Aquarium salts

[GaryE]

@Back in the fold . You know me. I'll always try to steal the worm if I think someone else may bite. We know each other well enough now that you know trolling is a pet peeve of mine, and sometimes I try to be a party killer. I was a teacher. I chaperoned junior dances.

Frequently asked questions on using salt

Salt has been scientifically proven to have a number of benefits. Matt Clarke scours the journals and speaks to industry experts for the latest on the subject.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

You'll notice it suggest salt is useless and possibly harmful as a longterm additive. That lines up with the "avoid it" side of the debate. It's a med, not a water treatment.


Dygook has become a popular fish food recently. I don't like it, but people are buying it. It's cheap, and has salt, garlic, very old unchanged water and herbal remedies in it. No matter how hungry my fish get, you'll never see them gobble dygook.

 

[Back in the fold]

@GaryE Are you saying you threw a bucket of cold water on me and I didn’t know it ? I’ve become complacent. Oh , the agony !

 

[GaryE]

I tried. That houseplant about 5 feet away to your left won't need water this week. And sorry OP, we're a bit off track.

 

[sharkweek178]

One thing I consider is that salt is bad for live plants. I depend on plants to deal with ammonia.

 

[10 Tanks]

What are the pros and cons of using aquarium salt in a 10 gallon tank with celestial pearl danios and white cloud minnows or a 5 gallon tank with a betta? Is salt necessary? Thanks.

Hello gwand. If you're willing to remove and replace most of the tank water a couple of times a week, then probably not. Salt will help fish tolerate a little higher level of nitrogen in their water. But, by changing most of the tank water every three to five days, then the nitrogen is always diluted to a safe level and salt really isn't necessary.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[gwand]

Hello gwand. If you're willing to remove and replace most of the tank water a couple of times a week, then probably not. Salt will help fish tolerate a little higher level of nitrogen in their water. But, by changing most of the tank water every three to five days, then the nitrogen is always diluted to a safe level and salt really isn't necessary.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

I perform water exchange every Saturday. Ammonia, nitrite 0 ppm while nitrate is near zero using API kit. Thanks for your input.

 

[Byron]

Others have correctly pointed out the very real danger of using salt with many/most freshwater fish species. Understand, this is referring to salt added as some sort of on-going prevention, to which I think we all took the initial question to be referencing. [Salt used to treat a very specific issue/disease is a totally different thing.] My article goes into what salt does to fish, slowly making their lives more and more difficult to the point of frequently killing them.

Salt FW Aq Art Hosking

 

[gwand]

Others have correctly pointed out the very real danger of using salt with many/most freshwater fish species. Understand, this is referring to salt added as some sort of on-going prevention, to which I think we all took the initial question to be referencing. [Salt used to treat a very specific issue/disease is a totally different thing.] My article goes into what salt does to fish, slowly making their lives more and more difficult to the point of frequently killing them.

Salt FW Aq Art Hosking

You are correct. After hearing the various voices on this matter, it seems better to not add salt on an ongoing basis. I thank everyone for their input. This site is a tremendous resource for the beginner.