Good bottom feeder/cleaners for a cichlid tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I think I will stick to fresh thank you for the suggestion though.
 
greenearthlawns;2830599; said:
I have heard from many people and read in books that the african cichlids are from brackish water but I know it's not necessary to have it, like I said I did it for better coloring and it seems to have made a difference...
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I am not arguing or anything but none of my books mention anything about brackish water as it relates to Africans.Brackish water is estuarine and geographicaly near seawater,thats where its salt content comes from.The rift lakes which is the home of these cichlids is almost in the middle of the African continent.I have quite a few books and some of them are written by some pioneers of rift lake cichlid keeping like Ad Konings and others and this wasnt mentioned.
 
Ok, I just did what I was told by the people who helped me get mine set up and from what I have read so I guess we have just had different sources... I would check with your lfs and find out whether or not they are keeping their african cichlids in salty water so you can better acclimate them though, I know the ones I buy mine from are using the same salt content. actually when i have asked at a couple places that have said they keep them in freshwater they have told me that once I put them in my brackish tank they will color up more... So I guess it just depends on who you ask... It would be interesting to take a poll on who uses brackish and who uses fresh just for kicks...
 
Hard tap. Thats all.
 
Thanks everyone. I am on the search for some petricola what a cool species.
 
I totally disagree about brackish water. Can we get a ruling from the mod plz?
 
I never add salt. It is not brackish. Does it contain trace amounts of salts sure, but I have meet people who like to add salt and do just as you stated. Is it necessary? No. Who told them this? The LFS who sells them the salt and charged them to set the tank up, clean it and add chem each month. Does this person continue to do it? Yes, do you need to? NO. Many have asked and time and time again I hear from other African Cichlid Keepers, no it is not need.
 
mike dunagan;2833545; said:
I never add salt. It is not brackish. Does it contain trace amounts of salts sure, but I have meet people who like to add salt and do just as you stated. Is it necessary? No. Who told them this? The LFS who sells them the salt and charged them to set the tank up, clean it and add chem each month. Does this person continue to do it? Yes, do you need to? NO. Many have asked and time and time again I hear from other African Cichlid Keepers, no it is not need.
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thank you for clearing that up! I was always wondering how people were keeping clown loaches in such brackish water...obviously they aren't lol
i still don't get why EVERY fish store around here has told me they need brackish in order to color up... Is there any truth to the this? Do they show better color at all in brackish? R there any benefits to using fresh over brackish? i wonder if I should taper off on the salt in my tanks... mabye I will start a new thread to get some advise on this...
 
Salt in a dirty tank is going to help colors.....

Not saying your tank is not clean, just a example.

I think clean, stable water, good foods, lighting, and a realatively peaceful mix of fish bring out the best colors.
 
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