Does Cichlid likes salt?

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lozt

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Here something I found on the net.

Plants do not like salt. Cichlid's like lots of salt in their tanks!! It makes them healthier and the colors look allot better.
From what I can understand, Chiclid likes high pH level around 7-8, but salt lowers the pH level.
This is where I get confused.. .

Anyone able to shed some light on this issue?
 

lozt

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I did a water test with API Salt and the color turned blue (low pH), but I did read on a few sites that they do like salt. *shrug*
 

SubRosa

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I did a water test with API Salt and the color turned blue (low pH), but I did read on a few sites that they do like salt. *shrug*
Blue is a high reading on an API pH kit, yellow is low. You may need the High Range pH kit if you get a blue result on the low range.
 

oo7genie

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Nov 18, 2010
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What kind of cichlids are they? There are several thousand varieties, and some like different PH levels than others.

Salt does not lower PH. What was the actual measurement? (not just the color). Did you test it before adding the salt as well? If not, the PH may have already been lower. Are you certain you were using the correct test? The API PH test includes both a high level and low level PH test. Try testing with both to find an accurate measurement.

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oo7genie

Hello my fintime gal...
Nov 18, 2010
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And its true, plants do not do well with salt.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

lozt

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The water I tested with are Jewels cichlid.
I to took over the tank a little less then a month ago and added some low/med light pants.

Actually, i got it mixed up, it turned yellow from blue.

I tested it again, with API test kit using both low and high pH.

The low pH, default maxed out at the blue level, and on high pH, it was 8.2
I put about 20% API salt in the 5ml tube (not the tank) in both and the low pH changed to 6.2 and the high pH was lighter then 7.4 color on the chart
 

SubRosa

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Jul 3, 2009
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The water I tested with are Jewels cichlid.
I to took over the tank a little less then a month ago and added some low/med light pants.

Actually, i got it mixed up, it turned yellow from blue.

I tested it again, with API test kit using both low and high pH.

The low pH, default maxed out at the blue level, and on high pH, it was 8.2
I put about 20% API salt in the 5ml tube (not the tank) in both and the low pH changed to 6.2 and the high pH was lighter then 7.4 color on the chart
Re check the pH a few hours after adding the salt and aerating the sample.When you add that much sea salt (which is exactly what API salt is) you are really skewing the O2/CO2 balance of the water, due to dissociation of the carbonates. A few hours of aeration will give you a true reading.
 

lozt

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should i leave the cap off of the test tube?
 

SubRosa

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