Topic: Aquarium salt???

[symondneil]

Aquarium Salt can be used as a medication as it can aid the promotion of a fishes slime coating (which protects them from disease and conserves their energy), it can also relieve stress in fish, help in healing wounds and be used to help eliminate parasites (using a salt bath). It can sometimes help to lower NitrIte. Any salt used should be free of additives such as iodine.

Freshwater fish do not need the addition of salt in their tank or to use it as a preventative measure (if used constantly, parasites etc. become immune to the salt and it becomes ineffective), it should only be used as a medication when the need arises. Salt also doesn’t evaporate, and can only be removed by water changes and plants will not survive higher concentrations as well.

Freshwater fish already contain salt in their body (just as we do) and have to constantly eliminate the water - mainly through respiration and urine, and if there is salt in the water it can be very detrimental to their health and will affect their equilibrium. Whereas saltwater fish have to "drink" the water to survive.

The main thing is that FRESHWATER fish do NOT need salt in their tank!!

[LittlePuff]

Okay???

[Dad]

I stopped using it except as a medication in a dedicated tank a couple of years ago. My fish have been fine and my shrimp last for more than a couple of months now.

[Cholly]

Preaching to the choir, I rarely use salt, but I do use it.

[Santaaa]

I use it. I use it in my betta tanks. The bettas around where I live are never in the best shape when I buy them. I keep a small amount of salt with them. Mostly because once they are better and I take them off the salt they usually within a few days  get sick again even though their water is clean. I think their immune system appears to be shot. So a little bit of salt to keep them from getting sick again seems to be the best thing for them. I change their water once a week. one is in a 1 gallon bowl and the other is in 1.5 gallon hexagon.  If you decide to use salt as a regular water conditioner then I recommend a very small amount. 1/4 teaspoon per gallon works good and allows you room to up the dosage of salt in disease situations which I have yet to encounter since I started this preventitive treatment. Mind my bettas seem to have come with problems from the store. One came with fin rot and the other had stress stripes and lost alot of its color. What can I say I felt bad and took them home.  So really if you can get away without adding salt then in all honesty I would not bother with salt it is just an added cost to keeping fish.  No sense wasting money if you do not need it but if you get a betta that everytime it recovers it gets sick again then add a little bit of salt it really works wonders on preventing disease from coming back.  I know most people will be upset by me keeping salt with my bettas but when their immune systems appear to be not functioning then this will work.  Oh for those that say I may be feeding to much may be the problem it is not as I feed them 2-4 pellets of betta biogold a day. I really only recommend the use of salt as a preventitive if you have no other alternative as meds get expensive and constantly fighting disease is stressful for the fish and for you. It will make them feel better and give them a bit of a longer life. It is kind of like a person that has to take medication for the rest of their life to prevent problems.

[wendyjo]

I don't think anyone would think it's wrong for you to add a bit of salt to your bettas, Santaaa.  I doubt there's any harm in small amounts and I agree that it can help as a preventative for some issues.  Really it's all about trial and error and doing your research.

[Cholly]

Agreed.