# Salt in freashwater aquariums



## pokagon55 (Jan 31, 2006)

I would like opinoins on the use of salt for parisites and other external ailments, do you use salt? Or do you think it is a waste of time?
Thanks for the replies


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I've added salt to a tank with ich. (I also up the temp and use quick cure). I also add salt to tanks with guppies, mollies, swordtails, or goldfish.


----------



## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

What fish are NOT compatible with adding salt to a tank? I've been researching but I am not coming up with consistent info.


----------



## pokagon55 (Jan 31, 2006)

I think all are compatible some are just more sensative to salt, like fish that are scaleless, so precautions should be taken when using salt to avoid adding to much to avoid a death.


----------



## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

I have always used a tad of salt in all my tanks. by a tad I am meaning 1 tsp per 10 gal


----------



## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Okay.......thats what I added. Well, less probably. I was afraid of just all of a sudden there is salt in their tank.....kwim? I added 2tbsp last night, and this morning I did a water change (high nitrites) about 30% and then added a tbsp to make up for what I took out. 

Dang gouramis still have ich on them. Its not budged at all! They aren't rubbing themselves on anything, and no one else has any spots at all.......Just the silly gouramis (Larry, Curly and Moe).


----------



## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Oh, I've got the tank up to almost 84F now......I guess I'm doing about 4 degrees a day? Think thats too fast?


----------



## pokagon55 (Jan 31, 2006)

82 to 84 is the norm. What this does is lessen the stage of the ick to tomite stage as that is the stage were the salt or whatever meds. that you are using has the affect and it is only this stage that the meds. and of other are effective. It is also called the free swimming stage.

Also, before you add the salt make sure that it is fully desolved in a glass and in tank water before you introduce it in the tank. If you don't you run the risk of the fish getting salt burns.


----------



## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Yep, I fully dissolved it.

How long does it normally take for the white things to fall off?

And I just noticed ONE of my swordtails has ONE white dot.....great.


----------



## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

I beleive if you are using salt to tread ick or any other sickness that you should use 1 tbsp per 10 gal - thats what Ive always been told anyhow..


----------



## stargirly1208 (Mar 17, 2006)

i put a little salt in my tank when adding new fish to keep stress down to prevent ich. but i can't put a whole lot because of loaches and corys. just enough that it helps with disease and stuff. :fish:


----------



## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Okey doke!


----------



## pokagon55 (Jan 31, 2006)

IMO, It is best to treat for at least 14 to 21 days to make sure that all the ick is gone.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Is salt alone enough to cure ich? I've always used methylene blue or quick cure (formalin w/ malachite green).


----------



## Shawnts106 (Feb 27, 2006)

> i put a little salt in my tank when adding new fish to keep stress down


How does adding salt decrease stress... if anything I would think it would increase the stress on the fish due to a higher level of dissolved solids present around their bodys, therefore in order to convert this higher dissolved solid water into less dissolved solid water they use more energy thus createing more stress on the body.....

Keeping Ich down yes, but I wouldnt think it would reduce stress in ANY way...

Thats why when you do a HYPOsalinity treatment on marine fish it reduces stress on the fishes body, letting it conserve more energy to fight off the disease...

I would suspect the same just in reverse from more salt in the water...
thats why when you bring the salinity up once the hypo is over you have to do it 10 times slower than bringing it down to not cause osmo shock...

anyway... just my pennys worth...


----------



## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

Shawnts106 said:


> How does adding salt decrease stress... if anything I would think it would increase the stress on the fish due to a higher level of dissolved solids present around their bodys, therefore in order to convert this higher dissolved solid water into less dissolved solid water they use more energy thus createing more stress on the body.....
> 
> Keeping Ich down yes, but I wouldnt think it would reduce stress in ANY way...
> 
> ...



When fish are stressed they lose bodily salts so when you add a bit it helps to cut down on the amount the fish loses.


----------



## Trouble (Oct 6, 2005)

I personally use 1 tbsp to 5 gallons to treat Ick with great results.


----------



## Guest (Mar 19, 2006)

enough with the salt misinformation. I have had up to 3 teaspoons of salt per gallon in tanks and it still does not cure ich. If it did we all would have known this 50 years a go and nobody would be discussing it today. If you have ich in your aquarium turn up your temperature to at least 84 and treat it with a good medication. I prefer formalin, if my fish are hardy I also add malachite green. If you mess around with all these different opinions your fish will be dead before you realize what happened. Ich is nothing to mess around with. If you folks don't kill the swarmers they are going to kill your fish FAST. :rip:


----------



## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

I've got my temp up to 85 and I'm using the rid ich (and I added some salt...).

How long is it safe to leave the temp so high Pete?


----------



## pokagon55 (Jan 31, 2006)

lotsoffish said:


> enough with the salt misinformation. I have had up to 3 teaspoons of salt per gallon in tanks and it still does not cure ich. If it did we all would have known this 50 years a go and nobody would be discussing it today. If you have ich in your aquarium turn up your temperature to at least 84 and treat it with a good medication. I prefer formalin, if my fish are hardy I also add malachite green. If you mess around with all these different opinions your fish will be dead before you realize what happened. Ich is nothing to mess around with. If you folks don't kill the swarmers they are going to kill your fish FAST. :rip:


Mis-information Read this http://www.thekrib.com/Diseases/ich.html 
Don't see how this is mis-information
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=335
What about this by Matt Clarke? Mis-information?


This was not intented to go against your years of experience here just giving some good info. on the matter. I had ich a while back and used salt to cure it. I used 1 teaspoon per gal. water for three treatments at 12 hours apart for six weeks. Had no problems with any fish deaths and the ich was gone and hasn't returned.


----------



## Guest (Mar 19, 2006)

Well depending on the fish possibly forever but I would bring the temperature back down as soon as you do not see any ich for a few days. Remember just like anywhere else on the planet it is hotter during the summer months in the tropics than it is in the winter. I live in NY. Even here ponds and streams get very warm during the Summer especially if we are having a heat wave and little rain. It is natural for tropical fish to experience some temperature fluctuation. The Amazon river does not have a giant ebo Jagger heater keeping it at 80 degrees year round, and thank god it doesn't, think about what would happen if the contact points stuck and nobody noticed!


----------



## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Thank you! (I just made a thread to you and asked the temp question there too, besides my other questions).


----------



## pokagon55 (Jan 31, 2006)

And by the way, I used Malichite Green and it trashed my bio-filter. It even says that if used it will kill of the good bacteria.


----------



## pokagon55 (Jan 31, 2006)

http://www.fishdoc.net/articles/details.php?articleId=28

Here is another good article by Dr. Eric Johnson


----------



## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Ugh......this is just getting ridiculous. I think my gouramis are looking so bad....and at this point I'd be surprised if they pulled through it. It seems like ICH might be the reason so many newbies drop out of this hobby, not the nitrogen cycle. At least you have some leeway with that. Once ich is in there, you're screwed...... I'll be devastated if I lose my fish.


----------



## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

I have never used salt for anything. For heaven's sake, these are FRESHwater fish. Your gouramis are producing extra slime coat to combat the chemicals in your water. Salt and heat may very well intensify the effects of the Rid-Ich. Ich is a parasite that has to go through it's natural cycle. You can kill it when it drops off and is free floating. Just use the Rid-ich and do the water changes and dosages as recommended. If your gouramis are the only ones affected, QT them for treatment. It will lessen the risk for your other fish.

Salt only leaves your aquarium with water changes by way of dilution. It does not evaporate. If you add salt without a water change, you are raising the salinity to the point it is a stressor by itself.


----------



## Shawnts106 (Feb 27, 2006)

> I have never used salt for anything. For heaven's sake, these are FRESHwater fish. Your gouramis are producing extra slime coat to combat the chemicals in your water. Salt and heat may very well intensify the effects of the Rid-Ich.


I couldnt agree more...
Freshwater fish should stay in freshwater.....
Once again, this goes back to my previous post about stress due to osmotic presure...

I dought, but do not know for sure, that adding salt replaces body salt.. yes it could, but how much do you add for such and such amount of fish, and where they are from, how much they need, what they can tollerate... 
point is try and cure it with quick cure/formalin,Mgreen etc...

salt is kinda drastic to fish that are not addapted to higher salt levels..
Gouramis are found in southeast asian swamps... lots of tanic acids, low O2 content and warm warm water...
salt is not present that I know of, or if it is its VERY VERY low....


----------



## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Sprite42 said:


> I have never used salt for anything. For heaven's sake, these are FRESHwater fish. Your gouramis are producing extra slime coat to combat the chemicals in your water. Salt and heat may very well intensify the effects of the Rid-Ich. Ich is a parasite that has to go through it's natural cycle. You can kill it when it drops off and is free floating. Just use the Rid-ich and do the water changes and dosages as recommended. If your gouramis are the only ones affected, QT them for treatment. It will lessen the risk for your other fish.


THAT is very comforting, to know that HOPEFULLY what I am seeing is an extra slime coat...and not some other infection that may kill them. As I said to Pete on my thread, it DOES look like slime....so I'll just continue to be diligent with my temps and meds. I did the salt thing, obviously there is conflicting information about it though. The only thing that concerns me about QTing the gouramis is that the tank must have ich in it at this point. So probably it would make more sense to take the HEALTHY fish out and leave the gouramis in the sick tank. However, at this point, I have four cories in a quarantine tank.............so, I'm out of tanks.

Hopefully everyone will pull through.


----------



## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

Ich is present in ANY aquarium. It is only when your fishes natural immune system is compromised that it gets a hold. Mistreatment, inappropriate handling and water quality are all stressors that can cause the natural immune system to break down. So moving the infected fish to QT won't necessarily mean the other fish in the tank will become infected. They may be hardier or healthier.

That said, since you are already treating the entire tank, I would continue 'as is'! Also, when it comes time to change water for new meds, please don't add the salt.


----------



## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Thank you!


----------

