# too much salt???



## illnastyimpreza (Jul 31, 2009)

hey guys whats goin on ? I just bought a 55 gallon tank in hopes to go with salt water... BUT the fish seem to be too much money for my wallet right now. So I am going to buy a bunch of African chiclids instead.

I had dumped a couple pounds of salt into the tank. But the hydrometer still doesn't even register. So my question is, is the water still safe to add freshwater fish? even with the few pounds of salt I had added to make it a salt water tank ?

IIRC adding small amounts of salt is actually beneficial to the fresh water fish... how is this so ?


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## illnastyimpreza (Jul 31, 2009)

bump to get this in my subscriptions


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## petlovingfreak (May 8, 2009)

what kind of salt? A couple pounds is toooo much, especially if it's just regular salt and not MARINE salt, and you have to acclimate freshwater fish SLOWLY to the salt or they will die.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

I would suggest draining the tank and washing the everything. Freshwater fish like FRESHwater. Saltwater fish like SALTwater. Trying to get Freshwater fish to live in saltwater not going to work out to well. BUT you can test... buy a $1.00 gold fish, drip acclimatize it, and see if it lives for more than a week. If it dies, you got way to much salt in there.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i would suggest....................................

just drain the tank and rinse it good..start over..africans do not need salt in their water..
use dolomite as a substrate and tufa rock for the rockwork...they will keep your water at the right PH for africans.


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## illnastyimpreza (Jul 31, 2009)

ok cool I will just drain all the water. How long should I let the tank run again before I add fish ?

also, I have a bunch of crushed coral, will this be ok to use for rocks? I heard it helps buffer the PH level.

Where can I get Dolomite and Tufa rock ? at a local rock building supply yard ??


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i get my tufa rock here in ohio..don't know about elsewhere....
look in the phonebook for a landscape supply place..tell them you need the smallest crushed limestone you can get...
yes ; coral will help keep your PH up where it needs to be..


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Don't worry too much about dolomite or tufa rock. That will work but you might have to do some running around to source it. For most African cichlids, you can get any old rocks, clean them well, and stack them and you'll be fine. I add salt with water changes. I alternate iodized table salt and non-iodized kosher salt every few weeks. Iodine is good for shrimp and the like.


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## illnastyimpreza (Jul 31, 2009)

COM said:


> Don't worry too much about dolomite or tufa rock. That will work but you might have to do some running around to source it. For most African cichlids, you can get any old rocks, clean them well, and stack them and you'll be fine. I add salt with water changes. I alternate iodized table salt and non-iodized kosher salt every few weeks. Iodine is good for shrimp and the like.


how much salt do you add? how big is the tank ? how many africans do you have in there? and how often do you usually change the water ???


How long do I have to have the tank running before I add fish ?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Salt additions are usually in the tsp / gallon range. So a couple of pounds is a bit much. Just drain and refill. Don't bother to rinse everything unless it smells bad (dying algae or anything dead). A little salt won't hurt African cichlids. I've seen them in full salt-water, but you do need to acclimate slowly.

For Malawi and Tanganyika cichlids, I prefer to use 'cichlid salts' to plain NaCl. But I believe plain salt is better than no salts for fish that need ions in the water. The thing to do is have you LFS tell you the TDS, or the gH and kH of your tap water. In much of the county, there is plenty of salts in the tap water for ion-loving fish. In other places, some fish do better is you add things to your water. Don't just follow the directions on the aquarium salt. Do your homework and know your water and your fish.


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