Shell Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Hi all. I am in the process of setting up my fist Tanganyikan tank and just want to find out what conditions are the best for raising and breeding Calvus and Occies (third species as yet not decided). I mainly want to know if I should add salt to the water or not? Do others usually add salt or other buffers to their set ups (besides the lazy aquarists who just top up tanks straight from the tap ). I want to achieve the best water conditions I can for these guys and am willing to put in the work and money required, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Shell, For Canberra water I have been adding epson salts to the tune of 1 teaspoon per 20litres or so (at Laurie's and Steve's recommendation and when I have it as I am bit lazy myself) and I find that this is more than enough. This along with marble chip as substrate this should be fine. I don't add extra buffers to raise the PH as Canberra water is reasonably high in Ph but more importantly stable so the fish get used t it quickly. Steve and Mike (SKippy) purely keep Tangs and can give you a better run down of how they keeps his guys going with our water chemistry. This is the treatment that I give my Calvus and they are OK (touch wood) HTH Rosco So do you really feel part of the cichlid table now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisandelana Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Shell, I have a Tang setup at the moment which has been up for about 2 years. For the first 12 months I didn't use any salts and had a pH of 7.5, KH and GH were both low. The fish seemed happy enough and no deaths. Then I started using a DIY salt mixture (equal parts of Epsom Salts, Bi-carb soda and Marine Salt. The differences that I have noticed are things such as brighter colours in the fish, increased food intake and an increase in breeding. It could be said that these improvements are just due to an increase in age of the fish however the change was noticable within 2-4 days of making the change. I now have a very stable pH of 8.5, GH= 20 and KH= 12 and still have happy fish. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 What sort of tangs are you planning on keeping? In my opinion hardy tangs such as Lamprologines need only buffering substrate (shell grit/marble etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy Wombat Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Shell the epsom salts are most important IMO. I would also add 1 or 2 tea spoons of sodium bicarb per 20L bucket to buffer the tank. The table salt (sodium chloride) is an optional extra. Good stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shell Posted December 22, 2004 Author Share Posted December 22, 2004 Thanks guys. So if I add 1 teaspoon each of epson salts, bicarb soda and aquarium salt per 20 L do you think that is the ideal mix? I also have the marble substrate so with all that I should be able to set up the best possible water conditions for them. Then I started using a DIY salt mixture (equal parts of Epsom Salts, Bi-carb soda and Marine Salt. How much of this mix do you currently add Chris? So do you really feel part of the cichlid table now You betcha Rossco. And I am cycling my tang tank with some of Laurie's electric yellows and the blue stripey Malawi dudes (very scientific terminology there). He he he, if I start to name them, he may not get them back. Let's see now, there can be daisy, daffodil, sunshine, banana, big yella etc etc for the yellows and bluey, stripes, etc etc for the blues. Oh and before you have a go at my names Laurie, they sure beat spot, dot, freckle and the others you have come up with for your fish with spots. But squishy and fluffy are still cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 aquarium salt If you get this from a fish store I would ask what it is because it could be anything (probably pool salt). Epson salts is probably all that you need. I would also add 1 or 2 teaspoons of sodium bicarb per 20L bucket to buffer the tank. Steve, I am not much of any expert with water chemistry ( I failed chemistry at school ) but it was my understanding that this kind of buffering only last for a few days, is this correct? You betcha Rossco. And I am cycling my tang tank with some of Laurie's electric yellows and the blue stripey Malawi dudes (very scientific terminology there). Excellent stuff you are a welcome addition. HMMM I wonder if Laurie will let me cycle my new tanks with his black occies, adult calvus and his peppermints cheers Rosco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisandelana Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Hi Shell, Currently I am adding approx. 4 x Tablespoons per 50L. I should also mention that I have crushed marble as my substrate. It took some experimenting to get the right amounts to add. Firstly I added 1 x tablespoon to a 10L bucket and measured the results. GH and KH were through the roof while pH was 8.5 and could not be raised by adding more DIY salts. The amounts required all depend on the chemistry of your tapwater. IMPORTANT: Add any salts slowly over the period of a day or two if you are trying to shift your pH a long way and allow enough time for the salts and minerals to disolve before testing water. Hope this helps. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Hi Shell, The pH of Canberra water is pretty good but it is too soft, particularly when it is coming out of Cotter/Bendora. I started keeping Tangs about six months ago so I've been doing a bit of experimenting and still trying to get the water as I want it. Once I do I've got my eye on Tropheus (I guess it means I'm not a real man since I didn't cycle with them ) anyway ................... I've got marble chip substrate and some shell grit in my filter to act as a buffer. I mucked around with DIY mixes with aquarium salt, epsom salt and bi-carb soda for a while but I found the bi-carb clouded my water for a day or so after water changes (no matter how much I dissolved it first). Now I use Aquasonic Rift Lake Water Conditioner, it's only $7.80.kg on-line and a small amount of bi-carb to raise the KH. The last time I checked my pH was 8.2, GH 240ppm and KH 150ppm. Out of interest, did you get Adam's Occies? They're pretty hard to find otherwise, so grab em when you can. Cheers Mike Wow a serious thread from the Canberra crew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shell Posted December 22, 2004 Author Share Posted December 22, 2004 Excellent stuff you are a welcome addition. HMMM I wonder if Laurie will let me cycle my new tanks with his black occies, adult calvus and his peppermints You wish. If there is going to be any stealing of laurie's black occies, adult calvus or peppermints I will be getting in first as I have a key to the fishroom and know how to distract him long enough to remove them from the tanks and get them to the car without him even noticing. Out of interest, did you get Adam's Occies? They're pretty hard to find otherwise, so grab em when you can. Was that the guy in Melba selling the tank set ups? If so, he didn't respond to a PM I sent him about checking out his tanks. Otherwise, who is Adam? Wow a serious thread from the Canberra crew Would you like me to throw in a few naughty comments just to get us back on the typical Canberran track??? I could mention that I nearly found out last night that body sweat could be used to increase the hardness of Tang tanks if you get thrown into a tank as punishment from being a bad girl in a heated fishroom. Gee I really had to edit that paragraph before I posted it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chorrylan Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 punishment from being a bad girl in a heated fishroom hey rossco... does this mean you've finally finished the fishroom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 hey rossco... does this mean you've finally finished the fishroom? Pretty much it just needs to be painted I need to run the airline around the room and then purchase 1200+ bio balls and the cycling can begin with ..... black occies, adult calvus and adult peppermints This and me going on leave for 2 weeks starting tomorrow it is all coming together cheers Rosco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.d.m Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 i use aquasonic rift lake conditioner, its convinient at i tsp per bucket and keeps the ph at 8.2 gh15-16 and its reasonable at $10-14 , next time your in a lfs pick one up and read the contents its got everything the expensive(imported) ones have, ive used it for 18 mths no probs and fish breed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shell Posted December 23, 2004 Author Share Posted December 23, 2004 This and me going on leave for 2 weeks starting tomorrow it is all coming together Cool, so when is the big opening? Make sure the BBQ gas bottle is full this time. And don't forget the girlie drinks for the old bloke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chorrylan Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 girlie drinks for the old bloke ahem... I can see some "punishing" is going to be neccessary here soon unless you work out how to self-moderate on this forum *sigh* (hmm we need an S&M smilie) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shell Posted December 23, 2004 Author Share Posted December 23, 2004 ahem... I can see some "punishing" is going to be neccessary here soon unless you work out how to self-moderate on this forum *sigh* (hmm we need an S&M smilie) yeah, especially after the Act forum get going after a few drinks and a late night swim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noyd Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 I use seachem cichlid lake salts and seachem tang buffer for my tang tank, what's epson salts main role and should i use it too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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