Snakeheads and salt?

[rumblesushi]

I've heard you can't put salt in a SH tank, is this true?

And why not?

My little albino channa has wounded another fish in the tank and I wanted to put salt in, as I don't have a spare heater to quarantine the fish.

Cheers,
JR

[Euge]

I've also heard that you can't put salt in a SH tank but when i first got mine i did and he seems to be fine. Just don't use as much.

[Vince]

I've heard you can't put salt in a SH tank, is this true?

And why not?

My little albino channa has wounded another fish in the tank and I wanted to put salt in, as I don't have a spare heater to quarantine the fish.

Cheers,
JR
DO NOT put salt into a snakehead tank. That's how I killed my three monster reds (18" to 20"). Someone bought them, and brought them back, but they were looking stressed out. So I added just a little salt in there, and voila. They were dead the next day. Belly up. I think it messes with their equilibrium. Adds air into their air bladder that controls their balance. This is my most expensive two cents. I am still grieving, but gotta move on. It is hard to find these big ones nowadays, even the smaller ones. I don't think I can dish out alot of money for a rainbow, at least not the asking price for them lately.

[piranha45]

I learned something there, Vince, thanks for sharing.

[boredcpl]

i learned too.. are there any other fish that dont like salt.

[rumblesushi]

Thanks for confirming, I won't add salt :D

[sgland]

i added b4 and my 2 red sh were ok....

[IoStrisciare]

no probs w salt on channas w me....

my most common way of combating fungus infections w them in fact.

my auranti and lucius are fine w it.

tried w bleheris too.... 0 probs.

[PhullTank57]

no probs w salt on channas w me....

my most common way of combating fungus infections w them in fact.

my auranti and lucius are fine w it.

tried w bleheris too.... 0 probs.
Ditto! :)

But have heard similar stories tho?...

[IoStrisciare]

[QUOTE]no probs w salt on channas w me....

my most common way of combating fungus infections w them in fact.

my auranti and lucius are fine w it.

tried w bleheris too.... 0 probs.
[QUOTE]
Ditto! :) but have heard similar stories tho?...

i believe it could have been some impurity w the salt used. Or maybe too much was used. I do realise that the more serious the injury the more careful u shld be in the application of salt. Too much salt can cause the fish to go into a shock and expire.

[IoStrisciare]

Bty, love your auranti Phulltank!

mine is still feeling abit under the weather since it got dethroned by my aro as the top dog in the tank.

[PhullTank57]

i believe it could have been some impurity w the salt used. Or maybe too much was used. I do realise that the more serious the injury the more careful u shld be in the application of salt. Too much salt can cause the fish to go into a shock and expire.
Agreed, IoStrisciare... i have the same assumption that is what usually happens.

Bty, love your auranti Phulltank!

mine is still feeling abit under the weather since it got dethroned by my aro as the top dog in the tank.

Thanks, bro! :) am sorry to hear about ur aurantic tho... is it okay? eating?

btw, got any pics of ur tank? would love to see... :)

[IoStrisciare]

Agreed, IoStrisciare... i have the same assumption that is what usually happens.

Thanks, bro! :) am sorry to hear about ur aurantic tho... is it okay? eating?

btw, got any pics of ur tank? would love to see... :)


its abit "sad" if tts the word for it... :grinyes:

eating chunks of frozen shrimp, though not as much as before.

waiting for aapl76 or Rock to loan me a DC to take more present updates. :D

[piranha45]

hrm, i suppose vince's experience was not entirely related to salt, then..

[Vince]

Interesting. I've had those SH since they were 8 inches and never added salt. In the belief that salt helps relieves stress on "any" fish, I added, not a full dose, but a very small amount. The symptons I first noticed was the body of the fish. The tail end is just floating to the top even though the fish's head is in it's normal placement. The others did not get the same sympton, but noticed a slight irritation, in that, the fish was trying to shake something off it's skin. The other and largest fish, ended up with fungus all over it's body. In my experience, I would not do this again. Better safe than sorry. There may be some snakeheads who has higher tolerance in salt. As far as impurity, this was a used box that I used for my larger Dats tank.

I just won't make the same mistake twice.

[IoStrisciare]

Interesting. I've had those SH since they were 8 inches and never added salt. In the belief that salt helps relieves stress on "any" fish, I added, not a full dose, but a very small amount. The symptons I first noticed was the body of the fish. The tail end is just floating to the top even though the fish's head is in it's normal placement. The others did not get the same sympton, but noticed a slight irritation, in that, the fish was trying to shake something off it's skin. The other and largest fish, ended up with fungus all over it's body. In my experience, I would not do this again. Better safe than sorry. There may be some snakeheads who has higher tolerance in salt. As far as impurity, this was a used box that I used for my larger Dats tank.

I just won't make the same mistake twice.

just to clarify, salt is somewhat of an disenfectant. So its not technically possible for it to generate the "fungus" your fish had.

what species did you keep? All 4 species i've had had no prob w salt.

If there is an impurity in the salt, your larger dats wld have maybe taken it better or used to it by now.

[rumblesushi]

was it aquarium salt?

[IoStrisciare]

was it aquarium salt?

dude, its either aquarium salt or no salt.

table salt is not an option. :ROFL:

[rumblesushi]

Io - I mean um - did Vince use Aquarium salt or table salt? :D

Incidentally IoSrisciare - I recently read a bunch of info saying that table salt is fine to use with fish so long as it doesn't include silica gel or something like that.

Do you think this is untrue?

[IoStrisciare]

Io - I mean um - did Vince use Aquarium salt or table salt? :D

Incidentally IoSrisciare - I recently read a bunch of info saying that table salt is fine to use with fish so long as it doesn't include silica gel or something like that.

Do you think this is untrue?

When i was a kid and hadn' t the foggiest clue abt the salt thing, i used table salt w my fishes too.

Yes it worked ok, but i did see a shorter livespan and an increase in sickness potential when i did.

Even bettas didnt live long with table salt.

[Vince]

was it aquarium salt?
Yes, it is aquarium salt. I will have to try the rock salt though with my cichlids later just to see if it does the same result as the aquarium salt. I didn't even use that much. But the reason I added salt is because the person who bought them, and returned them back because it was too much for him, told me that in the process of moving, one jumped out of the container and was on the ground for awhile. This is the fish that got the fungus. But the other two, they seemed really stressed out, so I added just about 5 tablespoons on a 4x2x2 quarantine tank. Later that day, one fish was dead, the other has their tail end floating to the surface, and none of them was eating. But the end result was that they are all dead...and I was not happy. The species I was keeping were micropeltes, aka redline or giant SH, which to me are pretty hardy.

[sgland]

Yes, it is aquarium salt. I will have to try the rock salt though with my cichlids later just to see if it does the same result as the aquarium salt. I didn't even use that much. But the reason I added salt is because the person who bought them, and returned them back because it was too much for him, told me that in the process of moving, one jumped out of the container and was on the ground for awhile. This is the fish that got the fungus. But the other two, they seemed really stressed out, so I added just about 5 tablespoons on a 4x2x2 quarantine tank. Later that day, one fish was dead, the other has their tail end floating to the surface, and none of them was eating. But the end result was that they are all dead...and I was not happy. The species I was keeping were micropeltes, aka redline or giant SH, which to me are pretty hardy.

i say the salt didn't do it. if your sh jumped out and thrashed around a lot they can really suffer fatal internal injuries. I experienced that. They they pretty much bang themselves up. The tail floating part is probably due to losing the slime coating. I once swiped my sh tail to remove some lice or "growth" with filter wool and it remove a lot of it's slime in the process. When i put it back into the water, the tail part was always higher. But it gradually go away.

I used table salt to rid aglae as i no aquarium salt and no problems tat time. Never use now though, got snails to eat the aglae.

[MossOnGrass]

I used salt and didnt have any problems , as a matter of fact I used salt quite frequently , but i wont anymore , i love my little guys

[IoStrisciare]

Yes, it is aquarium salt. I will have to try the rock salt though with my cichlids later just to see if it does the same result as the aquarium salt. I didn't even use that much. But the reason I added salt is because the person who bought them, and returned them back because it was too much for him, told me that in the process of moving, one jumped out of the container and was on the ground for awhile. This is the fish that got the fungus. But the other two, they seemed really stressed out, so I added just about 5 tablespoons on a 4x2x2 quarantine tank. Later that day, one fish was dead, the other has their tail end floating to the surface, and none of them was eating. But the end result was that they are all dead...and I was not happy. The species I was keeping were micropeltes, aka redline or giant SH, which to me are pretty hardy.

i'm using rock salt. The fine kind i find are too chemical like.

from what you have described the cause of death seems to have been more of stress related than to the salt.

[contender]

how bout epsom salt?

anyone with experience?
thanks in advance.

[ashdavid]

When i was a kid and hadn' t the foggiest clue abt the salt thing, i used table salt w my fishes too.

Yes it worked ok, but i did see a shorter livespan and an increase in sickness potential when i did.

Even bettas didnt live long with table salt.

Actually table salt is probably the prefered salt to be using, there are usually additives for anti cloging, usually iodine, and iodine in the amounts that are put into an aquarium are more benificial than detrimental. Aquarium salt or instant marine contains many minerals that are not supossed to be in a freshwater aquarium and will affect fish adversely.
There have been numerous articles and research stating the effectiveness of ordinary table salt on disease and disease prevention on freshwater fish.

The only time it is not safe to use certain table salt is when there are an abundance of different chemicals combined with the salt, but this is the exception.

As for using salt on snakeheads I have used table salt repeatedly on sick fish that come in with wounds. The problem is how it is the amount and how it is administered. Most people people just dump it in and let it dissolve in their tank, this is probably the fastest way to give your fish osmotic shock( And kill it), salt should be added over a few days gradually building up the amounts, and must always be dissovled before adding to the tank, b/c adding undissolved salt will also cause fish to die in some instances ,even in small amounts. Amounts should be 1-3 teaspoons per gallon, I prefere 2 teaspoons to be on the safe side. I hope this helps . Cheers

Vince how much salt did you put in and how did you put it in?

[contender]

how about giving the snakehead a salt water bath, and then returning it into the tank after a timed bath?

[IoStrisciare]

Actually table salt is probably the prefered salt to be using, there are usually additives for anti cloging, usually iodine, and iodine in the amounts that are put into an aquarium are more benificial than detrimental. Aquarium salt or instant marine contains many minerals that are not supossed to be in a freshwater aquarium and will affect fish adversely.
There have been numerous articles and research stating the effectiveness of ordinary table salt on disease and disease prevention on freshwater fish.

The only time it is not safe to use certain table salt is when there are an abundance of different chemicals combined with the salt, but this is the exception.

As for using salt on snakeheads I have used table salt repeatedly on sick fish that come in with wounds. The problem is how it is the amount and how it is administered. Most people people just dump it in and let it dissolve in their tank, this is probably the fastest way to give your fish osmotic shock( And kill it), salt should be added over a few days gradually building up the amounts, and must always be dissovled before adding to the tank, b/c adding undissolved salt will also cause fish to die in some instances ,even in small amounts. Amounts should be 1-3 teaspoons per gallon, I prefere 2 teaspoons to be on the safe side. I hope this helps . Cheers

Vince how much salt did you put in and how did you put it in?

using table salt rather than aquarium alt is frankly BS.

besides iodine there is a higher sodium content and other chemicals that are suitable for US but not your fish.

And iodine can kill a fish thru shock.

[IoStrisciare]

how about giving the snakehead a salt water bath, and then returning it into the tank after a timed bath?

You must ensure that the SH will not get pH shock.

[ashdavid]

using table salt rather than aquarium alt is frankly BS.

besides iodine there is a higher sodium content and other chemicals that are suitable for US but not your fish.

And iodine can kill a fish thru shock.
Marine salt has many minerals in it that will addversly affect your freshwater fish and this is a know fact through out the freshwater fish industry ,aquarium salt is basically table salt without the iodine and anticaking agents but ussually has a lot of unknow and not labbled impurites depending on the method of extraction, NaCL levels can range from 95-99%. On the other hand ordinary iodized table salt has the following ingredients and levels, 0.006-0.01 % potassium iodide (KI), stabilizing agents dextrose and sodium thiosulfate are added at levels of 0.04% or 0.05%, respectively. Anticaking or free-flowing agents are normally held to levels of less than 1 % and these are usually sodium aluminosilicate. All of these levels are of no concern to to fish or plants, but on the contrary iodine is essential for certain plants and animals, and definitely of no concern, considering the low amount of salt and the low concentration of iodine added to the salt. Iodine at this concentration will be beneficial instead. As for the anticaking agents (aluminosilicate) and the stablizing agents, these also in the said amounts are completely benign and has been proven so. So if you add all of the added ingredients in ordinary table salt it will be about 99% or more of NaCL :)

As for the sodium content in salt, saying that the sodium content is greater in table salt is a chemical impossibility, unless sodium in a stable form was added to the salt and it is not as already stated earlier, so this statement is completely false. Just so everyone knows, this is the levels of NaCL in different salts, rock salt typically ranges between 95% and 99% NaCl, and mechanically evaporated salt and solar salt normally exceed 99% NaCl. Evaporated salt made with purified brine has the highest purity, in some cases 99.99% NaCl and it is this salt that is maily used for human consumption or table salt. And just for generaly information the properties of sodium chloride(NaCL) is as follows, 39.337% of sodium chloride consists of Na and the rest as CL which is 60.663%, and anyone who knows chemistry will know this cannot be changed. :)

So I hope I have provided everyone with sufficient information so as to understand that ordinary table salt is actually the prefered salt to use unless you can get 99.99% pure refined salt which will cost you a lot more than table salt ,not to mention that it is harder to come by these days. Good quality aquarium salt is also fine to use, it just usually demands a higher price and can contain some unknown impurities, but IMO and the oppinion of a lot of high profile aquarists, table salt is the prefered salt for freshwater aquariums. :)

[IoStrisciare]

Marine salt has many minerals in it that will addversly affect your freshwater fish and this is a know fact through out the freshwater fish industry

dude,

since when did u ever see me mention abt using marine salt? :grinyes:

[ashdavid]

dude,

since when did u ever see me mention abt using marine salt? :grinyes:

I never said you used marine salt :) , I put that in for general intrest for people interested in using salt for medicinal purposes. I also explained about aquarium salt as you mentioned in the first paragraph of my last post. :)

[miro_red.D]

why salt...let the snakehead rip the ohter fish to pieces...shouldnt be mixing anything with them anyways

[rumblesushi]

I like mixing predatory fish, that's half the fun. And if my SH or one of his tankmates is injured I want to know if I can use salt as that's what I usually do. Simple.