I was thinking of converting my tank into a tank with some salt, might do brackish but have not figured how salty I am going to go. This is because I am going to get some mollies and platys and make them the center pieces. I tried this before and the mollies had almost constant ich and so I am going to go ahead and plan the tank with salt from the begging. Right now I have a shoal of about 10 cories, Corydoras aeneus, and I have bred most of them so I am attached to them. I have looked to see how they would react to the salt and I am finding mixed information some saying that they will be ok and others that they are intolerant of salt. My question then is what if any level of salt could I keep in the water and the cories be happy with?
Cories and salt
- Thread starter SirMuffin
- Start date
I only used salt occasionally (every couple months) but never for extended periods of time with Cories so I honestly couldn't tell you. I've read mixed reviews as well but if you do decide to use salt, use very little at first so they an build a tolerance for it as they will probably not like it much.
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I'd go with no salt for cories.
The reason you had "almost constant ich" with your mollies is pretty simple, actually: you never successfully treated the infestation. It's a parasite with a definite life cycle. The time you can kill it is when it's in the free swimming stage. By raising the temperature, you accelerate the life cycle, so you shorten the amount of time you need to treat. Ich doesn't tolerate salt, which is why salt is used as a treatment, but if you don't treat for the full course, including time when you don't see any visible presence, it'll just start the infestation again. So, if you get ich again, look up thorough salt/heat treatment instructions (I know there's a post or dozen on here), make sure you follow the directions completely, and you'll eradicate it from your tank completely. Well, complete eradication only lasts until you introduce it to your tank again, but as long as you don't reintroduce it, you'll be golden.
The reason you had "almost constant ich" with your mollies is pretty simple, actually: you never successfully treated the infestation. It's a parasite with a definite life cycle. The time you can kill it is when it's in the free swimming stage. By raising the temperature, you accelerate the life cycle, so you shorten the amount of time you need to treat. Ich doesn't tolerate salt, which is why salt is used as a treatment, but if you don't treat for the full course, including time when you don't see any visible presence, it'll just start the infestation again. So, if you get ich again, look up thorough salt/heat treatment instructions (I know there's a post or dozen on here), make sure you follow the directions completely, and you'll eradicate it from your tank completely. Well, complete eradication only lasts until you introduce it to your tank again, but as long as you don't reintroduce it, you'll be golden.
I think corys will tolerate salt for short term treatments, but not for the long run. I have treated tanks with salt that had corys in them==No problems noticed, but that was only for a short time (week or two).
Corydora are freshwater scaleless fish. They may tolerate some salt for a short period, but it will eventually kill them. If you are wanting a brackish tank, you need to keep brackish fish.
I think OP is just trying to avoid ich, judging by the content of the first post, not so much convert cories to brackish. Sounds to me like a simple misunderstanding of the life cycle of ich, resulting in improper treatment.
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Yes I was trying to avoid ich. I was under the impression that the mollies and platies would actually do better with salt in the water so I was trying to set the tank up that way. Now that you mention it with the life cycle of the ich it makes sense and I never realized that because I had only been in for a year or two and was young. Thank you much for the advice. It's been very helpful.
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Mollies and platies are very versatile, in that they can be housed in fresh, brackish or salt water. It's pretty cool. I *think* they are naturally found in tidal pools or something. I haven't really researched them, so I know I read that somewhere. Whether it's true or accurate :huh:. I even saw something about a species of molly that actually lives in what's basically sulphuric acid.
