Aquarium salt in freshwater tanks?

[bigspizz]

I do not think salt "cures" diseases, as all of the links you provided use as there basis for the opposing view. However and moreover, I do use salt for all of the things, that, even the links you provided say are "acceptable" uses for salt.


1: Ease stress upon new fish introduction

2: Soothe the gills from either, nitrite poison (not at my house!) or the one that does apply(to me), after a water change, the particles floating in the tank, are irritable to them, so that is when I throw in a couple tablespoons per 50 gallons.


3 : Ick....(also not at my house)



This is my stand point on salt, and never will I think it can "cure" diseases or do anything worthwhile at a high concentration......THE END FROM ME.

 

[riffraffxl]

From what I have seen, there is little evidence that regularly adding aquarium salt helps fish. There are many links on the Internet about this, but here's a good one:

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/salt.shtml

Salt seems effective in specific cases (ick, nitrite poisoning). However, I don't see any point in adding aquarium salt at low doses. It's too weak to kill any parasites at low levels, and it can irritate the fish.

The problem is also what we mean by salt. Here are some examples:

Table salt
Epsom salt
Aquarium salt
Marine salt
Sea salt

Me? I do use salt--but not aquarium salt. I add epsom salt (which doesn't even taste salty) and baking soda to form my rift lake buffer recipe. I do this to raise the level of total dissolved solids and raise the pH of my water, which is slightly on the soft side. Epsom salt also acts as a mild laxative. Is it necessary? No. Even the addition of epsom salt is debatable, but those are the reasons why I add it. (Anyone having opinions on this issue please feel free to contribute...I'm a little on the fence about this).

Just my opinion.

 

[bigspizz]

Sea salt is found naturally in only 2 places. 1 ocean is obvious, but .....what is the other place? I will give the answer after a few replies....

 

[teleost]

This has been an interesting read. A little heated but people who feel strongly about issues should speak up!

I should start by saying that I keep fishes native to the U.S.A. and only these fish. I was never a salt guy and continually had from minor issues to death due to what I'll simply call "slime coat issues". I was advised to try salt. I did at very low levels since I was to say the least skeptical. Over time I increased my salt to 2 TBS per 5 gallons in all of my non-planted tanks and could not be happier. I use a hydrometer and maintain levels by close monitoring.

Salt use in the case of natives appears to have many useful applications. At point of collection salt used at 5-8 PPT allows transportation of particularly sensitive fishes (Alosa & Dorosoma cannot be transported without it). I know this is anecdotal input but quite simply I shed gill "critters", never have "summer fungus" and in general have fish get very large and live a very long time in the home aquaria. Since native fishes are studied heavily, I can reference wild fish data against my experiences at home. I can also tell you that a common parasite in the native fish world learnea (anchor worm) will not reproduce at these levels. That's not to say they will not appear if you reduce your salt levels.

H. Boschung and R. Mayden site many instances of freshwater fish living in brackish water. In the case of longear sunfish (lepomis megalotus) they record populations at 23 PPT. Needless to say these freshwater fishes are reproducing in water near full ocean strength. If they're breeding you can be sure they're not suffering osmotic shock, kidney or liver failure. I can also personally report a great many freshwater fishes living amongst the crabs and Menhaden.

I'm a firm believer that salt has been a great benefit to my native fishes and advise everyone give it try for their native fishes.

Now, does the fact that freshwater fish spawn in almost full strength saltwater turn the anti-salt argument on it's head?? To answer my own question....NO! This topic is almost pointless unless you take into account the various species kept. I can't speak for all tropicals but but I can tell you that even the ultra peat swamp loving (soft water) fishes appear to thrive at home in 10 PPT tanks. I must question the anti-salt crowd but I no longer keep tropicals and therefore will keep my mouth shut.

 

[MarlboroMan]

There is a definitive answer, its in the long proven research/science i just posted in my last post- this is school textbook stuff and has been known about for decades etc.
If you disagree with anything i say, tell me exactly and give me proof/evidence that backs up your claims, otherwise (no offense intended), i will assume you are just saying stuff which other people have advised you to do, but which actually has no scientific/factual proof that is good to do etc.






The brighter colours could just be a placebo effect thing, also if you can see the slime coat on a fish then this is a bad thing- if you can't, then how do you know the fish has a "better" slime coat than before?
The fish may develop a thicker slime coat, but this is simply due to the salt irritating the fishes skin and is not a good thing.





Yes i suppose it would be like us drinking water with salt in it whenever we drank water, it would have a similar effect on our kidneys etc as to what it has on freshwater fish.






Salt is found everywhere, but it varys a great deal in natural habitats. Habitats like the Amazon (where a great deal of fish in the hobby come from) is practically 100% devoid of salt due to thousands of years of floodwaters flushing the salt out of the habitat- which is another reason why catfish and loaches which come from the Amazon in particularly tend to be very negatively effected by salt internally.

Show me the facts/proof that even a particular true freshwater fish benefets from having teaspoons of salt added to its tank is good for it and i will give you a lot more credit to your claims etc.

There are exceptions, the amazon without salt makes perfect sense, but not all bodies of water get flushed in such a way. But perhaps catfish will eventually get better with salt with time (eons not years).

 

[peanut]

i use cooking salt

 

[duke33]

That was a good read.

 

[Hawaiianfishkee]

*NOT TRING TO DEBATE
uh... what if your fish is getting dropsy? or has gill curl? i would think salt would help right? salt kills bacteria.. right?

 

[swede]

It can have its place in certain tanks and situations, but it can do lots of damage in others. You can't coverall and recommend salt without knowing the details of the tank and stocklist and disease. treating some diseased tanks with salt will make things worse

 

[swede]

Sea salt is found naturally in only 2 places. 1 ocean is obvious, but .....what is the other place? I will give the answer after a few replies....

Dead Sea