Ok I've been reading around on this forum and noticed some people including Zambize put salt in there freshwater tank.
I have a small common pleco, 3 convict cichlids, and 1 toadfish. The Toadfish (Allenbatrachus grunniens) is more of a Brackish fish but they can live in freshwater as well. Some people say don't put them in freshwater but I just recently talked to a guy on monsterfishkeepers.com that has had 1 since Nov. 2005 and is still completely healthy in freshwater. I've had mine since January in Freshwater and seems to be doing fine but has had a white lump near his ass for a couple months now.
I heard that Toadfish can fight off disease better in brackish aquariums but I don't think I will get the time or money to start a brackish tank for him. So I thought adding a little salt would help him a bit.
What kind and how much would I put in for a 29gal. tank? Is adding salt ok for my common pleco and convict cichlids?
Any comments, experiences, or info is appreciated.
Yes, "Aquarium Salt" is actually very healthy for your fish in moderation. My son has a 30 Gallon of South American Cichlids. Every water Change I do use Aquarium Salt. They sell it at walmart and it is very cheap, I wanna say $1.52.......
No more that 5 table spoons per 10gal. and thats actually alot. I use that amount for my 90 gal.Malawi Cichlids.
To be safe I would go with 2 and a half table spoons per 10 Gallons. Dont worry if you go a little over, It will be fine.
The benafits are great. It will raise ur ph level, and also make the water more alkaline which is what you want for your fish. It also is great for keeping parasites away. They dont like salt in the water. Ich will be prevented too. Salt and raising the Temp to 82 to 84 will cure ich.
I have also used epsome salt, and baking soda. Neither will prevent diseases like Aquarium Salt, but they will raise the ph. Baking soda can get Cakey, so I wouldnt even mess with that.
I think you will see improvement in the way the fish act over time with Aquarium Salt. Good Luck...
Well currently I have a ph of 8.0. So I don't want it any higher than that. I don't have ich on any of my fish however there is 1 white spot the size of a pencil eraser in diameter on my Toadfish's ass near his belly.(Don't know how to be anymore direct with that statement lol) It has been there for about 3 months now. I'm not sure if it's just part of him or if it's a sist of some sort. He eats fine and everything though.
But now I don't know about adding any salt with my pleco in there after reading that other thread. Plus if it's going to raise my PH anymore then I'm not going to do it considering it's already high.
You asked, and I replied..... By the way, The thread you read..... Its BS!! Now, I dont know how that pleco died, but it did NOT die form the little amount of salt he used.
Who knows?? Maybe his wife doesnt like the amount of time he spends on his hobby and killed the fish? Could be... But it wasnt salt!
from the search ive done across the web, including www.plecofanatics.com, salt seems to hurt plecos. Now i have seen more bad written about salt with regards to plecos than good, so rather than boldly tell someone that salt doesnt hurt plecos or kill plecos, i preferred to post info on the topic and let them decide. why exactly couldn't it have been salt?
Ive read that salt dehydrates and burns the gills of plecos. And if salt doesnt kill plecos, than it sure is hurting them slowly over a long period of time. If a pleco does survive, its probably out of sheer strength. Who knows, i just wouldnt take the chance myself... but, its your call, thats just my two cents.
Alright, thanks for the info much appreciated. I've decided not to add salt in the current tank I have. Well with my pleco in it anyways maybe when I get my 55 gallon i'll turn my 29gallon into brackish for my toadfish.
Just to add my 2 cents. I have a pleco, and I also have some gars that REQUIRE some salt to ward off sudden death due to bacterial infection. I do add salt, but not the dosage recommended for aquariums. I give the tank about 2/3's what's suggested.
These gars are usually fine till they get older where for some reason they are more prone to getting a bacterial infection which is horrible to see. I've seen it in some other fish and they become paralyzed and their body dies while they're still alive and unable to do anything. Once there is noticeable paralysis it's too late.
Sorry I can't remember what the right dosage is right now. I have an indicator plant I use. It's a lilly pad plant. When the pads stop ascending, which is about the concentration commonly recommended, I remove a little with a water change. When the pads start to rise again I let it be.
Well for starters your two cents is worth just about that much. Since you ask, why couldnt it be salt, I will answer in a bold way, because my answer is based on fact!
The Pleco (Common) is found in the Amazon river basin. Now, that is a huge river and the salinity will differ depending on where you are. Some places in the Amazon the salinity of the water is zero. However the placo just happens to live in part of the Amazon River where the salinity is at its highest. The Peco is actually a very hardy fish, and it can live where the salinity is zero, but it is not common because of fresh water predatory fish.
The thread said, that he was using 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. There is NO WAY that would be enough salt to kill his fish!
Again, Im not sure why his fish died, but it wasnt from salt. ( I think it was his wife) lol
All kidding aside, Your fish will benafit if you add "Aquarium Salt" to your tank. Even if you only used 1 table spoon per 10gal. I would add salt every water change.
Shep, we appreciate your response, but you need to lay off the rudeness. I have had disagreements with people on here, but both parties handled it very well. You are not the guru on FW fish nor on salt and to pretend like everyone agrees that all tanks should have salt in them is just plain wrong. There is still a great deal of discussion on whether or not salt is needed (we are talking about outside of medical uses).
Welcome to the forum - we are happy to have you, but it would do better in the future to not bash others for having a difference of opinion. Simply state your case, argue your facts, and let the person who started the post decide based upon those arguments. Spongebob gives a lot of good advice and just because you don't agree with something he said does not make his advice worth .02 and yours worth more.
And just to be perfectly clear, there are just two PROVEN ways that salt improves the lives of fish when added in small doses continously. First, it reduces the toxicity of nitrite, but this should not be an issue in a cycled and properly maintained aquarium anyway. And second, it effect upon osmotic regulation. Other than this, there is still alot of debate. Many people attribute magical disease prevention powers and slime coat generating powers to salt (the salt makers themselves love to play these up), but there is still a great deal of debate as to whether salt actually does this. Salt also is not good for many freshwater species (I am not talking about plecos). It is good to read both sides of the story and then decide for yourself if salt is right for you. It is in no way a closed deal that salt is needed at all.
Personally, I don't use salt - but again that is just my personal opinion. I know alot of people that use it and swear by it. I don't really understand them when I try to ask specifics though. They will mention that their fish are never sick and look great. Then I mention that mine are the same and how do they know it is because of salt. There never is an adequate answer to this. I don't like adding extraneous stuff to my tank, but that is just me.
In my first post, I gave the guy very sound advise. Then was told that I was to BOLD in making the statement that is wasnt salt that killed the Pleco, (if he was indeed using the amount of salt he said he was)
Never did I say that "every aquarium" should use salt. Please dont put words in my mouth.
My reply was very much on the topic and withen context of the issue, "Plecos tolerating salt"
I dont understand why you would get off the subject, and bring up "other freshwater species."
Again, The issue was "PLECOS".
If you choose not to use salt and its working for you, Great! However, the fact is that a Pleco will thrive in water with added salt. why? because it is actually closer to there natural habitat...
I was really just trying to help!
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You seem like you do your homework, and you know as well as I do that there is alot of bad information online.
I agree that there is a TON of debate in this hobby. I wasnt "pretending" to give advice just to look like I am some FISH GURU.
I have been using salt for years, and it has worked for me.
Im mean come on, The scientists keep debating about the names of species, much less an argument about salt. Im sure you have done things your way a few times too. Funny how all the "experts" say, You cant keep Mbuna with Peacocks..... Ive seen it done, and Im doing now.....
so.........
If I offended anyone, I am sorry.. (but it wasnt salt that killed the Pleco)
I didn't know the pleco lived in the lower Amazon. That's good to know.
I heard that, though most water conditioner products don't, a product called Jungle Start contains sodium chloride, which is salt.
It's added I believe, or actually was told, as a slime coat protecting/generating substance.
I know that many aquatic plants don't like salt in the water, and I guess it would depend on what kind of plant it is. For me, I add as much salt as my Lilly pad can deal with and it's less than it could be for the fish I have but hopefully enough to ward off infection in my gars.
I suppose the amount of salt you should use depends on what kind of fish and plants you have.
I see your point, but I still think you went a little far in your response to Spongebob. However, let's call all fair and move on.
Also, I don't recall accusing you of saying that salt works for every fish. If I did I apologize. What I do believe I said was that salt doesn't work for everything. I was simply making a statement so if someone came on here, read the posts, and thought salt was the end all, they would stop and make sure their fish could deal with it. While the topic turned out to be about plecos, the original point of the topic was about salt in general. He did ask about the pleco, but that was a subset of the larger questions.
I also never accused you of going off topic so I am not sure where that came from. I said to get your point across in a less rude manner.
And as for why I would get off topic - it only turned into a post about plecos later - that was not the only question in the very beginning.
There are alot of people on here that come for general knowledge. It never hurts to broaden the topic a little. If you do write a rule book on what is allowable - let me know, though.
Again, I had no problem with your advice. It is perfectly sound from the point of view of someone who like using salt. I never accused it of being incorrect - I just said I personally don't believe in using salt. I realize you were just trying to help and I said thank you for the help. I just asked that you offer the help in a little more constructive manner.
Anyway, sorry for the post, but I didn't want to see these posts going nuts again like they were when I first joined. Let's move on and agree to disagree on salt use.
