to salt or not to salt?

[chilson45]

im not sure wether or not i should add salt to my tank.

ive got the following fish

-africans
-electric yellow
-cobalt blue
-golden mbuna
-kenyi
-red peacock
-gouramis
-opaline
-gold
-2 tiger barbs, and 1 green barb
-1 common pleco

i also add snails and ghost shrimp for snacks

 

[m1ste2tea]

YES to aquarium salt. I always put some in with my water changes for my mbuna tank.

 

[boldtogether]

I say yes to salt. Others with say no. Others still will preach to you about the evils of salt and how could you do that....blah, blah, blah. Point is, research the why and how of adding salt and then draw your own conclusion because there is definitely a vast array of opinions on here. 1tbs/5g.

 

[Otherone]

I say yes to salt. Others with say no. Others still will preach to you about the evils of salt and how could you do that....blah, blah, blah. Point is, research the why and how of adding salt and then draw your own conclusion because there is definitely a vast array of opinions on here. 1tbs/5g.

How about pointing out the facts as to why you use it and it's benefits rather than blah blah blahing others.

First time I ever heard of using salt in a freshwater aquarium was Petsmart - nuff said there. The benefits of salts in an aquarium are mainly during times of stress like acclimation and parasitic activity. Added Salt burns the scales of the fish thus stimulating slime coat regeneration. This is good for a fish under attack by external parasites and fungus or injured in battle. It is by no means a cure as parasites can adapt to stable salinity. It is the fluxuation in the waters salinity that kills free swimming parasites not a steady presence of salt or stable salinity. By adding salts regularly you could loose this benefit. Also not all fish are recommended the dose of 1tbs per 5 gal - small or soft scale fish like tetras and non- scale fish like plecos are recommened half dosages 1tbs per 10 gal. Low doses of salt is not a water purifier, it does nothing to help with the #1 health issue associated with household aquariums - Ammonia/Nitrate. Added salt is annoying to fish, parasties or not - what to expect - an increase in flashing, fish rubbing themselves on the substrate and oriniments. In the case of Plecs and tetras - they might get so annoyed they stop eating.

 

[boldtogether]

How about pointing out the facts as to why you use it and it's benefits rather than blah blah blahing others.

First time I ever heard of using salt in a freshwater aquarium was Petsmart - nuff said there. The benefits of salts in an aquarium are mainly during times of stress like acclimation and parasitic activity. Added Salt burns the scales of the fish thus stimulating slime coat regeneration. This is good for a fish under attack by external parasites and fungus or injured in battle. It is by no means a cure as parasites can adapt to stable salinity. It is the fluxuation in the waters salinity that kills free swimming parasites not a steady presence of salt or stable salinity. By adding salts regularly you could loose this benefit. Also not all fish are recommended the dose of 1tbs per 5 gal - small or soft scale fish like tetras and non- scale fish like plecos are recommened half dosages 1tbs per 10 gal. Low doses of salt is not a water purifier, it does nothing to help with the #1 health issue associated with household aquariums - Ammonia/Nitrate. Added salt is annoying to fish, parasties or not - what to expect - an increase in flashing, fish rubbing themselves on the substrate and oriniments. In the case of Plecs and tetras - they might get so annoyed they stop eating.

^^because of this^^^That why, blah,blah,blah.
You didnt mention Osmoregulation.
These threads are getting reduntant.

 

[chilson45]

thank you for the advise...i put aquarium salt in it and only gave a half dose because of the pleco

 

[Otherone]

^^because of this^^^That why, blah,blah,blah.
You didnt mention Osmoregulation.
These threads are getting reduntant.

You did bring up a good point, however the attitude isn't nessassary.
My borough sends us annual water quality reports. That report includes Organic Contaments, one of those is Salt. All tho the water is cleaned of unhealthy levels of contaments some make it thru including salt. Enough salt at least here not to inhibit homeostasis and grow fish larger than 12".
I have no clue as to each indivuals water sources and as you pointed out
Osmoreulation is a nessassary function of life - in this case each indivual would have to know his/hers water sources salinity. Perhaps some with well water have no salinity - certainly another excellant reason not to fill your fish tanks with bottled water. Good point.