sun sea and u guest it sand

[mjcole12]

i was reading a article on a web site yesterday and it said that you could use sand from a beach thats right from the sea in a cichlid tank

at first i was sceptical about the salt in the sand but then i found sites saying that you can use sea rock and such to help buffer the ph also is marine salt sutable to use to raise the ph of the water this would be very handy as i have about 50 kilos of the stuff from when i was going to start a marine tank


cheers mj

 

[Jamnog]

it hardens the water so ive been told tho i wouls rince the sand first.as for the rock i dont know about that you could end up putting in a rock that did someother thing to the water where as sand is a mix of all different rocks. i think it depends heavily on the water in your aria how acidic the water is and so on as to wether it is benifisial or not like ive said before im not an expert on water . there are people on the forum who will know more about this this time tomorow you should have a more accurate answer.

 

[sgtbirch]

I thinl your cichlids might enjoy a little salt.

 

[cichlidmaster]

If your talking about "live rock" of the type used in reef systems, then the answer is POSITIVELY NOT!!!

Live rock is just that....LIVE and would parish in a freshwater set up just like a marine animal would. Live rock would need a salinity of 1.023 or some such number and this salinity would kill most, if not all cichlids.

Salinity values and ph values are two totally different things!!

It would also start to rot, fouling your tank (just like dead fish) and eventually kill the fish in your tank due to a huge rise in ammonia.


CM

 

[mjcole12]

cm i have been studying marine fish inverts and other such things to do with a marine reef system for about 2 years and already know about live rock and the conditions the animals that colonise it need to live and know that they would not survive in a fresh water system i was refering to rocks or stones that had been in the sea or the beach that had no liveing organisms on them but contained salt as i have many large rocks in my garden that where collected from the beach would these be sutable for my tank


mj

ps dint meen for that to sound rude

 

[cichlidmaster]

mj,

No offense taken!! I was not sure what you meant and appreciate you clarifing it for me.

It's good to know that you have researched the marine requirements so extensively.

As for using these types of stones/rocks......I would be cautious at best!! They may in fact harbor parasites that could cause harm to your fish or system. IMO if you really want to use them, I would boil them prior to placing them in your tank!!

The ones in your garden I would only use if you were sure they would contain no types of fertilizer or pesticides!!

CM

 

[mjcole12]

ok thanks cm

 

[-=DG=-]

I went to a lake with my m8's and brought a load of rocks home. The only thing i checked for was that the rocks were not bits of brick, and the rocks arnt the chalky type. Only the hard type rocks.

But yes they could affect the ph, but as i've got a cichlid tank (malawi) i dont really matter