Aquarium salt?

[Lady Hobbs]

Do you use aquarium salt on a regular basis or just to treat disease?

[jeffs99dime]

i only use salt if i'm running a brackish water tank or for treatments.

[jman]

i only use salt to keep worries down. simply by using it every time i do water changes to only keep the rule of 'tablespoon to gallon' there. Basically on my cichlids

[Lady Hobbs]

Then you use it regularly, right?

[Cichlid_Man]

That is the exact dilemna I am going through. I get a lot of mixed opinions on using salt or not, even for cichlids.

Some say they don't need it because they were farm raised.

Some say constant use of salt will make it non-effective later on if you want to use it for Ich or some disease.

I don't know. I use it on my cichlids too. They seem fine.

[Lady Hobbs]

The issues brings up questions for me as well. For instance, I was reading not long ago that salt can eventually break down the slime coat on fish but then, we certainly can't take heart to everything we read. Articles are written by people and each article reflects what they believe to be true so I still go back and forth on the issue........sometimes using it and sometimes not.

[Cichlid_Man]

Well Hobbs,
I read the same thing about breaking down the slime coat, but those salts are present in the Lakes.

I just don't know the right answer.
I do know that breeders use salts and buffers and they say they need it.

I know I recently posted on the Myth thread that use of salt is a Myth...
I can go either way on it.

The reason why I am still using it that yesterday I did a rather large water change, and then I got called away to a phone call.

The tank went without salt and buffers for 2 hours and my cichlids were scraping all over the place. I added the salt and buffers and they stopped within minutes...so I guess once you have them "on it", they have to stay on it. Maybe if you ween them off slowly? But then why would you want to?
I have read where some use it and their cichlids are 8 years old and breed like rabbits...

[Lady Hobbs]

This is getting interesting now. :) If salt does break down the slime coat as both of us have read, aren't we then causing our fish to become more susceptible to disease without this coating for protection? I have to wonder now. At any rate, the amount we would use for normal use (1 T per 10 gallons) would probably cause no concern but treatment tanks of 1 t. per gallon might be of some concern. Infact, for me, it was a concern. I had my fish in that amount for about an hour and just couldn't take it. I felt that concentration of salt would be harder on them than the medications. But that was just me.

[Cichlid_Man]

I used it on my first cichlids back in May when they got Ich, and they were able to handle it, but the non-cichlids in the tank died, so again, I don't know.

I read that it does break down the slime coat but it is not permanent.

So treating 1tsp/gallon for 10 days is ok as long as you cut it back after treatment.

Truthfully? I have never had any ill effects from quick cure or Super Ich cure.

I luckily have no Ich problems now, but a while back I did. I stick with the meds if I have to. Fish from fresh water don't like salt, period.

[crackatinny]

I have never used salt

[f1oored]

Salt should be used at all times in certain instances... such as salt water tanks. It should also be used in african cichlid tanks (though not as much as the saltwater tank). Brackish tanks also benefit from salt:). When the fishes natural environment has salt in the water (such as rift lake cichlids) I don't think trying to reproduce this environment is going to hurt the fish. I'm using salt in my cichlid tank now at about 1 tbls per 5 gallons. Now if you are talking about a pure freshwater tank... then I wouldn't use salt on a regular basis.

The organisms which cause ich and other diseases can build resistance to salt levels if it is constantly part of the water thus making it less effective as a cure when the fish do get sick.

[Fishguy2727]

I only use salt for tanks where they would have it in the wild. They may be farm raised but they are still physiologically from the lakes.

[kimmers318]

There wasn't an option for "never use salt" so here I am to say I NEVER ADD SALT TO MY FRESHWATER TANKS. I tried one time for treatment of a what appeared to be a disease at the beg. stages....my fish went ballistic swimming around like maniacs...I did a large water change and they settled right down so I don't touch the stuff. Mostly plain old water changes, stresscoat, and temp increases if helpful have been good for us. Melafix and Pimafix are the second choice. Other than my clown loaches...that is a long conversation that I won't even try to cover here :)

[Lady Hobbs]

Salt should not be dumped in all at once when it is used for treatment either. Taking your fish from zero salt to 1 t. per gallon for treatment must be a heck of a shock to them. It should be added gradually over a couple days.

[Neithan]

I don't use salt and I don't believe it should be used in a freshwater tank at all. If salt is used as a cure for a sick fish, remove the fish in question and put it in a small tank of its own, instead of stressing out all the other fish as well. Same goes for all treatments when you only have a part of your stock sick - don't treat the others for something they don't have.

[Lady Hobbs]

I agree with that but the problem comes up with ICK when several fish have it at once which is usually the case and then the whole tank needs to be treated unfortunately.

I have a 10 gallon I keep for ill fish, tho, and love having it right there at the ready.

[Fishguy2727]

I don't even use salt for ich, I just use quick cure.

[Lady Hobbs]

I would (and do) use the meds myself when needed. Many others believe in using salt and higher temps. I think this method has to be more stressful to fish than the meds.