Using salt in freshwater tank

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


deanmachine
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 4:48 pm

Using salt in freshwater tank

by deanmachine

I understand that some fish like brackish conditions (live bearers, puffers - which I don't have), but a fish store guy convinced me to buy aquarium salt for my freshwater tank saying it would be good to discourage disease and parasites. I've since read that you shouldn't use aquarium salt if you have scaleless fish (which I do - loaches). What do others think?


GiantDogg
 
Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:24 pm

by GiantDogg

It's up to you.....It really depends on your other fish. What size tank? What other fish? Do you have disease issues? I salt my community tank (lightly, 1 TBSP per 5 gallons). I salt my Cichlid tank a little higher. As far as the loaches go, it won't hurt them if you pre-dissolve the salt completely before adding. It is a remedy for disease, and can promote gill health by adding electrolytes and heal wounds as well as help with the slime coat for stressed fish. Just remember that salt does not dissolve, so when you have evaporation, the content remains high. It is only removed through water changes. I don't trust all my LFS guys, only the ones I have known for years that have never steered me wrong.


Okiimiru
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm

by Okiimiru

Aquarium water should imitate your fish's natural ecosystem water. If the water the fish comes from has salt in it, then your water should have salt in it. If the water the fish comes from doesn't have salt in it, then adding salt or adding too much salt will stress the fish. I hate to point this out, but your local pet store does not educate their employees as much as they should, and I walked into a Petco the other day that had a tub of aquarium salt in the same tank as some amazonian fish (The Amazon rivers system is basically rainwater, and is almost salt-free). So... they're not all knowing.

So what you do is, you go to an online fish directory or your library and check out a physical copy of one, and look up your species of fish and what type of water it comes from. Researching the rivers or lakes that the fish are naturally found in is a good idea. I also like to use liveaquaria.com, for example their loach page is http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aqua ... ?c=830+885 because it's a handy listing of some basic water parameters like pH, KH, water temperature, and minimum tank size. If you've got multiple fish, then strive for water that is comfortably inside the range of all the fish. Not all fish overlap, though, I mean, you can't keep discus and african cichlids in the same water.

Emulate your fish's natural environment, and you won't go wrong. Good luck :D


deanmachine
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 4:48 pm

by deanmachine

Thanks to you both - good thoughts. I will do some more research.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

Mollies require aquarium salt. Platies (livebearer) would like to have it, but it is not required.

The one thing you must be aware of is that the aquarium salt does not evaporate and is not filtered out. Only through water changes can the salt in the water column be reduced.

I have platies, though they do not require aquarium salt, I do add, every Sunday, 4 tablespoons of aquarium salt (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals (API) brand) in order to improve gill function and to help prevent any possible infectious disease.

So a little salt can help, plus salt is cheap (65 ounces for $6.00). Just be careful not to add too much. Now I must also warn you, live plants do not like to have salt on their leaves, snails and frogs also prefer no salt directly on them. So if you do put salt in the tank it must be placed in an area of the tank that is isolated.

Hope this helps.

Using salt in freshwater tank

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