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dr.diggler

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Messages
101
Location
NY
I was wondering what is the difference between sea salt and cichlid lake salt. I got a huge bucket of the red sea salt for free and i was wondering if i could use that in my freshwater tank.
 
dr.diggler said:
I was wondering what is the difference between sea salt and cichlid lake salt. I got a huge bucket of the red sea salt for free and i was wondering if i could use that in my freshwater tank.

if it is pure salt (I'm not sure if it is or not) it should be fine
 
I think the Red Sea salt is just salt from the Red Sea, whereas Lake Salt has trace elements specified (there still may be no difference).
 
The cichlid lake salt is designed for cichlids, I'm not sure about Red Sea salt. There's probably different trace elements in there, you can use it, but you might want to cut it with other stuff. I use 1 tsp. sea salt, 1 tsp. Proper pH 8.2, and 1 tsp. Epsom salt, and 1 tsp. of CichlidVital per 5 gallons in my cichlid tank, but I start out with ro water. Basically, you want your kH to be ~8.0 and your gH to be ~14-20--your pH should be about 8.2. If your readings are close to that before adding anything, you should be fine with your water the way it is.
 
TankGirl said:
I think the Red Sea salt is just salt from the Red Sea, whereas Lake Salt has trace elements specified (there still may be no difference).

Red sea salt is processed marine salt mix. It's meant for brackish and marine tanks. it's made by Red sea, hence the name :D
 
According to the manufacturer's website, it is from the Red Sea! I guess I should not believe everything I read...
 
I've got a really old FAMA magazine from 91' where they go right to the manufacturing plant near the red sea. =)
 
All of this discussion about salting the cichlid brings to mind that they don't necessarily have to be salted, though I do salt mine. If you have relatively hard water then they will do fine, especially the tank bred varieties that are normally available. Using a buffering substrate and rocky material will often keep the pH and hardness up a bit, and simplify the water changes, so that they might be done more often! If you want to breed them and want to go the extra step to try to mimic their ancestral waters, then be sure you use the proper amount of salt for the particular rift lake they come from. (See TFH April 2004 Letters to the Editor)
 
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