What is the purpose of adding salt to a freshwater aquarium?

Question

Does it help speed up the cycling process?

Answer 1

We all need salt to survive...

Answer 2

Salt will not help the cycling process. Nature has to take it course there. What salt does do for most fishtanks is improve the overall health of the tank. A small amount of salt in the water causes your fish to produce more protective slime which is their defense against external parasites like fungus and ick. Salt also make the overall chemistry of the water more hostile some of those parasites and diseases. Typical fresh water dosage is about a tablespoon per 10 gallons. Double that for gold fish and livebearers. For mollies,you can put three tablespoons.

There are some situations where salt isn't so good, well planted aquariums with live plants... many freshwater plants sold for aquariums are not tolerant of salt. You'll see their leaves turn brown. Fish with a preference for really soft water, certain tetras, catfish and discus for example, do not like salt in their water.

For most fish in a typical freshwater community tank, the addition of some salt can really help keep the tank healthy.
Good luck..

Answer 3

Salt doesn't speed up the cycling process, although it can relieve the effects of higher nitrites in the water on fish during the cycling process. This is because salt (chloride specifically) reduces the amount of nitrite that takes the place of oxygen in the fish's blood (ever wonder why they're gasping for air if you don't change the water soon enough?). Suppliers use a fairly high salt concentration when shipping fish to your pet store - especially if they come from overseas - all those fish together in a little bag for hours at a time produce a lot of wastes, to the point where sometimes the water's so cloudy it's hard to even see the fish. The use of salt during shipping has somewhere in the range of 90% better survival rate over shipping without it.

There are a number of reasons to use salt with a home aquarium as well, so I'll try to explain the most common here.

The most common reasons given for it's use are stress relief and disease prevention, although the "stress relief" is most likely related to reduced nitrite uptake as explained above.

Salt "baths" are a traditional remedy to remove parasites and other pathogens because they don't tolerate salt as well as the fish can in higher concentration. Higher concentrations can also stimulate fish to produce an excessive slime coat to prevent some of the parasites/pathogens from attaching to the fish (at this concentration, the salt can be stressful to the fish as well). Hobbyists , aquaculturists, and veterinarians have recommended low amounts (around 1% or less concentration) in the aquarium as a safe level for preventation for diseases and parasites.

This works by something called osmotic pressure/osmotic balance - a fancy term for the amount of salt and other ions (electrolytes) inside the cells of a fish compared to the amount outside. Salt can easily be expelled from a fish through the gills. So why, then, is there a consistanly higher concentration inside their bodies than outside for freshwater fish? Freshwater fish have specialized cells to help in gathering salt ions from the water. In fact, maintaining this salt balance makes up about 25-50% of the energy expended by a fish. Basically a fish is better adapted for taking in and using salt than are the diseases and parasites that infect them.

How does a fish use the salt? The chloride ions, in addition to use to inhibit nitrite uptake are used in the production of hydrochloric acid - used for food digestion. Sodium ions are used for cell metabolism in a unique way - called "active transport". Not all materials can move freely into an animals' cells. Some require "help", and sodium ions are part of the help, particularly in the movement of potassium, which is used in fluid/electrolyte balance, muscle contraction, and nerve impulse conduction. This type of transport also occurs in humans, too.

Some fish are more sensitive to salt than others, and some are more efficient at aquiring it as well. This should be considered when deciding whether or not to add it, or how much should be added. While it's not absolutely necessary to add it to a tank (and many who don't have kept fish successfully), I've found that by using low amounts that's I've had fewer problems with disease and mortality than I had before I began it's use.

I'll provide some links below for sources and further reading for those interested.

Answer 4

I used to work at a fish farm, and we used salt to kill parasites on fish. I don't know if it speeds up the cycling process.

Answer 5

It won't help with speeding the cycling process, but even in low amounts it will help control some parasites and fungii.

MM

Answer 6

basic aquarium facts states that salt heals the fish from bacteria present in your tank. aside from that it help you in the ph level of your tank and helps the fish from stress.

Answer 7

Minuscule concentrations of salt can help healing in sick fish. And slow bacterial growth.

Answer 8

well like my crab likes brackwish water, which is regular water with some special aquarium salt. that's the way he is and he needs it to live.

Answer 9

helps heal wounds, kills parasites and helps restore protective stress coating on fish.

Answer 10

Salt has antibacterial properties... don't add too much!