Catfish and salt

[Trainer_Ruby_]

Why can't catfish live with salt? I understand why loaches can't because they don't have scales but what does it do to catfish?


Keep calm and drum on

 

[MissGurnus]

That's a bit if conflicting question. Catfish usually live in rivers where there is little to no salinity in the water, they have also been accepted into to scaleless fish area of the spectrum

I have treated my tank with 4 cory cats with salt for ich at half dose and they never seemed to notice for the week it was in the water column.

However I can't speak to exact quantities or if they can survive it for long periods of time. Cat fish and salt are a topic the is still conflicted and different people with tell you different things


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[Trainer_Ruby_]

I know there's one type of catfish that lives in brackish water. The iridescent shark I believe is considered a catfish that lives in brackish water. Would it be that the salt burns the hills of catfish and the iridescent shark just adapted stronger gills?


Keep calm and drum on

 

[MissGurnus]

It could be, perhaps another of the regular users would have some more specific information


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[ImACoolguy]

To better understand I think we need to look at a medicinal standpoint.

Under general circumstances salt is used for treatments and under a 1% salt concentration this can kill bacterial infections.

That being said, salt is a stressor. We use salt to stress fish so it builds up their slime coat, making them more resistant to disease.

Brackish fish are built to adapt to salt levels as they age(puffers). It's the conditions they have thrived in. Freshwater fish under normal circumstances do not have concentrations of salt in their water and are not made to live in it.

Hope this makes a little sense. That's why for freshwater fish, it's best to only use salt during medicinal treatments.


Caleb

 

[Trainer_Ruby_]

So salt doesn't kill fish it stresses them and the stress kills them. Right?


Keep calm and drum on

 

[ImACoolguy]

So salt doesn't kill fish it stresses them and the stress kills them. Right?


Keep calm and drum on

Prolonged dosing of salt has shown it cause the exact opposite. Instead of building up their immune system, over time it will end up weakening their immune system (because of the stress factor) making them more susceptible to disease.


Caleb

 

[buffalochip]

I am a little late to this thread but quite intrested. i set up my 36 gal and the retailer of my fish said to add 1 tsp salt per 10 gal water. I did this and replaced appropriate amount as i did water changes. I have has reservations about this and reduced the salt to 1/4 tsp per 10 gal of water change. So far everybody very happy including 4 panda corys. from what i see in this thread i should stop with all salt unless someone is ill?

 

[ImACoolguy]

I am a little late to this thread but quite intrested. i set up my 36 gal and the retailer of my fish said to add 1 tsp salt per 10 gal water. I did this and replaced appropriate amount as i did water changes. I have has reservations about this and reduced the salt to 1/4 tsp per 10 gal of water change. So far everybody very happy including 4 panda corys. from what i see in this thread i should stop with all salt unless someone is ill?

From what I understand, there is no long term benefit to using salt. As said above its mainly used short term during times of disease to help build resistance.


Caleb

 

[trennamw]

As I understand one must also consider the overall total dissolved solids. Salt on its own can be problematic, but having too much dissolved anything (or a change) can stress and hurt fish.


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