Golden nugget pleco's and salt

[k2snowboards88]

I'm thinkign about adding salt to my aquarium, but i'm also planning on getting a pleco down the road. So i'd like to know if its possible to use salt in a pleco aquarium.

 

[ruwing]

I had my Golden Nugget in my discus tank for about 1 year, they are really hardy though. One time I treat them with 7 TEASPOON / 10 Gal. and raised temp. to 93F . They are Ok and live till now. Good Luck.
Al

 

[SirMinion]

No. Absolutely not.
Salt in a pleco tank will kill them. Their bodies just aren't built to cope.
Read this. It also applies to plecs.

 

[smithrc]

why do you want to add salt??

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Salt is not good for anycatfish and most/all loaches also

 

[G_Sharky]

Please don't take this the wrong way people, but I'm starting to think that the salt will kill catfish is a myth. I used to have a plec on my Discus tank and I would add 2 tablespoon of salt per 10 gallon occasionally to battle parasites and not only that he survive it was thriving too, I have to bring him back to my LFS cause he's getting too big. I also recently got a job on my LFS and the guy who takes care of the african cichlid tank said that he adds salt everytime he cleans the tanks and we have huge and many different kinds of pleco and catfish on those tanks and the catfish are alive and well.......I don't think a little bit of salt will kill....

 

[SirMinion]

Salt does not kill them suddenly, like a dose of cyanide would, it slowly damages the heart, liver & kidneys until they fail, resulting in early death. It also can cause irritation to the skin on scaleless fish resulting in ulcers, cancer & early death.

Salt is a slow killer.

 

[CFC]

To understand the effects of salt on fish which come from salt free enviroments such as the rivers of the Amazon basin (where all plecs come from) you need to compare it to alcohol with humans. A little alcohol taken in moderation can be a good thing and when taken sensibly does us no harm at all and can even make us feel better. However if you abuse alcohol and over do it it will have serious effects on your kidneys and liver and can make you very ill. Salt and catfish is the same, a very small ammount of salt used for medicinal purposes once in a while can be a good thing as it helps destroy parasites and improves gill function, but if the fish is exposed to heavy doses of salt or kept in a tank which contains salt for a extended period of time it will leave solid deposits on the kidneys which will eventually kill the fish.

 

[G_Sharky]

I totally agree with that...