Aquarium Salt in a Betta Tank?

Question

I have been told that Aquarium salt can help get rid of the little snails that have invaded my Betta's 2 gallon tank (Ive pulled out 6 of the little buggers and right now I see 3 more, who knows how many more are in there). Is it safe to put salt in his tank? And if so, how much? What else can I do to get rid of the encroachers (since Ive already put 6 of them in to my 30gal tropical tank)?

Answer 1

Salt will help kill them, but you would be better off continuing the manual removal. Use up to 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon but add it over the course of several hours to avoid shocking your betta.

MM

Answer 2

Bettas do not require salt. Snails can be killed by it (but then, I think this depends on the kind of snail - I don't really know much about snails, but I've had many bettas). I suggest leaving it out. The only time you should really expose your betta to salt is if it is ill and you have isolated it into a small container for a short period of time, at which point adding a small amount of salt will help them heal. I've had bettas live up to four or five years (they finally died when I left for the holidays and left them in the care of my mother) and only once exposed any of them to salt.

Answer 3

A little bit of salt won't hurt your betta if you make sure to dissolve it completely before adding it into the tank and do it slowly (as MM suggested). However, if you crush the shells of the little pond snails, your betta will probably be happy to eat them. I do that with the ones that are in my tank and my guppies gobble them up. I just squish them against the side of the glass with a chopstick and the fish clean up the mess.

Answer 4

You can add salt, slowly, but don't do one tablespoon per gallon as previously mentioned. That would be WAY too much salt for your fish. The correct salt dosage would be one tablespoon per every five gallons (so six tablespoons of non-iodized salt, maximum). After the snails have died, do frequent twenty-to-thirty-percent partial water changes to lessen the salinity over time.

Answer 5

u should definatly put salt in ur tank. ive been using it ever since my betta got velvet. twice :(. BUT NEVER EVER EVER use table salt. u gotta buy special aquarium salt. its quite useful.:)