I was told by a couple LFS' that I should add salt to the tank if I have yellow labs. They said that they come from salted lakes. They also said their colors won't be as nice if I don't add salt. Is this true? Does anyone here add salt to their tanks? If so, is there a special kind or do you use the same one that you use for sick fish?

Hello P...

You're opening up a "can of worms" when you bring up the subject of salt and fresh water. But, I must admit, this is my favorite discussion.

I've been adding a little standard aquarium salt to my "Livebearer" tanks for about eight years and my fish are extremely healthy and reproduce regularly. I also keep a large number of Corydoras (the little cats) and they do very well with it too.

I believe most tropical fish will do well with a little standard aquarium salt added to the replacement water, but others disagree, which is all fine. If you want to use it, then add about a teaspoon to every five gallons of your water change water. You can also use commercial canning salt or kosher salt. Don't use table salt. It has additives that can be harmful to your fish.

If you need more specifics on the benefits of salt in fresh water tanks, just PM me anytime.

B

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Low Tech Water Building Keeper

Salt is a natural antiseptic. small amounts of salt in your tank can help to ward off disease. IMO, however, if your tank is healthy why mess with the chemistry?
My opinion only. I feed my Africans a diverse diet (Omega One super color chiclid flake, alternate brine shrimp, blood worms and krill)and their colors are amazing. This is what has worked for me.

I add salt to my cichlid tank a little heavily their colors are great i dunno if it relates..i think omega one food really brings out their colors everyone who feeds that says their fish have good color.

but i would say add some salt, yes its the same salt you use for sick fish, i would recommend it.

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Tank
125g african cichlids making it work
75g rimless Reef in progress

yep add a little it does help

Ok, I bought the Cichlid Lake Salt and the Malawi / Victoria Buffer. Now that I'm adding salt...Does that make my tank a salt water tank and I need to get protein skimmers and other things that a salt water tank needs?

no not at all...just add the recommended on the box that you bought like a tbsp per 5gal or something like that and your done dont need any of the saltwater stuff...and it doesnt mean you can add sw fish hehe but your cichlids will love it...when i add my salt my fish chill right above it while it dissolves into the tank its kinda cool

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Tank
125g african cichlids making it work
75g rimless Reef in progress

Salt is just one mineral. Malawi cichlids, like labs, evolved in a huge lake with little outlet, under an African sun. The mineral content of the water is very high, and all the functions of their bodies are adapted to mineral rich water. An Amazon fish could die in their mineral rich, hard water, just as a Malawi would die in the mineral poor, soft rainforest.
That's why we add rift Lake buffers, etc - to give the fish the chemical balance they need from nature. The lakes are not salted, and your pet store person is really oversimplifying the question. They are mineral rich. Salt won't harm Rift lake cichlids if used in reasonable quantities, but it's not needed if you are hardening your water, or if your tap water is hard. You are simply adding to the general hardness of the water (which you should measure first!).
I lived in a town with hard water, and I never needed to spend a penny on mineral supplements. I bred hundreds of yellow labs. Where I am now, they would die without added hardness.

Livebearers usually love a little salt, as many are coastal fishes with actual salt in their natural environments, and if not, they come from mineral rich waters anyway. But it's apples and oranges - the great Lakes of Africa are inland, far from any sea salt.

Just add in case of disease, because you dont mess with an already functioning tank.