Do I need to add salt to my 29G aquarium?

[noteworthy]

I have platies and danios in the water. Strictly tropical/freshwater setup.

I've read a few websites that recommend 'SOME' salt.
If I do need to add aquarium salt.. how much? 1 tablespoon per 5 gal?

Thanks in advance

 

[Ady1397]

just sprinkle some in not too much though...
It adds electrolytes and kills some bad bacteria so it is good.
All life on this plane requires some salt...without it we wouldnt maintain equilibrium..
I always use half the reccomended dose thats just me

 

[Menagerie]

A thread was recently wrote about this--there was no consensus. It seemed to me many people were against salt. Personally, I put in a little bit. There is no such thing as saltless FW in nature. 1 tablespoon per 10 gals is what I like.

 

[oscarbreeder]

I also use salt in my FW tanks.
Like Managerie said, 1 tablespoon per 10gal.
HTH

 

[Devilishturtles]

I use salt only as a stress reducer (if the fish seem stressed) and when treating with meds.

All salt does is add electrolytes - contributing to the development of the slime coat, and help the fish to maintain equllibrium in the water. Like menag. said, it is up to you if you want to use it. Some do, some don't.

 

[Allivymar]

Many live bearers need some salt in the tanks; most other FW fish don't require it. Unless one is using 100% RO water (which is not a good idea), there are traces of salt in tapwater, and its enough to provide for any electrolyte balance needed for all FW fish. The livebearers however, don't seem to thrive in FW with no added additional salt.

And IMHO, there is no need to balance electrolytes, nor do small amounts of salt have any effect on bacteria. If there is a prob with electrolytes, it will be obvious (as Ady said, its necessary for equilibrium). It only "helps" in regards to building up slime coat by irritating fish and causing them to produce more slime. I happen to think this may be part of the reason salt treatment is so successful for ich; besides killing the free swimming parasites, the additional slime coat helps prevent the buggers from latching on so easily. No studies have been formally done to examine this tho.

I'd add some salt to your tank noteworthy, because of the platys. A tsp per 10g should be ok.

 

[ttimmer10]

i use salt in my FW aquarium too, and it has helped in removing ich from my fish

 

[William]

I don't know if this applies to platies.

But I know Mollies live far more healthily and longer if there is some aquarium salt in the water, through my own experiances of course.