Do I need to add salt to my fresh water aquarium?

D

djkane62

Registered Member
Dec 5, 2009
1
0
0
Dorchester Center, MA
Hi there,

I set up a 110 gallon tank a few weeks ago. Do I need to add any salt to the water in the tank? If so, at what concentration (how many teaspoons or tablespoons per gallon)?

Thanks,
DJ
 
For everyday use..the short answer is no. Some folks do, thinking it has a preventative effect. No real foundation to that answer that I have ever seen.
 
I apologize in advance for the hijack, I will answer the original question in one moment...

Mollies don't really require just salt added to the tank. They need water that is hard and high in TDS, and salt is a good way to provide this, but table salt really isn't in the answer. In that case you need MARINE salt, which contains other minerals and compounds that enrich the TDS and provide better osmotic reaction for the mollies. Also, it really is not all that necessary for MOST mollies to have salt. Most of the "fancy" varieties that are sold in stores are Poecilia sphenops or P. shenops hybrids. They have been bred in aquaria for so long that they are far removed from their wild ancestors (think carp versus goldfish.) Now, if you have P. velifera or P. latippina (I have both, and hybrids of the two) they will be larger, healthier and more robust in general if kept in brackish water. I do not believe even P. petenensis require the addition of salt, as they are found in Lake Peten, but I could be wrong on that. My P. latippina were caught for me by a fellow AC member down in FL, and were found in a stream with a SG of 1.012.

NOW - that rant is over, I am sorry but that little salt/molly myth drives me nuts, lol, the short answer is NO, your freshwater aquarium does not need an addition of salt in any concentration. Salt does have it's uses, it can be used to cure outbreaks of ich, to help speed healing in the case of injury, to help treat bacterial infections of certain natures, and to improve gill function and osmotic reaction of fish suffering from gill disease or ammonia burns in the gills. If you are not specifically treating for one of these issues (which would be better done in a smaller tank and not in a 110 gallon) then there is not reason to salt your tank.

Kristina
 
Michwol42795 said:
Well not necessarily just mollies, any brackish water fish would need salt.
Click to expand...

"Aquarium" salt and table salt do not create brackish conditions. That is done with MARINE salt. Brackish water is found in salt marshes and river estuaries were fresh water streams, rivers, etc meet the SEA, hence the mix of marine conditions and freshwater conditions. In that case, the tank in question would be a brackish tank, and not a freshwater tank, as he clearly stated in the first post. The answer to the question is that salt is not needed in a freshwater tank.

Kristina
 
kyryah said:
"Aquarium" salt and table salt do not create brackish conditions. That is done with MARINE salt. Brackish water is found in salt marshes and river estuaries were fresh water streams, rivers, etc meet the SEA, hence the mix of marine conditions and freshwater conditions. In that case, the tank in question would be a brackish tank, and not a freshwater tank, as he clearly stated in the first post. The answer to the question is that salt is not needed in a freshwater tank.

Kristina
Click to expand...

I didn't say Aquarium Salt or Table Salt, I just said you needed salt to create brackish conditions. I probably should have specified, sorry. Oh, oops he did say it was FW, I didn't read the title, sorry.
 
I have african cichlids and use pickling salt in all my tanks. Pickling salt has no iodine or stuff added to prevent caking, just pure salt. I use 1/2 tsp per 5 gals but I have lowered it recently to 1/4 tsp per 5 gal because I started keeping snails. It is supposed to help the fish with osmotic pressure and keep some bad parasites at bay. Spectrum brand food contains salt so if you are feeding your fish that food you probably do not want to add salt. Some water conditioners that claim to add electrolytes also have salt in it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom