whose keeping Tangs in Sydney water without using salts?

[CThompson]

I would like to know whose keeping Tangs in Sydney water without using salts?

No commercial or home made salts, just using coral or limestone sand to maintain pH?

Craig

[brucem]

Does bicard soda and epsom salts count? I add bicarb soda about every second water change, and epsom salts less frequently. Otherwise it's just water straight from the tap into the tap and prime. Substrates vary from coral sand to pool filter sand, with shells, limstone, barnacles in there. All the fishies seem happy with this process.

Bruce

[CThompson]

Does bicard soda and epsom salts count? I add bicarb soda about every second water change, and epsom salts less frequently. Otherwise it's just water straight from the tap into the tap and prime. Substrates vary from coral sand to pool filter sand, with shells, limstone, barnacles in there. All the fishies seem happy with this process.

Bruce

yes the salts count . I used to use for Malawi fish KH and Epsom, but what am wanting to find out is it possible in Sydney for tap water buffed only with limestone sand to maintain an alkaline pH?

[brucem]

Actually thinking about it after my first post, in my large display tank I don't add anything other than water. It has a crsuhed coral substrate. The pH used to sit around 7.8 but haven't tested it in a couple of years (don't tell anyone). Gave up testing because it stayed the same.

Bruce

[aqua84]

was keeping these up untill about a month ago, only just got rid of them, had them for 2+years only had normal sand and a few coral chunks in the tank with them, didnt add salts at all and they were breeding.

leleupi longior

cylindricus

brevis

multies

cheers

pete.

[mcloughlin2]

I've kept leleupi, brichardi, multifaciatus, juliochromis without any salts. I used aragonite as substrate. When I had my T. duboisi colony I used salts occasionally, however it was not dosed on any regular basis.

[intern1]

When i started i was keeping brevis and comps without salts for roughly 6 months with no problems, but noticed when the salts were introduced they appeared more happier by there behaviour and also bread more.

[GlennC]

Although this is getting off the point of Craig's original question, I do wonder that with the fish we commonly keep (excluding wild caught and F1 specimens) being so far removed from the wild that they can be kept in conditions far different from in the wild. So, when I asked on a catfish website about keeping L numbers under African conditions I was flogged and told to imitate the natural conditions in which the fish is found, but how closely can a chemically altered 6 foot tank with artifical heating, lighting imitate a Columbian stream of varying flow rate, lighting, temperature, and water composition, let alone space?

[mdk54]

I have a 10G at work which houses a colony of Multies. Just use normal tapwater with Prime. Coral sand as substrate.

[Momo]

i grew out a batch of gold comps and leptosomas for a mate....DISCUS STYLE!

bare tank, sponge filter only, 80% w/c every 2-3days. replacement water just tap/prime/heat....

did this for about 6 months without any issues, they grew fast!....

as i dont keep africans i cant comment any further in regards to other species or breeding, but for grow out it worked for me.

HTH

[Euan Edwards]

Not quite Sydney, but New York Aquarium ran their water through a column of shell grit, and replace every year.

Using shell grit is old school but it did work. Some older Sydneysiders used to keep their Africans on shell grit without additional salts.

Using additional salts is relatively new.

I do know that the more "domesticated" the line of fish the less need they have for the additional salts especially various Neolamprologus spp. But I would not keep any relatively new or near WC spp in tanks without the salts. Shear cost of the fish alone would make me afraid to not use the salts