Fish Head J
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Some definitive advice regarding the addition of salt to my new fresh water aquarium PLEASE!
So....I have done my research, taken all of the necessary steps recommended by the books and the local pet shop and for the most part the information has been consistent. So today I take my kids to the pet store to purchase a few "starter" fish to begin populating our new 40 gallon freshwater tank. I brought a water sample to the pet shop and was informed that my well water is a little hard and a bit alkyline. I was advised that unless I want to soften the tank water then I really should stick to Mollies, Swordtails and other Live Breeders. So already my kids are a bit disappointed to learn that our choices will be limited by the chemestry of our tank water. After some lengthy discussion and consideration we left the pet store with (6) Mollies and (4) Swordtails. So here is my problem; the pet store owner tells me to add noniodized salt to the aquarium (about 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water). I had not read about this in any of my prior research, so I checked it on the web when I got home with our new fish before releasing them into the tank. I found a rather convincing article on the web that strongly advised against adding any salt to the aquarium. I have attached the link below.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article22.html
This article completely contradicts the advise of the pet shop. What should we do? Who is right? Please help! Much thanks.
FHJ
So....I have done my research, taken all of the necessary steps recommended by the books and the local pet shop and for the most part the information has been consistent. So today I take my kids to the pet store to purchase a few "starter" fish to begin populating our new 40 gallon freshwater tank. I brought a water sample to the pet shop and was informed that my well water is a little hard and a bit alkyline. I was advised that unless I want to soften the tank water then I really should stick to Mollies, Swordtails and other Live Breeders. So already my kids are a bit disappointed to learn that our choices will be limited by the chemestry of our tank water. After some lengthy discussion and consideration we left the pet store with (6) Mollies and (4) Swordtails. So here is my problem; the pet store owner tells me to add noniodized salt to the aquarium (about 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water). I had not read about this in any of my prior research, so I checked it on the web when I got home with our new fish before releasing them into the tank. I found a rather convincing article on the web that strongly advised against adding any salt to the aquarium. I have attached the link below.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article22.html
This article completely contradicts the advise of the pet shop. What should we do? Who is right? Please help! Much thanks.
FHJ