Why put salt in a freshwater aquarium??

Question

Why do people put salt (iodene free) into freshwater aquariums?? do they fish have a big benefit??

Answer 1

That is a quite arguable question. The benefits depend in part on the fish in question. Mollies for example really need some salt in their tanks and in fact do well even in brackish or marine levels of salt. Many other fish can benefit somewhat from the addition of salt to the tank and a few will not do well with much salt at all in the tank. The main benefits are for easing osmotic pressure on the fish and for the control or bacteria and fungi, mostly the fungi. A small amount of salt ( about 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons will kill some types of fungus commonly found in aquariums. Double that will kill quite a few types of fungus.

Salt is also an excellent treatment for many small parasites such as ich. Treatment levels of salt usually start around 1 tablespoon per gallon and go up depending on what you are treating and how.

To dispel a few common myths about salt use, it will not cause bloating, swelling or dropsy in any fish and in fact, will actually help relieve such problems through osmoregulation. It can cause burns on a fish if used in a high concentration, but not at the levels discussed above. It is not removed by any typical filter methods including phosphate pads, zeolite or carbon. It has been used to treat a variety of fish ailments for decades with excellent success both in aquarium and pond settings and is still the treatment of choice for millions of aquarium keepers and most of the freshwater fisheries companies in the world for most any small parasite or fungus problem.

All in all an important material no aquarium keeper should ignore.

MM

Answer 2

Salt: Many people use it, many don't. The choice is yours. I don't use it and never run into health issues, not for 14 years running now. As far as I'm concerned the more stuff you start dumping into your water, the more complicated you make it, and the more can go wrong. Keep it simple - all of the things about fish that salt is said to help doesn't need to be helped when the fish are already healthy and free of stress. PH: If you buy simple chemicals from the store it will add elements to the water to try and force the PH down. Everything in the water that made it high in the first place will still be there, and the two will fight each other - the water inevitably wins. One thing that is worse then having a PH too high, is having one unstable. The only reliable option you have is to use distelled or Reverse Osmosis treated water mixed with your tap water to achieve the desired results. Adding a filter filled with peat moss can help some, but will also turn the water orange. Driftwood can help, but the amount you would need to make it work is more then the tank would hold.

Answer 3

i put aquarium salt in my tanks because it does have benefits.


BUT ONLY to scaled fishes, never put salt in with scaleles fishes like clown loaches.

Anyway all freshwater fish can handle some degree of saltwater, so i add the aquarium salt after every water change, AND ALWAYS after you get a new fish.

Salt helps eliminate illness and other health problems that fish have. Freshwater paracites dont like salt, so by adding aquarium salt, you can eliminate ih and other paracites alot faster with salt.

Salt will help the fish(new fish) settle faster and help them with breathing as they can get stressed durring shipping.

it is just overall an important tool in fishkeeping.

Answer 4

The fish that they have is probably a tropical salt water fish. There are also certain salts that are for freshwater tanks that help the fish live longer and more healthy.

Answer 5

Even though they are fresh water fish, there is still salt in fresh water where the fresh water fish live. There may not be much compared to the ocean, but there is still salt there. I can't remember the benefit of this, but there is something to it. I used to have a fresh water aquarium myself.

Answer 6

yes they have several benefits number 1 it brightens the fishes colors number 2 it prevents ich number 3 it makes your fish healthier over all

Answer 7

Because they are probably Tropical Salt Water Fish.Thxs 4 the points!!!!

Answer 8

They need some sodium man!