Are africans......

[MIKE D]

are african cichlids brackish water fish? I went to a great little pet shop in NH today and they had there africans it brackish water. I asked the lady who was working there why they were in brackish water and she said that the three lakes were brackish water. is this true?

[Lupin]

No, they are not brackish water. They thrive in hard alkaline water and although almost close to brackish, the salinity is nowhere near to brackish conditions. What salt did they use? Mineral salts are different from the marine salt we use for brackish setups and aquarium salt we use to treat diseases.

[jm1212]

adding salt to an african tank can acctually be bad for the fish.

[Slappy*McFish]

I agree, hard water and brackish water are too very different things. The rift lakes definitely are 'not' brackish.

[sheenalynn34]

how can salt be bad for arfricans? i use salt in my tanks!!!

[MIKE D]

I dont know what salt they use. The lady admitted that she didnt know alot about fish. I thought the lakes were landlocked.

[Lupin]

how can salt be bad for arfricans? i use salt in my tanks!!!
Sheena, unfortunately, you are misinformed of the fact that salt can help the freshwater fish. If you read articles on osmoregulation and osmotic shock, you will learn why the use of salt long-term is detrimental to the fish's health. What salt did you use? Who told you that salt helps the fish? Salt is not a miracle product that can prevent all diseases. It can treat diseases but it will never prevent them.;) Furthermore, prolonged use of salt can cause resistant strains of ich making your situation harder to prevent than it was ever intended as nature would.


I dont know what salt they use. The lady admitted that she didnt know alot about fish. I thought the lakes were landlocked.
Oh well..She shouldn't continue giving out information unless she knows what she is talking about.

[ibr3ak]

They probably just add buffers to help with ph, gh, kh and other trace elements, which are commonly referred to as african cichlid salts.

[Mij]

are african cichlids brackish water fish? I went to a great little pet shop in NH today and they had there africans it brackish water. I asked the lady who was working there why they were in brackish water and she said that the three lakes were brackish water. is this true?
Another example of lfs employees not knowing what they are talking about.

[MIKE D]

They probably just add buffers to help with ph, gh, kh and other trace elements, which are commonly referred to as african cichlid salts.
Well if it helps there was a spotted puffer in the next tank.

[stephen666]

get some rift lake cichlid salts .. they work awsome......ph 8.4 very alky...also i use aragonite in my afro tank and it buffers awesome

[Marinemom]

That's what I was going to say. I was thinking the only thing close to salt that is added to a tank full of African cichlids is something called African rift lake salts or something like that. It just buffers the water to make the tank water in the African tank more like their natural habitat.

Marinemom