# Can malawi cichlids tolerate brackish water?



## sasquatch-exists (Feb 25, 2009)

I have a new Malawi cichlid set-up in my 3 year old 55gl. tank. I also have plecs. and sun cats, along with 1 bichir. Strangely enough they seem to get along exceedingly well, the cichlids even keep my plecs. clean! :thumb:

My real problem came about 1 weak ago, when I believe a feeder guppy introduced Ick into my tank. I have been treating it non stop since then and it seems as if they are all cured(I caught it extremely early on when there were only about 3-6 white dots on one or two of the cats).

I have herd that converting the tank to a semi brackish water set up helped gill function and prevents disease.

If so how would you suggest going about such an alteration?


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

I wouldn't do it. Maybe they could 'tolertate' it but why would you want them to go through that if plain water would work better. If you want to add a little aquarium salt in there you could. But in very low doses.


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## rgr4475 (Mar 19, 2008)

Malawi cichlids water is supposed to be brackish with a PH ranging from 7.8 - 8.6 or so and a total hardness of 4.0 - 6.0. What kind of malawi cichlids do you have? If they are Mbuna, then feeding them live feeders is a no no because they are vegetarians.


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## josmoloco (Aug 23, 2008)

rgr4475 and GaFishMan1181 have not given you the best advise :x get some mods here to confirm me please.

Fist off malawi cichlids are not, let me emphasize this _not_, brackish water fish! Aquarium salt is different than marine salt, it adds electrolytes and helps destroy the ich spores in their free swimming stage. It does not create brackish conditions. 
To ward off ich in a chemical free way, add the recommended dose of api aquarium salt (avalible anywhere, in a blue box) and slowly raise the temp up to 83 degrees. Daily water changes are a must, I did 30% daily when my pimlodela pictus had ich.


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## rgr4475 (Mar 19, 2008)

josmoloco said:


> rgr4475 and GaFishMan1181 have not given you the best advise :x get some mods here to confirm me please.
> 
> Fist off malawi cichlids are not, let me emphasize this _not_, brackish water fish! Aquarium salt is different than marine salt, it adds electrolytes and helps destroy the ich spores in their free swimming stage. It does not create brackish conditions.
> To ward off ich in a chemical free way, add the recommended dose of api aquarium salt (avalible anywhere, in a blue box) and slowly raise the temp up to 83 degrees. Daily water changes are a must, I did 30% daily when my pimlodela pictus had ich.


I understand they live in a lake and by definition its not brackish water. But their PH and hardness is alot higher than "normal" water. A rift lake receipe is recommended, is it not? Also known as cichlid salt. But I also never said just adding salt will create a brackish condition.


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## josmoloco (Aug 23, 2008)

Still, a higher ph and hardness don't make it a brackish condition. The rift lake recipe is recommended but not necessary. I don't use it and mine thrive at ph 7.8 hardness in the mid range with no salt. All my fish are tank bred and therefore they have never experienced lake Malawi. Most fish available from your lfs are not wild caught.


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## rgr4475 (Mar 19, 2008)

Well your blessed with water with a high PH and mid range hardness. My tap water has a low PH and the water is soft, so I use the receipe to match the conditions in the lake even though they were not wild caught.

And lake malawi does have a higher salt content than most lakes, if you don't want me to use the term "brackish" thats fine. But I don't really see where I gave him/her "not the best advise". It seems you're splitting hairs.

Also the Rift Lake recipe does call for marine salt in its recipe.


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## josmoloco (Aug 23, 2008)

Brackish is still not the same as Lake malawi water. What if *sasquatch-exists* googled "brackish water" and then tried to copy these conditions for his/her tank.? That could be disastrous, terminology is important Plus the topic was on ich treatment, not natural lake malawi water conditions. I do agree that feeder guppies are no good for mbuna, but home-bred feeder fish make good treats for many large haps and peacocks.


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## rgr4475 (Mar 19, 2008)

I know its not the same, I explained that. But I have heard "brackish" used in describing the water conditions because of its higher salt content. You're right, I should of included the link to the Lake Rift Buffer Recipe http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php as to not confuse the OP. And to the OP, I apologize for running off topic.

josmolco, you must be a lawyer. LOL


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## sasquatch-exists (Feb 25, 2009)

It's his tank, and I am not Wanting it to be brackish, I want my aquarium to be as healthy as possible.



> What kind of malawi cichlids do you have? If they are Mbuna, then feeding them live feeders is a no no because they are vegetarians. :lol: :lol: :lol:


You miss under stood; The feeders are for my catfish, and yes they are Mbunas.



> Aquarium salt is different than marine salt, it adds electrolytes and helps destroy the ich spores in their free swimming stage.


How do you go about mixing/adding this. please use measurements in gal. and Tbsp/Tsp.


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

josmoloco said:


> rgr4475 and GaFishMan1181 have not given you the best advise :x get some mods here to confirm me please.


???? How did i not give the best advice :? i said i would NOT recommend doing it. That they dont need brackish water... Only reason i said to add some aquarium salt is because he wanted to improve gill functioning. On my box of aquarium salt it says improves gill functioning. Make sure YOU know who and why your flamming someone before you do it,.


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## josmoloco (Aug 23, 2008)

sorry GaFishMan1181  I was copying and pasting your name when I really didn't mean to. Your[/quote] advise was good but you did mention low doses. I recommend the full strength for ich cure.



> josmolco, you must be a lawyer. LOL Razz


No, I am actually only 16

[/quote]How do you go about mixing/adding this.


> It says on the box, just follow the directions and make sure to increase the temp as well.


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

He said he had already cured the ick. THe low dose was recommend because every so often i put a low dose of salt in my tank to improve gill functioning. You need to be careful by not putting too much because the filter doesnt remove the salt. Only through water changes. Also i only recommend low dose because i dont like to change the water condtions of my fish when it is stable and ideal as it is but if i do add something like salt i like to add it slow and gradual.


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## sasquatch-exists (Feb 25, 2009)

GaFishMan1181 was right I have already cured the ick, also the med. isn't that expensive, but it adds up, and I don't want the ick to come back.


> Well your blessed with water with a high PH and mid range hardness.


I change my water about 25-30% each Sunday, and I am also "Blessed with water with a high PH and mid range hardness". 

My tank pH stays around 7.3.

Interesting story: My sisters female sword tail molly got ick and dropsy. The strange part about it is she's had it for nearly a month and acts fine except for the spots and raised scales :-?


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## rgr4475 (Mar 19, 2008)

brackish - 6 dictionary results 
brack⋅ish
   /ˈbrÃ¦kɪʃ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [brak-ish] Show IPA 
â€"adjective 1. slightly salt; having a salty or briny flavor. 
2. distasteful; unpleasant.

Brackish

Brack"ish\, a. [See Brack salt water.] Saltish, or salt in a moderate degree, as water in saline soil.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. slightly saltly. Just like lake Malawi. It may not be brackish water in the sense that it mixes with sea water but it doesn't mean its not brackish.


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

I always knew brackish water as a combination of sea water and freshwater, at least in its naturally occurring sense.
In most cases it is where rivers and estuaries meet the sea so areas of the amazon river meeting the atlantic ocean would be a brackish water habitat. 
There are also some notable areas of Asia as well.

While the water composition of african rift lakes does include a fair amount of dissolved salts, I don't think it is considered a high enough concentration to be brackish.
Some species to consider would be puffer,archer, or hatchet fish. I think mudskippers are native to brackish waters as well.


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

I live on a brackish river. Between the beach and more inland rivers. I might go out back and do a ph, hardness, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate reading just to see what the test say. Would anyone else be interested in knowing this information??

THe main type of fish we have are Catfish. There are a ton of blue crabs, stingrays, and eels. Oh and i can't forget all the alligators.


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## trigger (Sep 6, 2002)

sasquatch-exists said:


> I have herd that converting the tank to a semi brackish water set up helped gill function and prevents disease.


That would be like you taken all kinds of medications for diseases you don't have trying to prevent you from getting them. The more you mess with your water the bigger the chance of introducing problems imo.

I'll move this to cichlid health btw.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

Malawi cichlids do NOT live in brackish water despite the misunderstandings in this thread that some salt is the same as brackish water.

Brackish water: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brackish

Malawi cichlids live in FRESH water... salinity is far lower than brackish water.

and salts added from buffers are not the same thing as making water brackish.


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