Salt?

[newfishaddict]

Do you use salt in your freshwater planted aquarium(s)?

What are the reasons to do so in a normal (non-diseased) tank?

 

[mandy82]

When I had adult mollies, I added salt to the water being that mollies do better in brackish waters.

It's a fish preference thing.

 

[mandy82]

double post, sorry.

 

[Trance2006]

Some people swear by it, some don't. It's a mtter of persoinal prefrence. I use it in my aggressive tank. A little under than what's recommended and it provides my cichlids and oscars with a much healthier slime coat.

 

[dwarfgourami]

There are various situations where salt is recommended:

as medication for specific medical problems (such as finrot)

to raise hardness for species that prefer hard waters (if your water is soft)

for fish that are regularly found in brackish waters (this apparently includes some mollies)

Some fishkeepers also use it as a general preventive medication.

Most fishkeepers nowadays prefer to keep water quality as good as possible and stress down to a minimum in the hopes that this will eliminate the need for preventive medication. It is now believed that longterm exposure to salt can cause kidney problems in fish that have not been exposed to it in nature and have therefore never evolved means of coping with it. Scaleless fish are thought to be particularly sensitive to salt.

 

[WILDER]

This about answers everything.
http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...?article_id=335

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I don't see why anyone would unless it was needed for medical or habitat reasons personally...