AQUARIUM salt - not saltwater salt........?

Question

I know you use it for helping the fish keep their electrolites, and helping them regenerate their fins if the've been damaged, but the carton says to use it when you set up a new tank. what are the real benifits of using aquarium salt (for freshwater tanks), and can it hurt your goldfish? or any other fish for that matter? thanks in advance!!

also, i read on a vet's website that aquarium salt can kill ich, because it bursts the bug's cells wide open. has anyone done that and what were your results?

Answer 1

Aquarium salt builds the fish's immune system, balances electrolytes, helps build a healthy coat of slime, increases gill function, and can stave off many fish diseases. It is important to put aquarium salt in a new tank especailly if the tank is not fully cycled when you begin to stock it (add fish) The reason for this is that the ammonia, and nitrite spikes that occur during the cycling period are quite stressfull tot he fish. Ammonia can burn the gills, suffocating the fish, if aquarium salt is present in the tank, it will help build the slime coat & increase gill function to compensate... I have effectively treated fungus with salt, but I have never had a problem with ich, so I can't tell you from personal experience.
As long as you follow the guidelines on the box (1 TBS/5 gallons or 1/2 tsp/gallon) your fish will be fine. For medicinal treatments the salinity needs to be increased gradually to about double (2 TBS/5 gal or 1 tsp/gal) It will not harm gold fish or any other fresh water fish.

Answer 2

Ok here's the skinny on salt. I don't believe it is necessary to have it in the tank and there may already be salt in the tap water you use. Yes it can hurt if you put too much in and it doesn't evaporate so unless you have a salinity meter to determine how much salt is in there you really shouldn't bother with it. BUT it does however work to cure illness in fact it will cure just about anything except flukes and fish lice. This is what you can do for ick and I will swear by it and it works better than any med you can buy.
Ok you have ick so its all in the tank the fish are in weather they are showing signs or not so you have to do this in their home tank. Ick is a result of stress and the water temperature being too cold. I know they are considered a "cold water" fish but don't let that fool you, they need heat. Letting the temp fall below 70 is not a good idea. Get a heater and when not under a salt bath keep it between 75 and 80 year round.
ok heat your tank to 82 degrees and add additional airstones if you have them
Put in 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon in the morning then do it again at night. Repeat the same the next day for a total of 4 teaspoons per gallon. You should see improvement by the 2nd or 3rd day. Leave them in this concentration for 2 weeks. Keep the Ph stable NO ammonia NO nitrites, if you need to change water in that time replace it with 4 teaspoons per gallon water. After 2 weeks do successive 25% water changes until you can no longer taste salt on your finger after you dip it into the tank water. Turn the heat down 2 derees every 2 days until you get to 76 degrees and leave it there. By the way you do not have to use expensive aquarium salt you can use non-iodized ice cream salt or kosher salt. Rock salt is better BC it dissolves slower. Follow this and you will be ick free, keep the water warmer and ick should not come back. Hope this helps.
Yes I have had to do it before after treating with Quick Cure 3 times with no luck in getting rid of ick, and the salt treatment seemed much less stressful to the fish and they recovered very quickly. One two week bath did the trick and ick hasn't been back in 3 years.
You should avoid usuing ANY medication in the tank ever. Always try salt and heat first BC that combination takes care of a wide range of bacterial and fungal infections. If the infection goes internal, then use a good medicated food like Romet-B or Medi-Gold (www.goldfishconnection.com). It may not be a bad idea to get the food, its an anti-biotic, and couldn't hurt. Just don't use it too often through out the year so bugs won't build a tolerance to it. Medi-Gold is a great product and works like nothing else, its what the pros use.

Answer 3

Aquarium salt is just a way to get you to spend money on pricey salt. Salt has some uses, but it's not a cure all. Also there is no reason you can't just use regular salt. Iodine fears are just plain silly as aquarium salt has iodine, and fish need iodine. Also you could just buy non-iodized salt in supermarket.

Uses:
0)Nitrite poisoning- Salt will help fish survive high levels of nitrite. That said you should just cycle your tank before adding fish. In an established tank you should have any detectable levels of nitrites. (nitrAtes yes, nitrItes no)

1)Ich/ick- Fresh water ich, and velvet don't like salt, and in large amounts it will kill it off. That said many fish can't take the large amounts of salt needed. (We are talk 1-3 teaspoons of salt per gallon.) Now if you have livebearers like molly and guppy it's all good.

2)Livebearers- Molly, and guppy can live in salt water. Platy, and swordtail can live in brackish water. Molly, especially the sailfin, and sailfin hyrbids, do better with about 1 teaspoon per gallon. Some claim molly are brackish fish, but it's really not true. They are hard water fish, and in acidic soft water they won't thrive. (Adding salt seems to help a lot.)

What salt doesn't do:

1)Aid slime coat

2)Hurt injury

3)Kill bacteria,, or fungus (well only it does you use lethal amounts of it)

Answer 4

Aquarium salt can be benificial, but don't take the carton too literally. It boasts all sorts of miracle cures, and while it can help, I certainly wouldn't keep salt in my tank at all times. I only use it with fish who have fin dammage or a parastic infection.

And yup, salt is great with killing ich and velvet (another parasite). It's just as effective as ich meds, but without the harshness of the ich meds and the blue dye. I started using salt as an ich cure and have never looked back; when I had an ich outbreak in my big tank I didn't have to take out my shrimp, or my carbon filter, or my decor... I just added some salt and everything was fine.

In small quantities, it won't hurt anything. Some people keep salt in their tank at all times. I don't think it's necessary, but unless you're putting in more than 1 tbsp / 5 gallons, your fish won't suffer from it.

Oh, but DONT use marine salt. It contains other additives and minerals that are not good for a freshwater tank.

Answer 5

I have treated ich with aquarium salt before with success. The dose for that is really high though... like 3-5 tablespoons per gallon. It killed many plants, but the ich was cured. The fish were surprisingly fine with the salt. It didn't bother them one bit. I had treated gouramis, loaches, plecos, bettas, and a few other fish with it. Mostly gouramis. I like treating ich with the salt because it doesn't mess with my filters. Commercial peperations require that you remove the filter for the duration of the treatment (ich can lasts in your gravel 10 days after the last spores fall off of your fish's body)

The other main use of salt is to prevent Nitrite poisoning in fish when nitrites are high. It binds to nitrite receptors in the fish, preventing the uptake of the harmful material. Its really useful the first few months you have a tank to prevent nitrite related deaths and stress. As ammonia decomposition fluctuates wildly the first few months, nitrite levels also swing like crazy. It acts as a safety net allowing the nitrifing bacteria to decompose the nitrite to nitrate without having to remove the fish.

Its also used as a general tonic. Old fish keepers would throw some aquarium salt in the water for luck. Fish with a little salt in the water seem to get sick less often.

Some salt should not harm your goldfish, and actually should be beneficial the first few months you have them.

Answer 6

Good topic, and alot of good answers.Do I use it? Sometimes. Why? To "aid" in a cure of illness. Salt ":can" kill parasites, but will kill most "FW" fish at the levels needed. Salt is NOT "needed" in any tank. Look at the lakes and rivers your "pets" come from. None have as much of the NaCl that is in "aquasalt". The only type of fish I keep are African cichlids and Synodontis. If anybody "should" use salt it is me. When you boil down to it, aquarium salt is basically an IRRITANT to fish, which in turn makes the fish create more slime coat to better defend itself from the inside out.Salt has its places(I've always got some around), but it should be few and far between, if you keep healthy aquaria.And too the question: NO salt cant hurt the goldfish(use other posters guides on use), Scaless fish cannot handle as much as others.The only way I "treat" ICK is with high temps and salt(BTW niether kill ICK unless deadly levels to fish) and GRAVEL VACCUMS.But I haven't had ICK since I started 5yrs ago. Worry about water quality dear, not curing diseases.

Answer 7

You can use marine salt for your fresh water tank, just less then you would the fresh water salt. The benefit is that tap water, or bottled water is striped of its natural minerals the fish is accustom to. The fish will be brighter, better colours, finnage and health. Goldfish tolerate a LOT of salt, whereas Bettas, Discus and scalesless fish do not. You can actually use salt dips for goldfish as an extreme treatment for many ailments the salinity of a salt dip would make ocean water seem fresh.

It can hurt the fish if you use to much, yes. Or if you do not remove enough water in your water change but add more salt you can accumilate to much.

Salt will treat not just ick, but MANY diseases and parasites. Its a disinfectant just like you can use it on a Kancer sore, sore throat or your kitchen counter. Some people ONLY use salt to treat disease as a way to keep to many chemicals from entering the tank. A higher dosage of salt is need to treat anything, it does well to stave off fin rot and I've used it effectively against ich at my work.

I use salt all the time and my water is crystal clear I hardly have any algae and people always ask what kind of lighting I'm using to make the fish look that good. My goldie tank especially looks GORGEOUS as a result of salt use. I use marine salt (not what is recommended for corals, but more for fish) as I have a large bucket for my marine tank. I find it better then the "fresh water salt" which is a little less concentrated. (I also have a marine blue atinic and a sunglo with a mirror background on my goldie tank which really improves the look of the tank and brightens the colours.)

Oh yes, i almost forgot, you can not use a guideline like 1 tbsp of salt per 2 gallon etc as salinity is not just based on volume of water and mass of salt. Temperature, air pressure (so altitude) are also major factors ESPECIALLY temperature. You really should buy a hydrometer if you are going to use salt.

Answer 8

Salt in your tank is generally speaking a good idea. I use about 2 tsp per gallon as a general additive. Salt can be used to kill ich by dosing at a much higher level. To kill ich you need about 1 tbls per 2 gallons and increase the temp of the tank to about 84. It is a slow process as it only kills the ich in a free floating stage, not when a cyst or when attached to the fish. Salt will also promote additional slime coat on your fish (good thing) which helps prevent the ich tomites (free floaters) from attaching to the fish. Salt is not always a good idea with certain catfish, so check out your cats (if you have any) before adding the salt. Enough salt to help the fish is also quite bad on most aquarium plants, so be aware that you probably can't have it both ways ... salt and plants. Most people ( and most aquarium salt packages) use or suggest levels of salt that really do no good, but do be careful, you can use too much as well. Best of luck.

Answer 9

You never use salt on a regular basis for any fish other than the salt water ones. You can use salt for you betta's or goldfish if they exhibt signs of fin damage. That's about all.

Answer 10

I agree with the folks who wrote in about their use of salt in a fresh water tank. Salt kills bacteria, salt does not kill ich. Raising the temp for ich can do the trick, but I prefer meds to get rid of it faster.

I myself have to be careful in using salt, as in some of my planted tanks I have beneficial snails, and they would run off in a hurry if I would add salt.