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I was told at the LFS that all fish benefit from a little salt in the water. My question is how often do I add salt? Should I just add it to the water I am going to add to the tank during normal water changes or to the tank itself? Should additional salt be added weekly/monthly? Any help would be appreciated!

Justin

Colts Fan For Life
30g platy tank: 2 sunburst wag platys, 2 redtailed white calico platys, 2 red wag platys, 1 fry(not sure who it belongs to), 1 Golden CAE.
Bettas:1 VT male

Except for a few types of fish, most aquariums do just fine without salts.

LFS's will often try and sell you something without fully understanding your specific tank or what your needs really are.

Whats your stock and tank size again

^_^

I got aquarium salt for my tank. The directions tell you how much to add. You add it during water changes because the salt will not evaporate or get filtered out of the tank. That means add it weekly - but with your water changes to condition the new water. I'm not sure if ALL fish benefit from salt, but I've heard livebearers like it, so I got some for my tank that is mostly Platys.

The pottery that growls!

Adding salts needlessly to a freshwater aquarium is an old bit of housewifery that has been kicking around since fishkeeping began, but its unfortunately not a very useful thing to do. Salt in freshwater tanks has no tonic value whatsoever, it actually increases the workload of the renal system as the fish attempts to deal with higher than normal levels of salt and expel it from the body. Fish like cories for example are susceptible to salt and you can make them seriously ill by subjecting them to it.

Even most mollies in the hobby are not sourced from brackish water despite everyones classic idea of a sailfin molly being from a yucutan sinotes, and they typically have no need for salt. Salt is for brackish species and marines.

Salt does have a few curative values , but in almost every situation and for every ailment in which salt is used , there is a better and more effective medicinal cure available. Be it fungus , bacteria or parasite infections , salt is nearly always the least effective cure available, and its persistant use is actually counterproductive. Bacteria, parasites and fungi are capable of adapting to different salinities over time, and when they adapt to a tank of higher salinity because salt has been over-used you have basically eliminated any chance of salt being a useful cure.

Salt is one of those things, probably due to the housewifery of the past, that people somehow believe they ought to be using, but when you know something of fish biology, particularly to do with the osmotic balance of a fish, its renal system and its bodily reaction to salt levels much higher than they would be naturally exposed to, you realise its usage outside of a very short term aid administered in dips or the bagging of specimens for transport,its usually actually counterproductive to the health of fish. There is quite simply no need to use it. I does not improve a fish's metabolism, but actually hinders it, and to use it regularly simple negates the possibility of salt as an effective curative aid when you might actually need it.

Fishkeeping has moved on. There is absolutely no need to use salt with any regularity with freshwater species.

As babel said, people will try to sell you anything. Companies and shops can be unscrupulous when dealing with the less knowledgeable keeper.

Longhairedgit reached 2007 posts in 2007. Just thought that was amusing!

So that was a complete waste buying the aquarium salt? lame! I wasn't sucked in by a salesman though, I read a lot of sites online saying that livebearers prefer a little bit of salt. Does anyone have any actual proof for either side of the argument? This is odd!

The pottery that growls!

Salt is generally at least worthless and to alot of fish harmful. It also doesn't do any good to use it daily. If you want to use it to treat an illnesses you should add it temporarily or use salt dips. There are usually better medications for whatever use anyway so salt really doesn't have much use. It's an old myth that won't die because of people at fish stores that continue to believe it or just use it to sell people over priced aquarium salt. Cheap rock salt from the grocery store works just as well for at least half the price.

Great posts everyone! I will definitely not be adding anymore salt to the tank!

Justin

Colts Fan For Life
30g platy tank: 2 sunburst wag platys, 2 redtailed white calico platys, 2 red wag platys, 1 fry(not sure who it belongs to), 1 Golden CAE.
Bettas:1 VT male

I'm glad this thread was posted in the first place because now i'm going to slowly get all that salt out of my tank. Luckily I got the salt cheap though, so it wasn't just the LFS trying to rip me off.

Seriously though.. was there any proof that made people say that salt was good, or that it isn't? Where did all that come from? How did they validate it for so long if it's really all that awful?

The pottery that growls!

Due to reasons that I don't entirely remember salt will temporarily increase fish color and occasionally activity level. However the reasons it does so are generally not good ones such as irritating the slime coating. They may temporarily look healthier and more active but you should never measure the success of something in this hobby in the short term. Better to measure success in at least months and preferably years. Some salt sensitive fish will even be found dead the next day despite supposedly looking healthier and more active.

Hi. As was mentioned above, salt in the aquarium is a subject that has been discussed and argued as long as I can remember and long before. As a boy growing up we never added any and everything was very well. Some people will tell youit is good for all fish, they are wrong. Some species will be harmed by it. Salt irritates the fish so they will produce a heavier slime coating, which protects them from parasites, water borne maladies, fungi etc. I added a bit of salt when my tank held mainly mollies, but after a while stopped and they were all fine. A few times, when mother molly was lookin a bit under the weather I would all a little bit af salt to the tank and she always perked back up right away. I do think that mollies like a little salt in the tank but definitely do not need it. Just my opinion. I've also heard of it used for medicinal purposes i.e. salt baths and the like.

he he official "aquarium salt" came with my start up kit. Sold a bill of goods, man I hate that. I will use it on my sidewalks when it snows this winter lol

I agree with all these posts on salt.
While salt does have its uses making it worthwhile to keep around, such as during true fungus outbreaks, and for treating fish while in hospital tank for certain infections, but other than that, I wouldnt use it long term in my tank.

Salt doesnt disappear out of the tank, its only removed by water changes. This means you only replace the salt of the water you removed, you dont re-dose the full amount.
Many fish, like loaches, catfish, plecos, etc, can actually be killed by salt in their water. Many species are very sensitive.

Livebearers dont need salt either. While it wont harm them, the only thing they really need is good clean water and a well balanced diet.

Keep your salt - use some of it once monthly to make a solution to soak your nets and brushes and sponges in.
Thats what I use it for



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