adding salt (help please)!!!!!!!!

[FishKeeper-16]

i added salt to my my 29g tank and now fish are swimming funny and they are platys, danios, mollies, and painted tetra

[FishKeeper-16]

i added 4 table spoons

[ecvjohn]

Do a water change to reduce the salinity.

Supposed to use teaspoons as far as I know, if you put this much salt in all at once it may throw the fish out of whack IMO. Did you dissolve the salt first?

[amosf]

That's about 100litres even allowing a bit for gravel. You could put up to 200g of salt (2g/litre). You have put about 80g at a guess (tablespoon = ~20g I think). IMO that amount of salt should not adversely affect them. Was it a normal tablespoon measure?

I stopped using such measures and started weighing the salt to get more accurate concentrations...

[FishKeeper-16]

i got new fish yesterday and will they tolerate a water change? cus they have been stressed since and my mollies like to swim in place near the top and i tap the glass and they dart off

[TKOS]

Water changes are always welcome. I doubt that much salt is a major problem. Often it just takes new fish a few days to get used to things and settle down. I would do water changes (especially if the tank isn't fully cycled) and keep the lights off for a coupel of days. This will help get them calmed down.

Why did you add salt in the first place, were the fish sick?

[Greg J]

Why did you add salt in the first place, were the fish sick?
I always add salt when I do a water change. But I usually only add about 1/2 teaspoon for every 10 gallons of water I replace. Salt is good preventative maintenance against parasites and funguses, plus providing electrolytes.

I know some people never put salt in a freshwater tank, but this method has worked well for me for over 10 years with no problems.



i added salt to my my 29g tank and now fish are swimming funny and they are platys, danios, mollies, and painted tetra

i added 4 table spoons
Your fish may not be accustomed to that much salt. I would do a partial water change (30% - 50 %) without adding any more salt for now, and see how they act then. You can always add a little more as they acclimate.

You didn’t use iodized salt did you?

[FishKeeper-16]

no i added docwellfish aquarium salt

[TKOS]

Any NaCl is fine. Iodized salt doesn't hurt fish anymore than it hurts humans. In fact all living things need some iodine in their system to function. And you would need to add near pickling levels to add enough idoine to hurt your fish (and then they would be pickeled so that ends that). I won't bother getting into any adding of salt debate here as we just had a huge one a few weeks back. As a medicine salt seems to have its merits and is good to have on hand. Here is an interesting link though about adding salt to freshwater aquariums:

http://tcoletti.tripod.com/molly_salt_debate.html

It is always good to read up on the various thoughts on why we add stuff to our tanks and make an informed decision that way.

[daveedka]

I always add salt when I do a water change. But I usually only add about 1/2 teaspoon for every 10 gallons of water I replace. Salt is good preventative maintenance against parasites and funguses, plus providing electrolytes.
I know some people never put salt in a freshwater tank, but this method has worked well for me for over 10 years with no problems.

Food for thought:
Did you campare the desease ratio to that of an un-salted tank?
How do you know if you prevented anything?
Why do you feel your fish aren't capable of living in an environment with lower NA and CL levels nrmally found in freshwater?
And most importantly, no problems compared to what?
And did your fish live longer than fish in a tank without salt?

Please understand this is not meant as a negative or an attack, I have been searching a lot of info on salt for freshwater fish, and have yet to find any reason to add salt except for short term disease treatment. Without a comparison, the often mentioned benifits are not tested well.

amosf is the only one who has cited personal experience of salt being an improvement ( life being more difficult before adding salt), but that is a water problem specific situation, not a general hobby wide case. And while salt seems to do the job, there is also a good likelihood that other options would help in the same way.

I would fully agree that 1/2 teaspoon per 10 gallons is far easier on the fish than the normal reccomendations, but it is also well below the level needed to treat most diseases, and well above the levels found in most freshwater. therefore it would seem to me to be even more unnecessary.
Just my thoughts, and questions, nothing more.
dave

[Greg J]

Food for thought:
Did you campare the desease ratio to that of an un-salted tank?
How do you know if you prevented anything?
Why do you feel your fish aren't capable of living in an environment with lower NA and CL levels nrmally found in freshwater?
And most importantly, no problems compared to what?
And did your fish live longer than fish in a tank without salt?

The first two years I had an aquarium (started in 94), It seemed I was continually treating my tank for ick, (except for the two times I was treating anchor worm). In 96 I learned about using salt, both as a treatment, and as preventative maintainence. I haven’t had a single problem since. (May just be luck or coincidence. . . ) OH, I guess that's 9 years not 10 (sorry), it's been a loooooooooooong time.



Please understand this is not meant as a negative or an attack
I understand, and appreciate the feedback :)


Edit: I’ve also found that at low levels (1/2 teaspoon per 10 gallons) plants seem to do quite well.

[bennylax3]

I guess I have a question dealing with salt now. I keep SA/CA cichlids along with some barbs and I use Doc Wellfishs Aquarium Salt. The side instructions say to use salt as a tonic to add a rounded tablespoon for every 5 gallons.
I use this amount and dissolve in new water during water changes.

Am I using too much salt?

[Greg J]

Apparently it’s hard to say :confused:

Here’s a couple of articles I just found:
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article5.html
http://boeing_dude.tripod.com/id62.htm

I found the apposing views on iodide interesting.
(check out the survey at the end of the first article, it seems most people do use some salt.)

[carpguy]

Take a look at this article instead:

Skeptical Aquarist on salt (http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/salt.shtml)

I couldn't get RTR's article from Tom's Place (server seems to be down). But that article is also worth a look and, I think, forms the basis of a good bit of the skeptical attitude towards salt that you'll find hereabouts. The Skeptical Aquarist article quotes Robert's article as long as a number of others.

Folks should do the reading, try to look at both sides. Everyone's needs and everyone's practices are going to vary. But you should know why you're doing what you're doing. You're under no obligation to defend your practices, but you should be able to.

(In two years) I've never used salt, and never have needed to. I do add plenty of other things to the tank (for the plants) and I'd add salt if I had a reason to (like for Ich treatment). I don't think its necessary as a tonic for most situations but don't doubt that it may be useful for some. YMMV.

[Greg J]

Thanks for the link carpguy, that’s one of the best articles I’ve seen on the subject.

[pkn25]

I think adding up to 1Tbsp/10gal in freshwater tank is good for fish. I used to do this for my ciclids. Also, for ick/fungus, up to 9 Tbsp/10gal is tolerated well with almost all freshwater fish, including the loaches and tetras, but add the salt slowly, only 1-2Tbsp/10gal every 12 hours. I've kept the final level (9Tbsp/10gal) for about 3 weeks (also at 86F) and the fish were still happy and healthy and healed of disease.

Howeve, DO NOT add any salt to a planted tank. Many plants start dying even with a very low level of salt.

pkn25

[RTR]

http://www.aquasource.org/CMS/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=54&page=1

HTH