering capacity is off. If you recommend baking soda, what is the correct dosage.
Snoce - as long as your using a cichlid safe salt I think you are okay as long as you dosed properly. I would say you need to worry about getting the pH up though before you add fish.
edit* removing the driftwood may help although I don't know it's size or if it makes a huge difference, but it may be removing some of your buffering capacity by releasing tanic acid into the water. Again thats a question better suited for orion or c-man.
Snoce - as long as your using a cichlid safe salt I think you are okay as long as you dosed properly. I would say you need to worry about getting the pH up though before you add fish.
edit* removing the driftwood may help although I don't know it's size or if it makes a huge difference, but it may be removing some of your buffering capacity by releasing tanic acid into the water. Again thats a question better suited for orion or c-man.
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If its just for trace elements then its totaly up to you if you want to continue adding it. Like I said, I just started adding some to mine, and while I haven't seen a real effect, I'm sure that if used at the right doseage, that it can't hurt anything.
A pH under 7 is way to low for any Rift Lake cichlids IMHO. I would get it up to 7.5 minimum. Above that would be great too. For Malawi, I would shoot for somewhere around 8.0 .
The driftwood may also be lowering your ph. Do you know the kH of your water? This is very important because this tells you what your buffering capacity of the water is. In other words how much acids can be added to the tank without it adjusting the pH. A high KH meens that it would take a lot of acids to lower it, but a low kH would meen that it wouldn't take much to do so. So if you have a low kH, and it sounds like you probably do, then the driftwood my very well be lowering the pH.
There are several manufactured buffers that will raise the kH and pH. But you can easily make your own much much cheaper. But it is very important to note that when you buffer a tank, you have to be consistant with it. My water is naturaly very soft with a low kH. I did an experiment a while back to see how quickly the kH would lower if left alone, meening without adding water or more buffers. In three weeks time my kH went from 20+, all the way down to 3. So you see how vital it is to change that water every week and add the same amount of buffers to keep the tank stable.
Its not difficult to buffer a tank and keep it where it needs to be. Like I said, consitancy is the key.
A pH under 7 is way to low for any Rift Lake cichlids IMHO. I would get it up to 7.5 minimum. Above that would be great too. For Malawi, I would shoot for somewhere around 8.0 .
The driftwood may also be lowering your ph. Do you know the kH of your water? This is very important because this tells you what your buffering capacity of the water is. In other words how much acids can be added to the tank without it adjusting the pH. A high KH meens that it would take a lot of acids to lower it, but a low kH would meen that it wouldn't take much to do so. So if you have a low kH, and it sounds like you probably do, then the driftwood my very well be lowering the pH.
There are several manufactured buffers that will raise the kH and pH. But you can easily make your own much much cheaper. But it is very important to note that when you buffer a tank, you have to be consistant with it. My water is naturaly very soft with a low kH. I did an experiment a while back to see how quickly the kH would lower if left alone, meening without adding water or more buffers. In three weeks time my kH went from 20+, all the way down to 3. So you see how vital it is to change that water every week and add the same amount of buffers to keep the tank stable.
Its not difficult to buffer a tank and keep it where it needs to be. Like I said, consitancy is the key.