I'd like to put aquarium salt in my tank that has guppies, mollies, corys, and tetras (neon,serpae, b.neon)..

Question

I also have christmas/java moss and java fern. I have conflicting topics on whether or not I should use aquarium salt. I'm worried about killing my plants mostly. I know guppies and mollies won't mind. The corys and tetras might be a little sensitive. The question: Will the aquarium salt kill or hurt my christmas/java moss and java fern? Please include resources to back up your facts.

Answer 1

I dont have any resources, just experience, but I use salt in my tanks (two 28 gallons) that have a mix of mollies, platies, tetras, gouramis and loaches, and a good mix of plants including java moss and java fern and I have never had a problem. Inface, Im suprised to see java moss described as "sensitive". I pulled off a bit and threw it in a rain bucket in the back yard just to see what would happen and it took off. In my tanks I cant get the stuff to stop growing. And the only problem I have with java fern is that snails like to eat it and that does a lot of damage.

Other than that, they both seem like very hearty plants. Nothing has ever really bothered them.

Answer 2

about 8 tetras OR 6-8 guppies OR 4 cory cats OR 5-10 ghost shrimp. Together, get at least 2-3 tetras, as they are schooling fish, maybe 1-2 cories, 2 guppies and 2 ghost shrimp maybe? No order in particular 10 gallons isn't the most forgiving sized tank. If you haven't bought it already, consider a 20 gallon at least. You'll be able to have a lot of fun with it, and doors open to other species that will fit.

Answer 3

I had heard that aquarium salt is not a good thing for the health of tetras.

My source on that, I can't give a site for a resource unfortunately as I'm too lazy to go look for the info now and I didn't get it from a site in the first place. However, I got that information from several fishstore employees (different stores, it was in an aquarium hobby group on facebook, as well as at my LFS) who were in agreement that salt is a bad idea with tetras.

I'm not trying to give a 100% answer or anything, and not saying that I'm right. Just wanted to put out there the information I have been given by several people who's judgement on fish I trust.

To be honest, I might try throwing out this same question on a forum specific to fish and aquariums, like aquahobby.com and the like.

Answer 4

I just researched this very question with regard to corys a couple of nights ago--they are not salt tolerant. I have black skirt and lemon tetras, and they have been fine at the dose of aquarium salt I am using, which is 1.5 tsp per 5 gal (half of what the box recommends).

I don't know about the plants (sorry), since all mine are plastic right now, but I think if you have corys, you are not going to safely be able to add much if any aquarium salt. Here's one of the pages I checked about the corys:

http://www.goldfishparadise.com/info/tankmate.php

This page is a forum page that talks about salt, plants, and some specific fish. Sounds like for short term salt treatment, the plants you mentioned will be fine, but long-term use of salt with them isn't recommended.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=11627

Answer 5

Salt can be very beneficial in treating disease or increasing the effectiveness of medications. It is also helpful in relieving osmotic stress when cycling new tanks and adding new fish, but all of these circumstances are short term. Salt is not recommend as a long term solution for many reasons. Firstly, these are freshwater fish and there are enough TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) in the tap water of most cities as is, adding slat will shorten the life span of your fish. Secondly, people who report great success with salt have often been using it short-term (9 months is still considered relatively short-term), or pet stores that only have the fish in their tanks for short periods. Thirdly, some diseases (such as ich) will eventually become resistant to low levels of salt and become harder to treat. Lastly, tetras and corries especially are sensitive to salt, the detrimental effects may not be noticeable immediately, but salt will weaken the fish over time. Salt is great for short-term use but is not advised for continuous usage unless you are keeping brackish fish, all the benefits of salt can be achieved through good culturing practices.

Answer 6

I always put about 1 tablespoon on 10 gallons of water at every partial waterchange, which is weekly
and i have plants as well as cory's in my tanks, and they're all fine and thriving
Actually, i haven't had a sick fish in 9 months because of that, even with the additions i made




hope that helps
Good luck



EB

Answer 7

Cories don't like any salt in their water. Guppies and Mollies can get along with some, but it's not necessary.

http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/aquarium_salt.htm

Answer 8

yep,salt is great,i have the same collection&have no troubles with fish/plants.Use@reduced rate if you have catfish/loaches&cory's.
BUT nothing is gospel trial&error my friend..go slow&carful.
PS.salt is nescessary for the mollies,they are raised in'brackish'salted water.(@least they are here/oz)

Answer 9

no i tried it worked