aquarium salt

[kent]

hey everyone! I lost two fishes in the past week and I decided to put aquarium salt into my tank along with the medication. I noticed this morning that the fishes became more lively and the white spots on my loaches were gone.

On the other hand, I also noticed that the fishes waste or excrete more than they usually do. I checked my water this afternoon and my ammonia is slightly over 1.2. Nitrite is 0.3. I did a water change right away and clean my gravel.

Now my question is, does the aquarium salt cause the fishes to excrete more therefore increasing ammonia in water? or is it because I feed them too much? Any comments?
note: i feed them twice a day.

 

[kgrehm]

I would have to say, that it is from over feeding. The salt just helps whatever is in the water die a little faster than it normally would. SOme fish like mollies, swordtails and others can tolerate brackish waters and prefer it.

 

[impur]

What kind of loaches do you have? Most loaches are scaleless and cannot handle salt in the tank. It burns their skin.

I think you need to address the problem of your water first and foremost. Why are you having ammonia and nitrite readings? How long has the tank been running? Size? Filtration?

 

[heresmike]

The last medication that I used said on the box that it increases the fishes metabolism and waste output. I've never heard whether or not salt does the same thing.

 

[kent]

What kind of loaches do you have? Most loaches are scaleless and cannot handle salt in the tank. It burns their skin.

I think you need to address the problem of your water first and foremost. Why are you having ammonia and nitrite readings? How long has the tank been running? Size? Filtration?

i have clown loaches and I didnt see any bad effects. I only put the required amount. I was actually expecting some plants to die but the plants look good. The tank has been running for more than a month now and I've never had any deaths since the past week. The tank size is 30 gallon, 36 inch long. and I have 2 aquaclear power filter 150.


thanks

 

[impur]

Keep an eye on the clown loaches. They aren't as sensitive to salt as say cories, but it can still kill them with the recommended dosage on the salt label. I suggest you do a partial WC to help dilute the salt content.

 

[kent]

yea...i just did.. thanks for the concern.

 

[StanTheBetta]

hey everyone! I lost two fishes in the past week and I decided to put aquarium salt into my tank along with the medication. I noticed this morning that the fishes became more lively and the white spots on my loaches were gone.

On the other hand, I also noticed that the fishes waste or excrete more than they usually do. I checked my water this afternoon and my ammonia is slightly over 1.2. Nitrite is 0.3. I did a water change right away and clean my gravel.

Now my question is, does the aquarium salt cause the fishes to excrete more therefore increasing ammonia in water? or is it because I feed them too much? Any comments?
note: i feed them twice a day.

What type of medications did you add? Sounds to me like you added something that killed off your biological filtration. A lot of meds seems to do that. Also I think salt with loaches is probably a no no. Maybe you should invest in a quarantine tank for medication?