Adding Salt and Aqua Safe with water changes

[Davey]

Iam goign to put soem salt in the new water thats going into the aquarium do i need to put aqua safe also ?

[ewok]

you need dechlorinator generally, but you don't need salt. this is entirely dependant on conditions and fish tho.... some water doesn't need dechlorinator, other water has chloramines and needs a stronger type.... only you can be the judge of what is needed, but for the cost of stress-coat (what i use), i would prefer to be safe. as far as the salt, that is entirely dependant on the fish. i usually use very little but i am somewhat of a fan of variable salinity so occasionally i will dump some in. as far as i know, for most regular fish only a tiny amount is neccesary to keep the fish healthy. in my guppy tank as with most live bearers i prefer to use it pretty regularly as they are from areas that generally have more present.

[JamisonBWolsh]

Just remember: SCALELESS fish does NOT tolerate SALT! Not at all. Not even a BIT! No salt!!! EVER!!! This includes catfish, elephant noses, BGK, Loaches, many others,.....

[ewok]

scaleless fish do not tolerate *high* salt, i have used salt succesfully with my BGK, my pims and my shovelnose and asian cat......

just a clarification

[JamisonBWolsh]

Thats not correct. Scaleless fish cannot tolerate ANY salt. Even small amounts will irritate them. Next your going to say the normal Ich medication is fine for them too.....

[slipknottin]

salt is an essential element and no fish can survive without it....... :)

besides, i hardly see anyone keeping these fish go through the hassle of using RO or distilled water to make sure there is no salt in their water...

[JamisonBWolsh]

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article5.html


http://boeing_dude.tripod.com/id62.htm - says no salt for scaleless

Here is a good explanation I got from the usenet:


Clown Loaches are considered a "scaleless" fish which means they
have more of a skin rather than a layer of scales. hard scales protect a fish,
not only from physical hard, but also as a way of keeping chemical products
from disfusing into their body. Clown Loaches do not have this, so they are
particularly sensative to additived to the water that might be irritating
such as medications or salts as it can be absorbed into their bodies much
easier and faster than fish with a protective scaled body.

It is kind of like how we have skin and our skin protects us from stuff. So
you go swimming in the ocean and it normally does not bother you. But notice
if you get a lot of salt water in sensative membrane areas such as your eyes
or in your mouth. They can be irritated or the way your mouth kind of puckers
up when you get to much slat water in it. Now imagine how irritating it
would be to swim in the ocean if your skin was replaced by these less
resistant tissues. That is the problem clown loaches and other "scaleless"
fish have.

[slipknottin]

those articles you link to say "dont add salt". Your tap water contains plenty of it already.



Originally posted by JamisonBWolsh
Thats not correct. Scaleless fish cannot tolerate ANY salt. Even small amounts will irritate them.

[JamisonBWolsh]

Im Talking about adding additional salt....I never tested the salt in my tap..if there is any its REALLY low...

[ewok]

jameson quit trolling..... believe what you want, i KNOW i have done this with no ill effects. you are talking about clown loaches in your last post and they are notorious for being sensative to EVERYTHING.

i also know i have treated ich in my cat tank with salt AND aquarisol, which is also copper salts.......

i did NOT recommend anything full-strength and you can search my posts and you will see i almost never do. i always start with a low dose and build it up while watching for possible ill effects. i am very sparing with everything as i have seen treatments do more damage than the problems many times in the past.

i think you need to do a little more research before you warm up the brazier. ;)

[JamisonBWolsh]

did you read ALL THE ARTICLES? Elephant nose are sensitive to salt as well........READ ALL THE ARTICLES!!! The end said "with all scaleless fish" in that one article you read

[ewok]

elephant noses used to be used to test water quality... go research it, you will see. another EXTREMELY sensative fish, period.

edit: btw, neither of those articles explains the vigor you are using on this topic, the second article even says you can't use table salt and that makes the rest of it suspect.... i like rtr's article better and will find the link for it later if i have time. it's on tomsaquarium site i think under articles...... i don't understand the reaction here and i don't have the time to dig up the references for the stuff that i have read. want me to send you my bookmarks? maybe you can find the specific link in the several hundred that i have.

[roper930]

I've always used a bit of salt in my tanks which house my BGK and cats. NEVER a problem. That's proof enough for me! :rolleyes:

Beth

[JamisonBWolsh]

Its just that I do have an Elephant nose in my tank and always been told NEVER used salt with that guy because he is scaleless. So I dont. Yes, I know that in the past elephant noses were used to test water quality. The people would listen to the electrical pulses. Faster the pulses, the lower the water quality was. Also, they are the most intelligent fish out there in the aquarium hobby.

[RTR]

JBW - you really should try for a bit deeper understanding before you launch these mad crusades. Are you unaware that there are SW and BW scaleless fish, including cats? You are going to create an image of the boy who cried wolf too often and is completely ignored, right or wrong. Data without understanding is dangerous.

There are very few absolutes in the world, especially in the aquarium world. Added sodium chloride is not always a good idea, routine addition of such can be detrimental (especially without knowing the details of the existing water), but specific and short-term use is not going to cause fish such as loaches to shrivel up and die.

There is an old quote about " a little learning is a dangerous thing, drink deep or taste not the ... spring".

ewok - The salt article is


http://www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/salt.shtml

[slipknottin]

Originally posted by JamisonBWolsh
Also, they are the most intelligent fish out there in the aquarium hobby.

how do they know this?

[JamisonBWolsh]

I thought everyone knew this? I can look for a few articles if you want.

[slipknottin]

no, not everyone "knew" this..

i do know they have large brains in comparison to their body weight, but that doesnt neccisarily mean their smarter.

Brain size could also be related to the amount of senses they use, and being able to process all the information quickly.

if brain size vs. body weight was the only thing important, elephant noses would be smarter than humans.

[djlen]

Hey Davey....aren't you glad you asked.....see what you started.....all the folks are arguing......and it's almost Christmas!!!!
Len:D

[JacksontoKobe]

I would also like to know where you read these are the smartest fish.