To Salt or Not To Salt...

[smithw14]

Hello! Is there a good website out there that will tell me what different species of freshwater fish would bennefit from aquarium salt? I need to see which of my tanks (if any) or fish would need it and which would not want it at all.

Thank you!

 

[hc8719]

apparently anything as long as it has scales, scaleless fish (knifes, loaches, glass cats?) are apparently a no go

when i get back from vacation in august, im putting my chromides, mollies, and my neocardina blue shrimp in a 20 gal from my 55 gal because they need salt, and apparently my BGK and loaches arent suppose to have it

of course that will mean i'll have to move my clawed frog back from the 20 gal to the 10 gal

so i'll have:
55 gal fw
20 gal fw with aquarium salt
10 gal fw with clawed frogs (because he eats everything)

...and i used to promise myself i'd never catch MTS

some fish: mollies, chromides, dragon gobys, figure 8s, shrimp do need aquarium salt to live or thrive, otherwise they act depressed, and eventually die

 

[WaterPond]

i have heard to not use salt in any aquariums with bottom feeders(plecos, catfish...) And, yes you cannot use it on fish without scales.

 

[rich311k]

You dont need salt for any fish. Some are brackish and require marine salt.

 

[penpitt]

Aquarium salt is best left as an aid to help with treating ich and nitrite poisoning. IMO it serves no purpose if used on a regular basis other then to make the aq salt manufacturers a little richer.

 

[Zagz]

I would have to agree, aquarium salt is best used for assist in treatment of illness. But never on scaleless fish or inverts.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

If you have brackish fish, then you should be using some marine salt, not aquarium.

IME aquarium does nothing except aiding in treating with meds.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I agree with the others. If it is a brackish fish then you use marine salt, not aquarium salt. They are two totally different things. Many people confuse the two. I do not think that Aquarium salt has any purpose except to treat for illness.