Adding salt to freshwater but not brackish???

[imahawki]

OK, I'm checking out the fish profiles at (http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profile.html#profile) and for guppies it says to add 1tbsp of salt per gallon. I'm assuming this is still below the level of salt for brackish water??? How do you manage this with water changes then. Do you just guestimate how much water you are taking out and replacing? Is there a way to measure this little amount of salt after the fact to see if you've gotten off somehow?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Brackish salt and freshwater salt are two different things. Brackish and Saltwater salt is Marine Salt. Freshwater salt is basically table salt minus the iodine. Adding salt to a freshwater tank is debatable. Some people swear by it saying that it prevents diseases and others think that it's not needed. I do not see any benefit from adding salt to a freshwater tank. I've done it with and without salt and did not see any difference in coloration, behavior, or disease outbreaks. Guppies are definately not brackish and do not need salt additions.

 

[workfortheman]

If you are changing 5 gallons of water, add 5 tbsps of salt to the new water. Eventually, the tank will contain roughly 1 tbspns per gallon of water (after several water changes). This way you will gradually reach the desired salinity instead of dumping a bunch of salt in at once!
HTH

 

[Scooterbug]

I believe that 1tbsp per gallon is considered brackish..but I might be mistaken. As for replacing it, get a bucket that has volume amounts imprinted on the sides. This way, you can monitor how much water you are removing. I got a 4 gallon bucket from Dollar General (3 bucks) and use that for pwc. For example, when I do a pwc on my 10 gallon take that hold my baby mollies, I normally do about 4 gallons. I can then add the correct amount of salt based on 4 gallons of water. Hope this helps ya out.

Steve

 

[Menagerie]

I believe that 1tbsp per gallon is considered brackish..but I might be mistaken.

You are mistaken .

As it has been stated, aquarium salt for FW is different than the marine salt for BW and SW tanks. When you are dealing with a BW tank, you are adding cups, not spoons worth of salt to bring the salinity up. No water is without salt; all of our fish evolved with some salt and adding a teaspoon per gallon will barely register on a hydrometer.

 

[Guest]

it's really not worth the hastle... if you feel the need go ahead, but some fish can't tolerate the salinity such as loaches, cories, plecos...

 

[imahawki]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

 

[crazycat]

and plants don't like salt much...or snails and shrimp

 

[greenmaji]

JMHO here fokes..
freshwater= no salt needed..
guppys and mollies seem to do well with slight amounts of salt.. but they also do very well without it.. I say dont waste your time and money.. again JMHO..