a couple day ago a thread called "aquarium salt" in the diseases forum got hijacked by salt supporters and their rivals. i have started this thread to share my opinions and hear the opinions of others.
first off let me start by saying the use of aquarium salt must be partnered with common sense. corys vs african cichlids etc.
i am a firm believer in the use of salt in freshwater aquariums, i use 1 tablespoon to every 10 gallons. i believe that my fish have beneffited from it and i will continue to use aquarium salt unless someone can prove to me that it is bad.
the arguments:
freshwater means freshwater!
not necessarily true. maybe in high mountain streams yes, but the longer the water is in contact with the earth the more dissolved minerals, mainly salt, enter the water. also, many, if not most of the fish that we keep as mfkers can be found as far down rivers as estuaries.
using salt all the time will create salt resistent strains of ich!
well, this is my reasoning why that argument is invalid.
rivers flow to the ocean.
ich infested fish undoubtedly frequent brackish and marine environments, it may actually be a natural instinct to move down river when a wild fish gets infected.
there is not a salt water ich that i am aware of. (marine "ich" isn't the same as freshwater ich)
this process has continued for millions of years.
therefore, salt resistent ich cannot come about or already exists, either way, no need to worry.
i believe that salt should always be our go-to disease treatment and prevention because it is natural. by using treatments such as malachite green and rid-ich for every little thing, we are creating medication resistant strains of the diseases we all hate. i even believe that strains resistant to medication already do exist.
if less informed hobbyists, petco, petsmart, and walmart, continue to treat with medications rather than just keep healthy tanks and use appropriate levels of salt, i believe that aquarium diseases will get worse and worse.
first off let me start by saying the use of aquarium salt must be partnered with common sense. corys vs african cichlids etc.
i am a firm believer in the use of salt in freshwater aquariums, i use 1 tablespoon to every 10 gallons. i believe that my fish have beneffited from it and i will continue to use aquarium salt unless someone can prove to me that it is bad.
the arguments:
freshwater means freshwater!
not necessarily true. maybe in high mountain streams yes, but the longer the water is in contact with the earth the more dissolved minerals, mainly salt, enter the water. also, many, if not most of the fish that we keep as mfkers can be found as far down rivers as estuaries.
using salt all the time will create salt resistent strains of ich!
well, this is my reasoning why that argument is invalid.
rivers flow to the ocean.
ich infested fish undoubtedly frequent brackish and marine environments, it may actually be a natural instinct to move down river when a wild fish gets infected.
there is not a salt water ich that i am aware of. (marine "ich" isn't the same as freshwater ich)
this process has continued for millions of years.
therefore, salt resistent ich cannot come about or already exists, either way, no need to worry.
i believe that salt should always be our go-to disease treatment and prevention because it is natural. by using treatments such as malachite green and rid-ich for every little thing, we are creating medication resistant strains of the diseases we all hate. i even believe that strains resistant to medication already do exist.
if less informed hobbyists, petco, petsmart, and walmart, continue to treat with medications rather than just keep healthy tanks and use appropriate levels of salt, i believe that aquarium diseases will get worse and worse.
