salt in freshwater???

[kristilynn]

I have 72 g bowfront. 2 lg angles,2 cherry barbs, 4 odessa barbs, 2 hatchets, 3 blk skirt tetras, 1 lg pleco,1 glass cat, added in last month (at different times) 5 wht finned tetras, 8 neons. Had trouble with the odessa barb flashing. Was told try water changes which I did. I have test chems that are years old for ammonia and nitrates. I have no idea if their any good. Went to get a master test kit and all they had was strips. I got those even though their not so reliable. OK, I was reading about adding salt to freshwater for all kind of benefits. I also read about odessa barbs and found I should be feeding veggies and meat.(brine shrimp). I have had fish for 40 yrs and never knew 3/4 of this stuff. all though I do remember adding salt if I got ick or something.

 

[bud29]

Aquarium salt is useful when treating things like ich, fin rot, and other bacterial infections, but it serves no helpful purpose when regularly added - there's some evidence suggesting that it actually stresses the fish out. At bare minimum, it can be a big waste of money.

 

[BBradbury]

Adding Salt to Freshwater Tanks

Hello kris...

A little standard aquarium salt is beneficial, especially for livebearing fish. But, egglayers benefit too. It's been used for decades as a tonic to boost the immune system and aids in "Osmoregulation". Which simply means it helps maintain healthy fluid levels in the fish.

I use roughly a teaspoon or so in every 5 gallons of new, treated tap water in all my tanks for both livebearers and egglayers. The amount is very low, but helpful. If you keep the dose low, your fish and plants will be fine and even a bit healthier. The choice is yours.

B

 

[kristilynn]

salt???

Thanks for the input.I think I will add alittle. Reading instruction sheet for the test strips, they suggested adding salt for nitrite toxicity to fish.

 

[bud29]

It's been used for decades as a tonic to boost the immune system and aids in "Osmoregulation". Which simply means it helps maintain healthy fluid levels in the fish.

The logic behind this seems to be that reduced osmotic pressure = less stress = more energy for the fish to put towards bolstering the immune system. However, much like how some pressures do not result in stress for humans, osmotic pressure does not result in stress for fish. Thus, while salt does indeed improve osmoregulation, there's no science suggesting that this results in a healthier overall fish.

 

[bud29]

Thanks for the input.I think I will add alittle. Reading instruction sheet for the test strips, they suggested adding salt for nitrite toxicity to fish.

The chloride ion can help block nitrite uptake, but you don't need a whole lot of salt at all. To get a 5:1 Cl:NO2 ratio (ideal for nitrate blocking), you only need 8.5 ppm of NaCl to offset 1 ppm of NO2. In a 72g, that equates to a little less than 1/2 tsp. of salt for the entire tank - so little that you most likely have this much chloride already present in your tap water. No need to add any salt at all.

 

[jetajockey]

The logic behind this seems to be that reduced osmotic pressure = less stress = more energy for the fish to put towards bolstering the immune system. However, much like how some pressures do not result in stress for humans, osmotic pressure does not result in stress for fish. Thus, while salt does indeed improve osmoregulation, there's no science suggesting that this results in a healthier overall fish.

Not to mention 'salt' in this regard is a generic term covering far more than sodium chloride. As such, there are many 'salts' already present in every system.

And yes bud is correct, if you have a nitrite issue, add a small amount of salt to negate nitrite toxicity. It also has limited use in treatment for a few different parasites. Otherwise leave it out of the tank.

Re: BBradbury-

If you have livebearers that are euryhaline, like mollies for example, then you would want to add marine salt mix to create brackish conditions, assuming that was the goal. They can do fine in pure freshwater conditions also.

Adding straight up aquarium salt aka Sodium Chloride is not replicating any condition found in nature, so why do it?