DIY cichlid 'salt' mix

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
5,776
0
0
Mobile, Alabama
Real Name
Andrew
Does anyone know of a reliable recipe for a malawian salt mix? I need this for a commercial scale system, so the otherwise commercial additives are too expensive. The water here is very soft and somewhat acidic--1-2 dKH, 3GH, pH 6.7 all out of the tap. I assume I will need something along the lines of sodium bicarbonate, magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride (or sulfate, but there is a much smaller Ca ratio, anyway, so would the added Cl- be a problem?). Some suggest potassium chloride and sodium chloride, but the general consensus here is to generally omit them, though they seem to be major players in supposed analyses. What if I used a small amount of sea salt (which we do have cheap) to satisfy the latter two? If not, any recommendations on ratios per gallon, etc? Oh, and it seems that our substrates only buffer long enough until they get a biofilm on them, then they lose a lot of their 'umph', hence the need to help it out.

TIA,
Andrew
 

liv2padl

cichlidophile
Oct 30, 2005
2,686
0
0
north carolina
there is no "one cichlid salt does it all" mix. many cichlids are native to very acidic and low mineral content waters while others emanate from highly alkaline, hard water. you need to be much more specific with regard to the salt composition (if any) you add to a tank.

soooo, what cichlids are we talking about here?
 

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
5,776
0
0
Mobile, Alabama
Real Name
Andrew
Does anyone know of a reliable recipe for a malawian salt mix? I need this for a commercial scale system, so the otherwise commercial additives are too expensive. The water here is very soft and somewhat acidic--1-2 dKH, 3GH, pH 6.7 all out of the tap. I assume I will need something along the lines of sodium bicarbonate, magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride (or sulfate, but there is a much smaller Ca ratio, anyway, so would the added Cl- be a problem?). Some suggest potassium chloride and sodium chloride, but the general consensus here is to generally omit them, though they seem to be major players in supposed analyses. What if I used a small amount of sea salt (which we do have cheap) to satisfy the latter two? If not, any recommendations on ratios per gallon, etc? Oh, and it seems that our substrates only buffer long enough until they get a biofilm on them, then they lose a lot of their 'umph', hence the need to help it out.

TIA,
Andrew
Malawian cichlids, as noted above. Thanks for your reply.
 

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
5,776
0
0
Mobile, Alabama
Real Name
Andrew
oops, sorry i missed that.
No big deal. I miss things all the time. This is actually for the store I work at. I am normally cloistered in the saltwater department there, but when I heard that we just add sea salt to our african system (~250 gallons), I felt like :eek: . I thought to myself, "that has all the wrong ratios in it. Too much NaCl per unit of all the other salts, for sure." It would be way too salty in this regard but you would still end up with water that is too soft. So, I am just looking for something (better than straight sea salt) that we can use to mix in bulk for when we do water changes from a readily available source, (i.e. Home Depot/Lowe's). So, any ideas?
 
Last edited:

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
5,776
0
0
Mobile, Alabama
Real Name
Andrew
do you really need to add salt? you can raise the pH and hardness of your water by adding rockwork to your tank, or putting crushed coral in the filters.
The way this tank is partitioned, that would take quite a bit and there really is no place to put it. I also mentioned earlier that this stuff eventually either exhausts or is coated in a biofilm, limiting or halting its buffering abilities, as I have noticed this in active tanks. I just want something that is relatively easy to add once mixed into a homogeneous form and is more of a long term fix (at relatively low expense on our part).
 

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
5,776
0
0
Mobile, Alabama
Real Name
Andrew
Anyone have any ideas or use some sort of formula/mixture? I know there has to be something out there. It doesn't have to perfectly replicate every single ionic ratio, just something to give KH, GH, and pH in something that I can mix with water that is changed out.
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store