Salt and African Cichlids

[bikinguy]

Hi All,

Just got back from a lfs that had a nice selection of africans and was told they always put salt in their tanks.

At present I do not add salt and am wondering if I should start.

Let me know what you have learned through exp.

The main rational I have heard for adding salt is it stimulates the slim coat making the fish more resistant to illness.

[Zulaab]

Both are correct, and it adds some of the lost nutrients back into the water if you do a lot of water changes. Most people here on the forum I dont believe uses salts, but there are specific kinds you can get, lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Victoria salts. Personally I use Kent Marine's Cichlid chemistry. I have found it to add a little more color to my Tropheus, but its not noticeable to anyone besides me who look at them every day. I would only be looking to add this to a tank that has wild caught fish as anyone raised in Houston water, will be completely used to what Houston water gives already to the tank. Just my two cents.

[fshfrk]

Some LFS's add salt because of chronic ICH. Also because it prevents disease. They have holding tanks. They need to move the fish. Constantley adding new fish and new problem's. It help's keep fish loss to a minimum. I do not use salt anymore but a lot of experianced fish people do. Do not add too much.

[bikinguy]

salt

Thanks for the input guys.

I am not messing with the salt.

I can see though if you are in the fish shop business it may be worth it to add a bit of salt

[RonR.]

I keep wc mobas and have been using salt for years. I use a home-made cichlid buffer recipe that includes epsom salt, baking soda and Instant Ocean. The recipe can be found in the library section at the cichlid-forum website.

I used to buy the expensive Cichlid salts via mail-order/web when I had a smaller 75g tank. I do a 50% wc weekly in my 180g and when I add new water, I add Prime and once my tank is full again, I add the cichlid buffer recipe.

I buy bulk........epsom salt from CVS in the 8 lb bag and a 12 lb bucket of baking soda from Sams. Both are under $8 each. I buy the big bucket of Instant Ocean for about $45.

My mobas don't get sick very often. When they get scrapes the salt helps heal them back. The epsom salt keeps their digestive system cleaned out.

[John 5]

Will the blue can of Morton's Salt work? It says no iodides.

[imagirlgeek]

Are you talking about the Morton's Solar Salt? If so, yeah. I buy the big blue bag of Solar Salt and use that.