adding salt to freshwater tanks..........

[whodini]

theres a debate in another forem about the use of salt in freshwater aquariums
one guy is saying that keeping 1 tbsp of salt per 5gal in a freshwater all the time prevents decease .
what's your opinion????

[jennymit21]

when my oscar came down with HITH i dosed with salt as well as regular water changes, and he came through the ordeal ok despite the fact that he was looking pretty bad.

I now use it in all my fresh tanks except for the one with my clown loaches. Our little darlings without scales don't take well to it.

[DeFeKt]

Salt is a mild antiseptic that can be used for treatment on skin diseases and infections such as ich and hith. It doesn't prevent disease
i've heard 1tbsp per 2 gallons, but I always stuck with 1to 5gal.
It should be used in conjunction with medications and raising the temperature a couple degree slowly.
be wary, many fish can't hack it.

[vero]

There are different opinions about the salt. When I started my tank, I asked the same question. The answer I got was that it's not bad, but it's not necessary. Some people think it can prevent diseases, but then again you can just keep a clean tank and have the same result.

One thing you have to be very careful if you decide to go with salt is that some fish don't like it at all. I think loaches and cories are in the group.

[Flutterby21782]

I put in 1 table spoon per 5 gallons, all the time. I do 4 gallon water change daily, I have a 20 gallon tank running on a 10 gallon HOB filter, my other filter broke, I'm not replacing it since I'm getting a larger tnak in the next few weeks. Even though I make sure I have a clean tank, I also use salt as a prevenative measure. Kinda look at it as healthy diet and exercise, with vitamins.

[Itwasthisbig]

Plecto's dont like salt so it makes it very hard to use because everyone has one.

Salt is not good for plants either.

In the article "yuck Ich" on the main page states Loaches can tolerate salt.

So many varied opinions guess you will just have to try and test!

There are to many secretive hobbyist's out there who don't report there mistakes and so we all get to repeat them.

[Fishyfanatic]

Salt is not needed in freshwater tanks. It is debatable also on this forum, but I have never seen any reason to keep it in the tank as long as it is stocked properly and new fish are QTd prior to adding to the tank. It just seems like a waste of money to me.

[FawnN]

Aquarium salt is actually very cheap and I keep it on hand just in case. I personally feel that salt in a FW tank is not necessary nor does it harm your tank.

Salt aids in better gill function which in turn reduces the stress on your fish. I personally feel that if you have a cycled tank and you are doing your weekly/sometimes twice a week maintenence, you shouldn't have any need for salt.

[DepotFish]

I only use it for sick fish. It only prevents diseases because it makes the conditions less than ideal for bad bacteria and parasites. If the fish are healthy and the tank is clean I wouldn't bother.

[Menagerie]

You can go either way. Since no water is truly salt free, fish have evolved with some salt in their environment. I used to add salt to the water, but then someone said tap water has salt in it. As far as loaches, plecos and cories not tolerating salt, the amount of salt people keep in their tanks as a preventative measure will not harm those fish. Unless you dump the salt straight into the tank without premixing, there should be no ill effects. IME, treating ich with heat and salt with plecos, loaches and cories present has also not been problematic.

[flamingonhot]

Like i've said before. I only use it when I have a fish that is susceptible to ich or other diseases. It sometimes helps to keep the disease away.

But other than that I personally don't think it does much.

It doesn't really harm plants as long as you dont have a whole gob of it in, im talking about aquaraium salt btw not marine salt. Marine salt is the real killer of plants.

[greenmaji]

there is a small group of FW plants that tolerate salt of either type..
there is a small group of FW fish that do not tolerate aditional salt..
Freshwater is called freashwater for a reason.. not a little bit of salt water..
there is no need for salt in a FW aquarium.
It is the oldest FW medication there is.. and it has its applications as a medication.. if you feel so inclided to use it for this purpose.. then do so.. it works..
the best way to prevent illness is to keep the water in good condition.. nothing more is needed IMHO.

[Devilishturtles]

The good ol salt debate

Like everyone said, its a matter of personal opinion. I don't use it. But, I do have a little carton of it sitting around (that I bought when I had livebearers) incase I do ever want to use it.
The amount of salt that you add (1 tsp per 5 gal) really only ups the SG of the water by less than .002 or so, which is really not a lot.

[penpitt]

I never use salt in my tanks. After much of the debate over salt use I decided to google some info over its use in aquariums. I found a couple of good sites. However I did not pull anysites that sell the stuff since they would be biased towards using it routinely.

http://www.algone.com/salt_in_fresh.htm

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...article_id=335
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article22.html

[jrp1588]

I used salt fora long time...after reading that it wasn't totally necessary...I stopped. I havn't seen any problems in the several months since I stopped using it. My plants are certainly doing better, but i'm sure the co2, eco-complete, and 65watts of lighting helped a touch in that. haha. Either way, i don't bother with it anymore