Who still uses salt in their freshwater tanks

Hello All,

Was wondering who still uses salt in their freshwater tanks.

This is a good one, some aquarists say it is good for the fish and also keeps parasites at bay also apparently is good for the fish.
Some say that it is not needed.

I can remember using salt in my tanks I had a few years ago.

Please advise what is the average salt to be added to freshwater tanks, a level that all fish will be comfortable with.

Thanks.

 

@hviviers75 - I use salt at a ratio of 1 teaspoon per gallon

 

Well, I use salt all the time at 1g per litre of water for my guppies. They are extremly healthy and happy if you look at how they breed

 

What fish do you have in your tank, I see most sites say 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of water.

I will be keeping tiger barbs in my tank.

 

I have only guppies in 17 tanks. My community tank I have guppies, corys and ancistrus . And then a 270 litre for my pair of Green Terrors

 

@hviviers75 - I have not added salt in awhile as I now have cory's and I don't think they are particularly fond of salt. I added salt to my tank when it was only guppies, neons and a sailfin pleco. I'm sure that your post should say 1 "tablespoon" for 5-10 gallons but others can correct me.

 

Well, I don't know what the tablespoon gallon ratio will be. By I weigh 1 gram of salt out for every litre of water I use. Works for me . Perhaps the clever guys can convert it to tablespoons per gallon for me?

 

@hviviers75 - i think the first thing to consider is why would you add salt to a tank.

i think there would be 1 or 2 main reasons if you do.

1 - because a fish is a brackish type of fish and it is a requirement to have salt in the water
2 - to help treat an illness or constipation etc.

personally i dont think that salt should be added to a tank for any other reason besides for one of the above reasons

i used salt once to help treat ich in my tank, but all my bala sharks went belly up because of it and the it never cured the ich - so what i've learnt from that experience is that some fish do not require any salt (in other words the salt traces that is normally found in water would be sufficient for them (all water contains traces of salts), that some fish can tolerater a bit more salt in their water , some MUST have salt in the water and that some fish CANNOT TOLERATE extra salt in the water..

there is a lot of debate about adding or not adding salt, even when it comes to treating sickness like ich..

many people will swear that you have to add salt and raise the temperature to cure ich, but personally i've found that jsut raising the temperature to 32deg for 10 days will do the job.

i believe that you should reseach your fish, and see if salt would be good or bad for each individual type of fish that you have in your tank.

and, to finally answer your question, i never add salt to my tanks, and my fish are healthy as horses.

some others here will say that they add salt to their tanks all time with no negative effects so you will have to see what works best for you, and even more importantly, for your fish

i hope that that helps a bit with your question

 

oops, mods please delete double post.

 

I use 1tsp of 'rock' salt per 50 litres of tank water. I use it in probably every 2/3rd water change or else the salt builds up in the water. I have Khuli Loaches, Knife Fish, Bala Shark, Corys, Neons, Rainbows and the like in various tanks and so far I have never had a problem. I also dose a little less salt in with the 'skinned' fish as I know that too much salt irritates their skin.

You can up the dosage of salt a little with your live bearers like Guppies, Swords & Mollies as they require a harder water which the salt helps to create.

Just remember to be careful when dosing salt into a planted tank as not all plants are salt tolerent.

HTH

 

this is only a tiny amount and i doubt it would cause any harm.

 

is this normal table salt?

 

I use salt in my malawi tank when I spot a fish scuffing its gills against the rocks. I know it could just be an iche or irritation but I use it only as a precaution. Never had fish die or affect any behavior after adding salt.

 

@The_Fish_Guy - No! This is aquarium coarse salt without all the other stuff used in table salt. Some people use normal salt but it is recommended that you use "aquarium salt"

 

Damm looks like i have been adding way to much salt to my tanks... will be scaling it down. i would normally just chuck a hand full of salt in the tank...
Never had a death due to it though...
But will be more careful in the future

 

Will normal salt increase the salinity of water, to increase the salinity to 1.010?

 

@Rickus, non-iodated salt or aquarium salt is recommended. but i'm not sure why.

 

Sorry I mend normal aquarium salt... Thanx, I have a mudskipper in brackish water. and use marine salt to increase the salinity.
PS: I did allot of research a time ago, and the best way to increase salinity is marine salt. not aquarium salt. Just my 2c

 

The iodene in table salt, as well as any other additives (if there are any), will definitely affect your fish. Avoid using that. Yes, it may bring up your salinity (specific gravity), but in theory so will enough brown sugar or soluble substance. That doesn't mean it's good for the fish.

On this point, there really is not point in adding salt to your aquarium if you don't have brackish or marine fish. The fish that you are keeping nearly all come from rivers or lakes where there is little or no 'salt' (NaCl) dissolved in the water. Your fish have evolved osmoregulatory traits which let them deal with specific salt concentrations in the water - unnecessary addition of salt may put your fish's system in unbalance.

The only time I recommend using salt is when your fish is DEFINITELY sick (don't fix what isn't broken - don't use salt when your fish isn't sick!). And even in this case, do so in a hospital tank. I recommend this for two reasons - (1) Not all the fish in your aquarium will be so tolerant of salinity changes and (2) the beneficial bacteria in your tank aren't huge fans of salinity changes either.

From what I've seen here, most of you are just using a negligible amount of salt, but for the life of me I cannot see why you are doing this. I believe this sprung up early in the hobby when it was an old wives' tale that it'd keep your fish healthy. I don't know how much truth it holds. You can very well say 'hey, it's working for me, my fish have never been ill', but you may have likely reached the same conclusion without the salt. Again, such small amounts are being used, its negligible, so why do it?

 

I dont think its a good idea, I haven't ever done it, and wont take the chance

http://www.oscarfishlover.com/forum...why-you-shouldnt-use-salt-for-freshwater-fish