# dead corry in salt canister



## 1 LARA (May 3, 2011)

i got salt today and put it in plastic tuperware thing put hole on top found dead corry in there?


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

No big surprise; cories can't withstand salt very well.. The big question is why you were doing this in the first place. I guess you saw the petshop do it and wanted to copy them?


----------



## AvocadoPuffDude (Jan 20, 2011)

NO SALT IN FRESHWATER TANKS PEOPLE.
PetCo, infamous for adding salt to every tank in the manner you described, in a small tub, does so with little regard to proper fish husbandry techniques. Salt is a cheap lazy way to mask health problems without addressing the solution. When PetCo does it, it's the equivalent of lying to the public. They are called FRESHWATER FISH for a reason, and that means NO SALT.
There are species that do well with salt - mollies for one, and others that have to have salt, the brackishwater fish such as monos, but otherwise, salt is better served on your french fries than in your FRESHwater fish tank!!!
Fish are ESPECIALLY sensitive to changes in salinity, more so than some other water parameters, it really screws up their ion exchange rate or something like that on a cellular level (pardon me for not being more technical.)
NO SALT IN FRESHWATER TANKS, I cannot stress that strongly enough!


----------



## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

Cory cats especially...they're actually armored fish and not scaled, which makes them very susceptible to diseases and yes, salt. 

If you were treating with salt for a disease, I think the best way to do it is do a salt dip with the affected fish, and not the whole tank.


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I put in a little bit of salt in with my cory and he was okay with it and I also dipped him in salt water and he was okay so treating them with salt is okay. Sadly, he died today. Three weeks since the salt treatment. He was a very good fish and has been my companion for 4 years.


----------



## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

I wouldn't necessarily say it's "okay". Did the salt treatment cure his ailment?


----------



## Piscis_Carus (Apr 27, 2011)

Considering it died 3 weeks after the salt dip, I would say it did more harm than good...

I add a very small amount of salt to my tanks, 1tsp per 5 gallons. My 20gal does have a molly and guppies so I try to have a small amount in there for their benefit.


----------



## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Betta man said:


> I put in a little bit of salt in with my cory and he was okay with it and I also dipped him in salt water and he was okay so treating them with salt is okay. Sadly, he died today. Three weeks since the salt treatment. He was a very good fish and has been my companion for 4 years.


I think a little is okay, but what I'm getting from this is he put a small peanut butter jar sized container full of salt in it with the holes in the top and all. I've seen it a couple Petsmarts before.


----------



## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

snyderguy said:


> I think a little is okay, but what I'm getting from this is he put a small peanut butter jar sized container full of salt in it with the holes in the top and all. I've seen it a couple Petsmarts before.


I've seen it in PetCo, too. The idea behind this is that is reduces osmotic stress, which helps fishes' other stress by moving. Instead of having to constantly flush water from their bodies to keep the higher salt level inside of them, salt in water makes them have to 'flush' out less water. It also promotes the growth of slime coats. With that said, it's better to treat the actual problem (ex. rough handling that damages slime coat) than dump in salt.



Just to verify, salt KILLS freshwater creatures. This is why a two-minute salt dip can kill a certain parasite. However, a fish is a more complex creature (with scales and skin and organs) and it takes LONGER for salt to kill it. A two-minute salt dip will kill the parasite but not be long enough to kill the fish...yet.


----------

