Do fish get High?

[MikeWidd]

I bought African Mineral salt today at P*t***T. The sales associate basically talked me in to it. (She was cute too). Any way I came home added some to the tank and it's like a 180 degree swing all the fish are out swimming and playing, where before they just stayed in their hiding spot. Has anybody else had an encounter like this?

I hear Kids nowadays are smoking Bath salt, Just wondering if there is a connection.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

I haven't had that happen

 

[MikeWidd]

It's crazy..but I'm not complaining. I like it. I did add a Bumble Bee and an OB Peacock. Changed their decor around and dropped in 2 giant Danios from my community tank just to switch things up. They seem to really be enjoying themselves. Kinda strange if you haven't experienced it Andrew. I hope I didn't do something wrong. they seem to be content though. guess I'll just keep an eye on them.

My Danios are monsters...before anybody starts telling me they shouldn't be there. I know it's just temporary.

 

[Andy Sager]

Something you need to remember is that all fish have certain water parameters that they will do best in. (More than just PH, Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels.) For example, fish requiring, let's say, soft acidic water will not do well in hard alkaline water even tho they may have adapted to living in it.
What it appears to me is that your water was lacking some minerals that your fish required to thrive and once the minerals were added (by way of the salt), your fish were "feeling" better so they are now acting better.
I had an incident many years ago where I had a tank of Angelfish that one day, all had turned and faced the back of the aquarium and weren't eating. I thought nothing of it because I had a room window behind the tank so I just figured the fish were all looking at something out the window. I mentioned it to my mentor and the first thing he said was "Check the PH. I'll bet it has gone too far South." Sure enough, I checked and the PH was well into the acidic range (Normal was 7.0). He knew the problem because these were his babies from his breeders. I fixed the PH and sure enough, the fish turned around and restarted acting normal. It showed me that fish will tell you there is a problem when they are not acting like a typical fish. Your job is to figure out what is wrong.
But for whatever the reason, glad they are reacting better and giving you more enjoyment

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Mine would never just hide lol but that's probably because I have a few to many lol

Anyways
I use salt and Epson salt as a mix and never noticed it before. Oh well

Edit : plus one to what Andy said been a long time my friend

 

[Jess1ca]

Mine would never just hide lol but that's probably because I have a few to many lol

Anyways
I use salt and Epson salt as a mix and never noticed it before. Oh well

Nahhhh u don't got too many you can't say that.... Cuz that would mean I have too many hahahaa!!

I use regular aquarium salt in my African tanks and haven't noticed any abnormal behavior lol.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Nahhhh u don't got too many you can't say that.... Cuz that would mean I have too many hahahaa!!

I use regular aquarium salt in my African tanks and haven't noticed any abnormal behavior lol.

I'm pretty sure his tank was missing somethin as Andy said above. So he finally figured out why they hid all the time


There was a thread started back a week or so ago about african Cichlids and salt. The one that started it I believe said he has his in really high salt content. But not sure at how much. I found that mine do better at above 1.004 but not over 1.010 on a hydrometer. If that helps any here.

In your case you don't know if it was a mineral, buffer or salt that made them better. But I'd be looking into it as there are other ways to add elements other than that expensive stuff your using

 

[MikeWidd]

That's what the girl was saying. But I don't have a GH/Kh tester. I didn't know. regardless they seem to be enjoying themselves now. You learn something new every day I guess.

 

[Jess1ca]

I seen that thread... One of the guys I get some of my Africans from uses salt very regularly, I must say, all the fish are active & super healthy

Do you use crushed coral? Just curious.

 

[MikeWidd]

I seen that thread... One of the guys I get some of my Africans from uses salt very regularly, I must say, all the fish are active & super healthy

Do you use crushed coral? Just curious.

I do not..I was actually going to put some in a media bag, in my Fluval. but the girl said the salt should be enough.

I just posted the other day about my Ph being low(6.0) Then I did a water change and it came back up to.7.2...That's why I was asking. The girl said I could put some in a media bag. But with the salt why bother.
I have a 50lb bag of crushed coral out back.
What do you think?

 

[MikeWidd]

And I might add I only added 3 scoops. One scoop per 10 gallons was what it called for. But I figured I would go a little light and see what happened.

 

[MikeWidd]

I'm pretty sure his tank was missing somethin as Andy said above. So he finally figured out why they hid all the time


There was a thread started back a week or so ago about african Cichlids and salt. The one that started it I believe said he has his in really high salt content. But not sure at how much. I found that mine do better at above 0.004 but not over 0.010 on a hydrometer. If that helps any here.

In your case you don't know if it was a mineral, buffer or salt that made them better. But I'd be looking into it as there are other ways to add elements other than that expensive stuff your using

Andrew was this directed to me? the bottle of salt was like $12
if so let me know whats cheaper and also how to test my tank..Thanks

 

[Andrew McFadden]

I do not..I was actually going to put some in a media bag, in my Fluval. but the girl said the salt should be enough.

I just posted the other day about my Ph being low(6.0) Then I did a water change and it came back up to.7.2...That's why I was asking. The girl said I could put some in a media bag. But with the salt why bother.
I have a 50lb bag of crushed coral out back.
What do you think?

I thought I said to use crushed coral on that thread. Maybe it was a different thread hmmm...

Andrew was this directed to me? the bottle of salt was like $12
if so let me know whats cheaper and also how to test my tank..Thanks

Really? 12 bucks? Here I believe it to be more than that, o well doesn't matter. If it is in fact the minerals they will be used up but the salt content will stay in the tank. So with that being said your better off using just african rift lake minerals in a liquid bottle. Then aquarium salt or marine salt to add only when needed. That will also last longer than say the stuff I was thinking your using that comes in a small little thing compared to api aquarium salt or a 50 pound bag of marine salt that will last forever. You'll need a hydrometer to test salt levels you'll find it in the saltwater section of an lfs. I'm not sure if you can buy test kits in aquaria to test for all the minerals in a rift lake. But some we test for in reefs so you could just buy one of those. But I wouldn't bother testing for minerals in a freshwater tank. If it becomes a problem of needing to add it quite often and you run out just use the aquarium or marine salt as I'm sure that its cheaper and get more then what your buying.

Sorry for this being so long hope it helps

Side notes

By the way I have hard well water so I don't use a buffer but it sounds crushed coral will be in your best interest.

I tryed the minerals in my tank and didn't notice a difference so I stoped using

The specific gravity on my tank is between 1.004-1.010 at all times I try and hold it close to 1.008 as I tho.k they do the best.

 

[MikeWidd]

I thought I said to use crushed coral on that thread. Maybe it was a different thread hmmm...



Really? 12 bucks? Here I believe it to be more than that, o well doesn't matter. If it is in fact the minerals they will be used up but the salt content will stay in the tank. So with that being said your better off using just african rift lake minerals in a liquid bottle. Then aquarium salt or marine salt to add only when needed. That will also last longer than say the stuff I was thinking your using that comes in a small little thing compared to api aquarium salt or a 50 pound bag of marine salt that will last forever. You'll need a hydrometer to test salt levels you'll find it in the saltwater section of an lfs. I'm not sure if you can buy test kits in aquaria to test for all the minerals in a rift lake. But some we test for in reefs so you could just buy one of those. But I wouldn't bother testing for minerals in a freshwater tank. If it becomes a problem of needing to add it quite often and you run out just use the aquarium or marine salt as I'm sure that its cheaper and get more then what your buying.

Sorry for this being so long hope it helps

Side notes

By the way I have hard well water so I don't use a buffer but it sounds crushed coral will be in your best interest.

I tryed the minerals in my tank and didn't notice a difference so I stoped using

The specific gravity on my tank is between 1.004-1.010 at all times I try and hold it close to 1.008 as I tho.k they do the best.

Ok this I know...It is salt in a bottle. She said I will not loose it in water changes. But I would still like to be aware of my level. I did see a Hydrometer(sp) in the store for 12 dollars. If that's what I need I'll get one.

The fish look good I'm not complaining. I just wasn't aware of it before.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Ok this I know...It is salt in a bottle. She said I will not loose it in water changes. But I would still like to be aware of my level. I did see a Hydrometer(sp) in the store for 12 dollars. If that's what I need I'll get one.

The fish look good I'm not complaining. I just wasn't aware of it before.

Yea its not the stuff I was thinking if it has salt in it. The stuff I was thinking of comes in a powder form. During water changes you will lose salt levels not during evaporation.

 

[Andy Sager]

I do not..I was actually going to put some in a media bag, in my Fluval. but the girl said the salt should be enough.

I just posted the other day about my Ph being low(6.0) Then I did a water change and it came back up to.7.2...That's why I was asking. The girl said I could put some in a media bag. But with the salt why bother.
I have a 50lb bag of crushed coral out back.
What do you think?

This is kinda what I was talking about Mike. Something was missing...
Most, if not all, of the African cichlids will do much better in hard Alkaline water with a much higher ph than 7.2. BY using a calcium based substrate (there used to be a product by carib Sea called African Cichlid mix) which is designed to keep the PH high and the alkalinity and hardness high, which is what the fish "prefer." Using the whole amount of gravel or using whatever the recommended amount in a bag in a filter will not make the hardness or pH higher than it needs to be. It's not a "some is good but more is better" sort of thing. It's a "This is what you need so this is what you do" thing. Africans should not be in water that is lower than the high 7s in ph. (That's not just my opinion ) Check into where they come from and you'll see their origins are more similar to a saltwater tank than a freshwater tank and these lakes are mineral rich (which the fish need.) The salt is not a replacement for the PH.

So don't just put some crushed coral in the filter to see how it does. Put as much as you can fit in it so it has more opportunity to keep your tank in the right parameters. I'll bet your fish will love you for it. Might even be a little more colorful too

 

[Jess1ca]

Ok this I know...It is salt in a bottle. She said I will not loose it in water changes. But I would still like to be aware of my level. I did see a Hydrometer(sp) in the store for 12 dollars. If that's what I need I'll get one.

The fish look good I'm not complaining. I just wasn't aware of it before.

You will lose anything in wc's... That's how you remove everything... TrAtes, trItes, ammonia... SALT lol. Yea, ur ph is mad low for Africans, get that cc in, change it once a month or so

EDIT: + 1 million to the post above mine we were typing at the same time. That's all good stuff up there

 

[Andy Sager]

Yea its not the stuff I was thinking if it has salt in it. The stuff I was thinking of comes in a powder form. During water changes you will lose salt levels not during evaporation.

+1 to the water changes. It's darn near impossible to remove water and not dilute the salt level. I think you may have misunderstood what the girl was saying (You did say she was cute, right. ) Salt does not evaporate from water so you don't need to add it when adding water back for evaporation. You do need to add the appropriate amount for the amount of water you are replacing during a water change.

 

[Andy Sager]

You will lose anything in wc's... That's how you remove everything... TrAtes, trItes, ammonia... SALT lol. Yea, ur ph is mad low for Africans, get that cc in, change it once a month or so

EDIT: + 1 million to the post above mine we were typing at the same time. That's all good stuff up there

Maybe things have changed with today's crushed coral but back in the day, there was no need to change CC gravel as the main ingredient in the coral was Calcium Carbonate. It was literally dissolving and releasing the Cal Carb when the water turned acidic (or tried to) which kept the hardness and ph high. The only reason I would change the coral that you have in the tank or in the filter would be based on it's effectiveness. It's not like a carbon that has a saturation point. In order for the CC to be used up, it pretty much has to melt away (which shouldn't happen for decades ) The best way to tell when to change your coral would be to first see if the ph rises when you first introduce it into your system. If it doesn't, you didn't add enough. Once you add enough to effect change in the ph, once the PH starts to fall again, time to add more or replace the c coral. The timing will be based on your tank and it's inhabitants.

In some of my saltwater tanks, you can see which natural coral decorations have been in tanks the longest. They don't look like what they did when they were first put into the tanks. Years of minute dissolving has smoothed over the coursness. All this time however, my water always tested great for the fish. It's natural and how things work in nature.

Hope this better explains things.

BTW: I hope you don't have any decos like driftwood in with your africans. This is a known acidifyer and will definitely cause you to spend more time and money counteracting it's effects on your water

 

[Jess1ca]

Maybe things have changed with today's crushed coral but back in the day, there was no need to change CC gravel as the main ingredient in the coral was Calcium Carbonate. It was literally dissolving and releasing the Cal Carb when the water turned acidic (or tried to) which kept the hardness and ph high. The only reason I would change the coral that you have in the tank or in the filter would be based on it's effectiveness. It's not like a carbon that has a saturation point. In order for the CC to be used up, it pretty much has to melt away (which shouldn't happen for decades ) The best way to tell when to change your coral would be to first see if the ph rises when you first introduce it into your system. If it doesn't, you didn't add enough. Once you add enough to effect change in the ph, once the PH starts to fall again, time to add more or replace the c coral. The timing will be based on your tank and it's inhabitants.

In some of my saltwater tanks, you can see which natural coral decorations have been in tanks the longest. They don't look like what they did when they were first put into the tanks. Years of minute dissolving has smoothed over the coursness. All this time however, my water always tested great for the fish. It's natural and how things work in nature.

Hope this better explains things.

BTW: I hope you don't have any decos like driftwood in with your africans. This is a known acidifyer and will definitely cause you to spend more time and money counteracting it's effects on your water

I change the coral monthly in my HOB's because they start to look like this. And even with multiple filter cleanings they continue to look like this. Doesn't help when trying to combat trAtes with today's overstocked Cichlid tanks. I already change water every 3 days and a sand vac every day in between/on wc's. some say I'm obsessed, I blame it on my OCD