Salt use question, confused .?

[Guppy10]

Hi, I recently asked about my dying fish and the advise was to use salt in the first instance, which I'm now doing. I was told marine salt was fine to use so I was happy to as I have some.
Yesterday somebody else asked about their dying fish and the advise from another was to use salt, BUT NOT MARINE SALT ?
I am now confused as to which and why is correct. Can anyone explain this for a definitive answer as to what to do please? Such conflicting advise ?

 

[Lajos_Detari]

What brand and type of marine salt are you using?
Some marine salt for Reef system might not be suitable due to the extra ingredients.

Anyway, if your fish are still ok after using, probably it might be ok.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

If I’m correct you asked if pro reef salt was okay and Colin advised marine or rock salt. Pro reef salt offers a high calcium, magnesium and iodide concentration then marine salt. If Colin has advised marine or rock salt (aquarium salt) I would go with what he has said. Are your fish suffering at all from the use?

 

[Colin_T]

You can use any type of marine salt, that includes marine salts designed for coral tanks. They all have the same ingredients regardless of what the packaging says.

You can also use rock salt or swimming pool salt too. These are just sodium chloride and don't have the calcium, magnesium and other ingredients that are in marine salts. They all work tho.

Rock salt is sold as aquarium salt at pet shops.
Swimming pool salt is also a form of rock salt and is the cheapest way to buy it.

Avoid salt designed for cooking if it has iodine or anti-caking agents in. Apart from that, go nuts with whatever salt you have available.

 

[Byron]

I do not agree on the marine salt ever being used as a treatment in fresh water aquaria. It contains salts of calcium and magnesium to increase the hardness to that of sea water, in addition to sodium chloride. While some freshwater fish can tolerate the increased hardness (from the calcium and magnesium), soft water fish cannot, and using this will gnerally only add to their already severe stress. It could well kill them.

Salt used as a medication in fresh water should be sodium chloride, as in sea salt (as sometimes used in the kitchen, with no additives however), rock salt or aquarium salt.

 

[Guppy10]

Thx guys. I see it's still up for debate. I've used the pro reef I have.
The bulge eyed cory looks abit better and is actively seeking food. I put a few pellets in after 3 days of not feeding them n they went nuts.
All seemed to be fine last night up til 2am, all fish looked happy until 5am a neon was dead n without a mark on it. Water test was ok so I assume it's a rapid acting bacteria or something. I would think a disease is not so sudden. All others are behaving normal so I'm hoping the worst is over. I will continue with the reef salt with next water change so that will be 3 changes 50% in 5 days and hope for the best.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Good luck

 

[Guppy10]

This is the salt I'm using.

 

[Guppy10]

Thankyou. Don't think I'll ever go to his shop again as this is worse than the last time n I put it down to a ammonia spike.
Bear in all my fish were pristine before adding these n I'm gutted to have lost a lot of my favourite angels which were beautiful so only 1 left now.

 

[Essjay]

As Byron suggested, that does contain calcium and magnesium (according to their website) so it will increase the hardness of your water as well as adding sodium chloride.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

The problem with pet shops these days is they are not to worried about there parameters at all. It’s all about the quick sale so they look at it like they’re not not going to have the stock for to long. As Byron has mentioned before fish can tolerate poor water quality for a short time and this is how they look at it. I’ve gone into a pet shop and they had their test tubes still on the counter, their nitrites and nitrates were through the roof nitrates were in the red and nitrites dark purple! I think this is why the first 24 hrs are crucial for survival due to the different water parameter change.

 

[Byron]

This is the salt I'm using.

There is no mention of the fish species you have, but I can assure you that if they are soft water species this salt is causing permanent internal harm. I will explain why. The water the fish lives in continually enters the fish by osmosis through every cell. This water gets in the bloodstream and internal organs. Osmoregulation occurs in the kidneys, where substances such as all mineral salts are removed from the bloodstream. Calcium salts do not get flushed out, they remain in the kidneys, increasing until they completely block the kidney tubes and the fish dies. How long this takes depends upon the species, the level of calcium and magnesium in the water, and the exposure time. But it is what occurs. This is why marine salts should never be added to a freshwater fish tank.

Sodium chloride, common salt, also does cause issues over time but it is not the same problem, and when treating fish for "x" and using salt as the most effective and safest method, it is manageable.

 

[Guppy10]

Ok thanks, I'm willing to try anything ! Just got home after work to find lyre tail sword dead, bright eyed, perfect fins and no marks. 9hrs earlier it was perky as usual. All others left are as normal n even the bug eyed cory seems abit better. If this goes on I may have to rethink if I want to carry on with fish altogether. I no Iv made beginner mistakes with numbers and mixes but now I no better so if I was to start again it would be very different.
now the platys are mating so they are happy I guess ? Right ?