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Hello and questions about water Chemistry for Tangs

N

Nitwig

Members
Hi guys, Im from Massachusetts and found your website and decided to join the forums. After reading some threads, I can tell that you have a nice helpful community here. I have been keeping fish for around 16 years and recently have gotten back into it a lot. I have 3 Tanganyikan tanks and my fish seem to be doing well. I have only one fish that got sick when I fed him a dead Firemouth fry that was a bit fungusy (not a real word I don't think) I was new to raising fry and wasn't feeding them enough, that's why they were dying. (the rest are flourishing after I wised up) The fry were from a community tank in a Chinese restaurant that I maintain and I siphoned out about 60 of them because I knew the rest would die. Anyways one of my Julies ate the fungused fry and has gotten bloat. I even separated her and medicated with Clout and she seemed better, but now back in the main 180 gallon tank she is not really eating and she looks like a starved banana, she won't die for some reason though..... anyways enough of my rambling... my question is this: My PH is around 7.6 and I have crushed coral (old) in my 75, dolomite (old) in my 180 and Coral Sea Eco complete cichlid sand (new) in my 36 gallon shellie tank. I use Seachem rift lake salt in all my tanks at the recommended dosage and I use Kosher Salt/Epsom Salt at a 1 to 1 ration as well. So for every twenty gallons of water I add 1 tablespoon of Cichlid salt and 1 tablespoon of the Kosher/Epsom salt mix. Is this a good combination? Is it overkill? I don't use any buffers since my water is pretty hard and alkaline from the tap and I change 20% of my water once a week using Amquel (might switch to Prime) The reason I am asking is that I worry about Bloat (because of my Julie) and I read that salt might be a cause of bloat. That being said 2 of my Cyps were holding (not any more since the males won't stop bothering the females) My leleupi have spawned (quite a few babies still alive in 180 gallon) and my Multies have had fry. (not sure where they went 1 alive and growing) Anyways guys I'm sorry for the long initial post and I am also sorry for all the parentheses. I hope that my rambling hasn't put you all to sleep and I would just like to wish you all a warm hello
 
F8LBITE

F8LBITE

Members
Hi Nitwig!! Welcome to the forum, we do indeed have an awesome community here! Ive always thought salt is a sort of laxitive for constipated fish. 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons is what ive read is the dosage and you're only at 1 tablespoon per 20G. Tnags like higher PH than 7.6 so keep that in mind too. Good luck!
 
maddog10

maddog10

Members
Most Tangs would probably adapt and do just fine with pH of 7.6.

Why are you adding the salt?
I am a firm believer of not adding anything to the water unless it is absolutely needed.

Welcome to the site!
 
N

Nitwig

Members
Well I add salt mainly because I have been doing it for a while. I didn't want to spend the money on Cichlid salts and was told by someone at the Boston Aquarium society that I could make my own by combining Kosher salt and Epsom salt at a 1 to 1 ratio and adding it to water at 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. I switched to Seachem Rift lake cichlid salt but still add a much lessened dosage with the thought that the extra magnesium and sodium could keep the water hardness and Ph up I guess. I have been considering dropping the homemade mix and just using the Seachem. I just wanted to hear other peoples thoughts on the homemade Cichlid salts and their experiences.
 
maddog10

maddog10

Members
I asked because, if your pH is up and the water is already hard, there is no reason to add any of the salts (unless there is a problem).
 
N

Nitwig

Members
hmm... so you are saying to not only stop with my homebrew salts, but also the Seachem Cichlid salt? It is so hard to know what is best to use. Seachem would have you use their buffer, their salt and their trace elements. So many people use so many products. I think the cheap Cichlid salts you get in stores are little more than my homebrew stuff but in a retail package. Sort of like the way some companies sell baking soda in the pet store at exorbitant prices. I guess the truth of the matter is that the fish are adaptable and you could probably use as much or as little additive as you wanted assuming the PH and Hardness were in their target range. Oh well, I think I will stick with the Seachem salts but eliminate the homebrew
 
longstocking

longstocking

Members
I don't use any salts :)
I do use baking soda to keep the ph/kh up :)

I have mostly tangs and they do great and breed constantly. I used to mess with salts.... now I only use them for sick/beat up fish.
 
S

Steve

Members
Hi Nitwig,

First off, someone from Mass (Boooyaah!) should be keeping Malawis or Victorians, but I realize that sometimes that Yankees influence can sneak in . . . under the door . . . like a bad smell.

I started off, like a lot of folks, using the additives sold to make the water harder and more alk for rift lake cichlids. I gradually stopped, and now I use nothing but tap water and dechlor because my water is fine . . . as it sounds like yours is ("my water is pretty hard and alkaline from the tap").

Steve
 
N

Nitwig

Members
Are Tanganyikans somehow like the Yankees? The dark side and what not? Those of us from Massachusetts don't like to have the Yankees mentioned at all especially when we are talking bout fish :angry: You see, some of my tanks like my shrimp and angelfish tank have a very low PH in the 5.5 range and I want to make sure that doesn't happen with my Tangs. I think the PH is low in the other tanks because they have been setup with plants and driftwood for many years. The substrate in my African tanks is old (15 years) and I think it must have lost it buffering capacity.
 
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