Advice on salt?

[Rocky998]

Yeah I probably should have done that in the first place. I don’t think I could be bothered to completely redo the substrate in the tank

Sorry I meant to add that what I said was sarcasm... It was based on a previous conversation that happened between me and him. It should be ok to replace the substrate a little at a time

 

[AmyKieran]

Ph, GH & KH need to go up.
You can add some of the Rift Lake salts to a container of tank water, mix them thoroughly and then slowly add that to the tank. Do that a couple of times a week or start doing water changes a couple of times a week with harder water made from the Rift Lake salts. It will go up pretty quick.

Thankyou for your advice I’ll add it to my next water change. I was a little concerned with my nitrates being 20, because my fish died about a month ago I had to completely start again with fresh water and was forced to do a fish in cycle, which I believe my tank is still cycling . Once my tank has fully cycled am I expecting these nitrates to not get as high?

 

[AmyKieran]

Sorry I meant to add that what I said was sarcasm... It was based on a previous conversation that happened between me and him. It should be ok to replace the substrate a little at a time

Oh okay thankyou anyway!!

 

[Colin_T]

There was 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite so that would indicate the filter has cycled, unless you did a huge water change before testing the water.

You try to keep nitrates below 20ppm at all times but it's hard to do so we suggest doing a big (75%) water change each week to try and keep them at or below 20ppm. If you add lots of food and have lots of fish in the tank, the nitrates can go up pretty quickly. If you only have a few fish or only feed a few times a week, the nitrates won't go up as fast or as high.

If you grow live aquatic plants in the tank, they use some of the ammonia and help reduce the nitrates. Most floating plants are fine in Rift Lake tanks and some fish will eat them as part of their natural diet, while other fish ignore the plants. But most cichlids will dig up plants and cause them to float. Water Sprite and Duckweed are 2 good floating plants to try.

 

[AmyKieran]

There was 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite so that would indicate the filter has cycled, unless you did a huge water change before testing the water.

You try to keep nitrates below 20ppm at all times but it's hard to do so we suggest doing a big (75%) water change each week to try and keep them at or below 20ppm. If you add lots of food and have lots of fish in the tank, the nitrates can go up pretty quickly. If you only have a few fish or only feed a few times a week, the nitrates won't go up as fast or as high.

If you grow live aquatic plants in the tank, they use some of the ammonia and help reduce the nitrates. Most floating plants are fine in Rift Lake tanks and some fish will eat them as part of their natural diet, while other fish ignore the plants. But most cichlids will dig up plants and cause them to float. Water Sprite and Duckweed are 2 good floating plants to try.

I have 50 cichlids and normally do about a 40% water change every week. I also feed twice a day. Will this be enough to keep them down? Or will I only know by testing? And no my nitrates were tested without any water change

 

[Colin_T]

You will have to test the water before doing a water change.

If the nitrates go up rapidly between water changes, then either do bigger water changes, reduce feeding, reduce the number of fish in the tank, add some live plants, or do water changes several times a week instead of just once a week.

 

[AmyKieran]

You will have to test the water before doing a water change.

If the nitrates go up rapidly between water changes, then either do bigger water changes, reduce feeding, reduce the number of fish in the tank, add some live plants, or do water changes several times a week instead of just once a week.

Okay I’ll keep an eye out, if by next water change the nitrates stay below 20, I’m okay to keep doing what I’m doing?

 

[10 Tanks]

I’ve read that using salt regularly in water changes improves the health of the fish. I added for the first time 1 tablespoon of api into a 1l jug of tank water, dissolved it and put it into my 190l tank and the fish look lots more active and healthier! Would you then reccomend I add anymore or just now on water changes?

Hello AmyKieran...

Here's one reporter's opinion: If you faithfully change around half the tank water weekly, I would say you don't need it. One of the benefits of aquarium salt is that it can help the fish deal with slightly higher levels of dissolved waste in the water. So, by just removing and replacing half the tank water every week, the waste material or nitrogen never builds up to a level high enough to harm your fish.

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[AmyKieran]

Hello AmyKieran...

Here's one reporter's opinion: If you faithfully change around half the tank water weekly, I would say you don't need it. One of the benefits of aquarium salt is that it can help the fish deal with slightly higher levels of dissolved waste in the water. So, by just removing and replacing half the tank water every week, the waste material or nitrogen never builds up to a level high enough to harm your fish.

10

I religiously change my water every single week on the same day, but I have 50 fish in my tank so waste buildup is very quick, Will this still apply? I am also starting using cichlid lake salt but that’s for a different reason

 

[Essjay]

With that many fish in the tank you may need to increase the amount of water you change, or do changes a week. It's not just nitrogenous waste which builds up, many other things do too. Fish excrete more than ammonia and they secrete hormones for communication. These all need to be removed by water changes. (Years ago I worked in a hospital lab and you'd be amazed at the things we tested in urine. Fish excrete similar, if not identical, things)

 

[10 Tanks]

I religiously change my water every single week on the same day, but I have 50 fish in my tank so waste buildup is very quick, Will this still apply? I am also starting using cichlid lake salt but that’s for a different reason

Hello again...

Seachem's products are very good, but it's a bit pricey. Standard aquarium salt will work as well and is much less expensive. Salt will benefit fish in general, but isn't a requirement. The more water you change and the more often you do it, the better.

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[Essjay]

Salt does help protect fish against nitrite, but in a cycled tank there should be no nitrite. I have not read anything which says it protects against nitrate. If salt was a miracle cure for nitrate, those with high tap nitrate would use it instead of the methods they have to use to remove nitrate.

Aquarium salt is sodium chloride.
Aquarium salt will not harden soft water. Hardness is divalent metals, mainly calcium and magnesium with trace amounts of other metals. Sodium is monovalent and does not contribute to hardness.
Aquarium salt doesn't affect KH either. That's a measure of carbonate and bicarbonate; salt does not contain these.
Adding salt will result in salty soft water.

 

[itiwhetu]

But the fish may decide to die if you re do your scape. Don't do that!

You are really just a child aren't you. What I'm suggesting to do here is to save the OP lots of money and I have proved in the past that you can run African Cichlids using rain water, using this method and nothing else.

First algae disc for my cichlids

Electric Yellows first algae disc

www.fishforums.net

 

[Rocky998]

we really need an eye roll reaction...

 

[Colin_T]

I wouldn't keep Rift Lake cichlids in rain water. It's not natural for them. Just like I wouldn't put marine fish in freshwater.

Africa's Rift Lakes have a lot of minerals in and the fish have been living in those lakes for a very long time. If you want the fish to live in a natural environment that is similar to their wild habitat, then add some minerals or use hard water for them.

People don't keep neon tetras, cardinal tetras and discus in really hard water with a high pH, so why keep Rift Lake cichlids in really soft water with a neutral or lower pH.