Salt In Water?

[Robot_Rooster]

is it any salt such as table salt? and would it affect other fish that salt is not a requirement for?

Thanks in Advance

 

[fifefish]

it is not just any salt and yes it would effect them..

 

[B13]

Question:


When I was given my tank, etc, I also inherited some aquarium salt.

How and when would you use this in a tropical, freshwater set-up?

 

[Corleone]

Almost never. It's use is a relic from largely abandoned methods to reduce stress from high nitrate levels, effectively trading it for the lower stress salt puts on fish's fluid regulation. It's primary use is now accomplished by simple 20% weekly water changes, and in doing so, the stress salt puts on most freshwater fish is avoided, not to mention the other problems that infrequent to nonexistent water changes cause in standard setups.

However, keep it. It is an effective treatment for some fish diseases, such as ich, so it does still have tonic uses.

Some fish do require salt in the water (If you've read the species cards from PetSmart or some similar chain stores, most of the species they say do actually don't), however these fish need low levels of marine salt to produce brackish water.

 

[B13]

Ah ha!!

Thank you!!

 

[waterdrop]

Yup, agree with Corleone, good advice!

 

[Colin_T]

The salt that is normally used for fish is rock salt or swimming pool salt, same thing. You can use table salt if it doesn't have iodine in it. Table salt is finely ground rock salt and most places around the world add iodine to prevent deficiencies in people. Marine salt is good for livebearers, mollies, guppies, swordtails, etc and also for bracksih water aquariums.

I agree with Corleone in most part but disagree with salt being used to treat ich or whitespot. It doesn't affect the whitespot parasite and will not kill it. The salt does cause the fish to produce more mucous and this can make it harder for the ich parasite to attach to the fish. If the parasite cannot attach to a fish then it will die. It's a minor technicality but one you should be aware of because whitespot can occur in fresh, brackish and salt water aquariums.

 

[OldMan47]

Colin, what we call ich in a freshwater tank is not the same organsim as what is called ich in a saltwater tank. That has led to lots of misunderstandings including that ich can't be an effective cure for freshwater ich. It not only can be used as a very effective ich cure in freshwater but is the cure least likely to cause other problems with freshwater fish that can tolerate salt. It is all that I have used since I got back into the hobby a few years ago and has been 100% effective with no fish losses. I seldom need to treat for ich but when I do I reread the ich information that I have ended up linking in my signature as it gives all the information I need to have good success.

 

[drobbyb]

Colin, what we call ich in a freshwater tank is not the same organsim as what is called ich in a saltwater tank. That has led to lots of misunderstandings including that ich can't be an effective cure for freshwater ich. It not only can be used as a very effective ich cure in freshwater but is the cure least likely to cause other problems with freshwater fish that can tolerate salt. It is all that I have used since I got back into the hobby a few years ago and has been 100% effective with no fish losses. I seldom need to treat for ich but when I do I reread the ich information that I have ended up linking in my signature as it gives all the information I need to have good success.

I agree with OldMan47. Ich does in fact develop in marine and brackish. The salt helps by changing the osmotic pressure and promoting slime coat. The parasites cannot handle the change as well as the fish. IIRC a freshwater bath can be used in marine applications to kill the parasites. The same principle applies in turning up the heat. It works by speeding up the parasite's life cycle. It's not the salt or the heat, it's the change in enviornment that has an effect.

 

[drobbyb]

Nice Ich information there OldMan47. Until you mentioned it, I hadn't seen that there in your signature.