Is Aquarium Salt Needed?

[PolyptRus]

If I was using a computer right now yes but I can only use my phone at the moment pictures taken from the phone can't serve my fish justice but really the only thing that would was to see them in person unless I had a better camera which I don't so the quality is way off. It's really anyone's choice if they want to use aq salts or not or just use them for treatments. But to say that you can't use them every water change because its not good for the fish is incorrect fish need salt in there bodies even fresh water species, using it often doesn't do any harm people have used it in there tanks regularly for years and had no problems so I think that justifies what I say about the salts and if they were so bad for fish than they wouldn't sell it in fish stores and if you read the dosing on the box it doesn't say only for treatments they sell it intending that people use it regularly however you don't need to use it every water change If you want you could just use it every other water change if you think that's better way to use it. Or not use it at all which ever it's up to you I personally think its great and haven't had to treat my fish for any illness in so long so the salts actually saved money but that's just my experience and a few other people I know maybe other people have had different experiences.

 

[vanimal]

 

[Aqualady40]

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Wowwwwwwwww I love your aquariums...your fish look so good and happy...and you do use aquarium salt?

 

[vanimal]

Wowwwwwwwww I love your aquariums...your fish look so good and happy...and you do use aquarium salt?

Yeah I think its helpful in very small amounts. And yeah my fish in my 220 have so much room. If I see my Fire Eel tomorrow ill post a picture of him.

 

[jetajockey]

The salt thing in freshwater fish is old school and there is a lot of mythology and magic attributed to it.

I have lots of colorful freshwater fish, and honestly if the salt makes their color stand out then there is an underlying issue going on, because they simply don't need it. I could post dozens of pics of really colorful and healthy fish that haven't had an ounce of salt added to their water, so it really doesn't prove anything. And I have, and continue to use salt periodically to treat ICH or to reduce nitrite toxicity on a cycling tank, so I'm very familiar with it and fish both in it and in pure freshwater.

As a side note, tetras, especially neon tetras, are very salt sensitive, so I suggest to at least read up on it a bit.

As a general preventative it's unnecessary, a well functioning tank doesn't just spontaneously contract ich and other diseases. They can happen from time to time, but not so often that it warrants a general tonic.

As far as it being in a book, that doesn't mean a whole lot. There are probably dozens of books, especially old ones, that talk about the wonder of salt. That really has nothing to do with it being scientifically accurate.

Different fish have different tolerances to salt. There are some who can only tolerate little (i.e. tetras, corys, etc), some who start to have problems when even trace amounts are added (knife fishes, elephant fish, and others electrical pulse fish), and there are some that enjoy the salt (livebearers like guppies and mollies for example). Mollies and many killifish are euryhaline, which basically means they can adapt to a wide range of salinities.

Just because a pet store sells something doesn't mean it's good for the animals. And many stores are still in that old school methodology and belief system that has been getting torn down at the seams by science as time has gone by.

Examples: Most of the old school pet stores also say that big water changes are bad, either laugh at, or are completely puzzled when someone talks about fishless cycling or straight ammonia dosing, or says to throw a few feeders or 'cycling' fish into a new tank to get it going.

Other things that LFS sell that are unnecessary: Bacteria boosters (most are snake oil), Sludge remover/reducers, undergravel filters (way outdated), and monthly replacements on carbon and/or filter inserts.
I think there is a case to be made to provide some salt if the fish comes from an area that has some level of salt in the water naturally, but that's another subject in and of itself.

 

[MrPillow]

. But to say that you can't use them every water change because its not good for the fish is incorrect fish need salt in there bodies even fresh water species.

Methinks you know less about the physiology of fish than you would like to think.

Freshwater fish concentrate ionic salts from the water through their kidneys and other various organs involved in osmoregulation, but table salt or any form of Sodium Chloride (NaCl) is not the only type of salt. There are many many other compounds found dissolved in freshwater systems as salts, NaCl is a very small subset of this. Freshwater fish do not "get salt in their bodies" based on the level present in the surrounding water, freshwater fish are hypertonic to the dissolved salts of their surrounding water. Water is constantly diffusing across membranes into the fish, and it balances this influx byexcreting large amounts of ionically dilute urine, maintaing the salts within its body at a level higher than within their water system. Osmotically speaking, adding salts to a system would increase the osmotic stress on a freshwater fish unless it has the mechanisms to cope sufficiently which are present in brackish and euryhaline organisms, however such levels are far above what is commonly used in salt treatments of freshwater tanks.

Clearly there are many other issues at bay in this thread, but I figured I would take the time to point out to those who are not aware - adding salt to freshwater is not at all an effective method, or necessary whatsoever, for a freshwater fish to maintain it's internal salinity.

There also seems to be much confusion in the aquarium world. Salts is a broad category of chemicals, encompassing much more than the sodium chloride that people seem so hung up on.

 

[Botanica]

Methinks you know less about the physiology of fish than you would like to think.

Freshwater fish concentrate ionic salts from the water through their kidneys and other various organs involved in osmoregulation, but table salt or any form of Sodium Chloride (NaCl) is not the only type of salt. There are many many other compounds found dissolved in freshwater systems as salts, NaCl is a very small subset of this. Freshwater fish do not "get salt in their bodies" based on the level present in the surrounding water, freshwater fish are hypertonic to the dissolved salts of their surrounding water. Water is constantly diffusing across membranes into the fish, and it balances this influx byexcreting large amounts of ionically dilute urine, maintaing the salts within its body at a level higher than within their water system. Osmotically speaking, adding salts to a system would increase the osmotic stress on a freshwater fish unless it has the mechanisms to cope sufficiently which are present in brackish and euryhaline organisms, however such levels are far above what is commonly used in salt treatments of freshwater tanks.

Clearly there are many other issues at bay in this thread, but I figured I would take the time to point out to those who are not aware - adding salt to freshwater is not at all an effective method, or necessary whatsoever, for a freshwater fish to maintain it's internal salinity.

There also seems to be much confusion in the aquarium world. Salts is a broad category of chemicals, encompassing much more than the sodium chloride that people seem so hung up on.

Is this where the total dissolved salts number comes into play? My husband has a reader for this and I've always wondered if it was ever needed in the aquaria hobby.

 

[MrPillow]

TDS stands for total dissolved solids, which just gives a reading of all solids which are dissolved or suspended in the aqueous solution. The number could be used in some way to correlate to the osmotic gradient with a fish, but generally is used in an unrelated manner as far as aquariums go - primarily for checking effectiveness of RO/DI systems.

 

[PolyptRus]

TDS stands for total dissolved solids, which just gives a reading of all solids which are dissolved or suspended in the aqueous solution. The number could be used in some way to correlate to the osmotic gradient with a fish, but generally is used in an unrelated manner as far as aquariums go - primarily for checking effectiveness of RO/DI systems.

For one I'm not talking about table salt okay and I've done my research on salts and asked many people I know the owners to two different fish stores and people who breed fish and have done so for forty years I consulted them before I did anything with the aquarium salts and all of them use it and have used it regularly for years and they said its a great thing to use in freshwater tanks and obviously they know a thing or two about fish if they have been breeding and selling fish for so long. They have more experience with fish of many different species than you so I will listen to them a hundred times over before I would listen to anyone on here.

 

[MrPillow]

Who you choose to believe does not alter the facts of physiology

 

[PolyptRus]

Well tell your physiology to the people who have bred and sold fish for forty years because they'd tell you to think again.

 

[MrPillow]

Sounds like an entertaining debate to say the least.

 

[Laurie]

I added aquarium salt to a tank recently that had an outbreak of ick. The ick was gone in two days. I have added salt to my tanks on occasion and I really see no difference. But I will swear by the ick cure though.

 

[jetajockey]

For one I'm not talking about table salt okay and I've done my research on salts and asked many people I know the owners to two different fish stores and people who breed fish and have done so for forty years I consulted them before I did anything with the aquarium salts and all of them use it and have used it regularly for years and they said its a great thing to use in freshwater tanks and obviously they know a thing or two about fish if they have been breeding and selling fish for so long. They have more experience with fish of many different species than you so I will listen to them a hundred times over before I would listen to anyone on here.

Not to be contrary but this forum has tens of thousands of members, many who have decades of experience and are LFS owners, operators, breeders, and biologists, so to assume that the knowledge base here is trivialized against your LFS is rather shortsighted.

It doesn't take a degree in biology to become a LFS owner, so I wouldn't assume they have scientific data. And most importantly it takes good business sense rather than a background in science to be successful.

They have tons of experience though and that's great, since that's 90% of the battle, but it doesn't mean that a LFS is always the be-all end-all. You can do simple google searches or read this thread to see several other mythologies perpetrated by LFS and old school fishkeepers. (examples: 'cycle fish', big water changes are bad, and perpetual salt use in FW systems).

Much of it has changed in the last few decades thanks to new scientific findings and the ease of information exchange via the internet. A LFS is not going to tell everyone to buy pure salt at pennies on the dollar compared to 'aquarium salt', or to buy a giant bag of quilt batting or pot scrubbies for replacement filter media, nor will they tell people how you can buy sodium thiosulfate crystals at a few bucks a pound. For those interested it's the active ingredient in water dechlorinators and $5 worth is enough to last most fishkeepers a lifetime. And don't get me started on medications.


You don't have to agree with anyone here, none of us do, but in an effort to be accurate at least spend some time researching the science behind your claims if you are being debated on them. I think we can all find some common ground in hard facts rather than just arguing personal experiences.

 

[vanimal]

IMO in SMALL amounts it is beneficial. 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons is plenty. It will help prevent your fish from getting diseases such as ich and that is a fact.

 

[PolyptRus]

Right and that's why they are still in business after how many years and you talk about people having all that experience for decades however you yourself do not these people specialize in every aspect not just one or two. They own a store and a warehouse, do you? dont think so. so obviously they know something to be doing so well.

 

[MrPillow]

Care to present your empirical evidence upon which you claim this to be fact? Conjecture is a dangerous game.

 

[PolyptRus]

Plus how many times do I have to say that I'm not talking about table salt I'm talking about the aquarium salt from the fish store!!!

 

[MrPillow]

Right and that's why they are still in business after how many years and you talk about people having all that experience for decades however you yourself do not these people specialize in every aspect not just one or two. They own a store and a warehouse, do you? dont think so. so obviously they know something to be doing so well.

Perhaps you should mount the horse you rode in on and head back out the door?

EDIT: http://cms.marsfishcare.com/files/msds/aquarium_salt_122309.pdf

Aquarium salt = sodium chloride = table salt.


Same crap.

 

[vanimal]

Care to present your empirical evidence upon which you claim this to be fact? Conjecture is a dangerous game.

I'm learning about those in Geometry class. Haha but did you guys see what I posted above?? It says plain and simple how salt benefits your fish. Sure, it is not necessary and fish can be extremely healthy without it but it does have its benefits.