Salt, and our scaleless friends?

[doubledragon]

I've been keeping fish now for about 20 years and about 12 years or so ago I started earning my own paycheck and realized I could take fish keeping to a whole new level. I started buying numerous tanks and all kinds of different fish. At the time I really liked irridescent sharks,except I couldn't keep them alive. They did fine at first and slowly perished. Me and the petstore owner were talking one day and he asked me if I was salting my tanks at all and I said no. He told me any fish without scales would benifit from adding salt to help with their slime coats and it wouldnt hurt the fish with scales either. He told me to go down to the local feed store and buy mortons purex all purpose salt, it comes in a 50 lb. bag and is really cheap. He said to make sure it is uniodized and to add 1 cup per 40 gallons of water. Ive been doing it ever since in all my tanks, and haven't had any problems. The reason I use this is because of the price, Ive tested the salinity in my tanks and it is very low,under brakish conditions. When I do water changes I dissolve the salt in a seperate container, then pour it in the tank.
So basically I just wondered if any of you guys use salt in your setups with cats and other fish and if anybody Knows the difference between iodized and noniodized salt and the effects it would have on fish

 

[FishSkins]

yes i use Mortons Salt for many tanks ..it's also a great Med for many things

 

[doubledragon]

does yours say uniodized on the bag I thought they used to but now the bag dosent say iodized or noniodized so I hope its non. does the amount ( 1 cup per 40 gal) sound about right to you? and how do u use it as medication

 

[toehead11183]

I use it on my 6 tanks at home and all 72 at work. keeps their electrlites up, helps with disease, and i see no down side to using it unless you have snails or plants. iodine it bad for fish. that is the onlt difference. both are evaporated salt water. i keep the tanks at work at about 20%, the tanks at home about 15%. i have idiots working for me and they have had the salinity as high as 52% without killing any fish.

 

[FishSkins]

i look at the bag iam using at the moment right now i am using Diamond Crystals no it does not say the word uniodized on it but i know it is.. i also use Mortons a lot i would 1 cup per 40 in a reg healthy tank i might kick it up a notch if i where useing it as a med and raise my heat a bit

 

[doubledragon]

I use it on my 6 tanks at home and all 72 at work. keeps their electrlites up, helps with disease, and i see no down side to using it unless you have snails or plants. iodine it bad for fish. that is the onlt difference. both are evaporated salt water. i keep the tanks at work at about 20%, the tanks at home about 15%. i have idiots working for me and they have had the salinity as high as 52% without killing any fish.

He guys thanks for the helpfull info. I just wondered toehead how do you test the salinity to know the difference between 15%,20% and 52%. Do you use a hydrometer, a Refractometer,or any other type of method. I'd love to have something that reads even the lowest of salinity's accurately. Ive always wanted to set up a tank for archers,puffers, scats, and especially rays, but never wanted to try it without an accurate amount of salt in my tanks