Keeping Salt in the freshwater Aquarium?

Salt *is* helpful on a short term basis. The key is short term and you can think of it as why we never take antibiotics all the time. Not only would that be harmful, but we would develop a resistance to that which is trying to help.

So, salt can help with:

* nitrite spikes in the tank. Lessens the effects of nitrite poisoning
* killing parasites. Salt will kill ich and, FWIR, other parasites. I've only used it on ich, however, so I have no experience with other parasites
* I've read that it has a calming effect and some people use it in their QT tanks during the first couple of weeks of QT.

There are probably other uses, but all are short term.

Roan
 
doesnt Emg or somebody add salt to their tank every water change?
 
doesnt Emg or somebody add salt to their tank every water change?
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There are many folks who do, I'm not sure if EMG is one of them. The myth is rampant in the hobby, and propbably will always be so. That still does not make it a good practice, it just means people do it.


As Roan mentioned, There are a couple of short term uses for salt that are beneficial. It will definately kill ICH, It is somewhat effective with some fungi, and it does wonders for nitrite poisoning.

With ich, Quite simply ICH cannot tolerate salt. There are numerous strains of ich and multiple tolerance levels. The highest actual study I have found is 5ppt for any strain of freshwater ICH to survive. So I generally reccomend 4-6 ppt Salt for ich treatment. Some folks prefer to go with a lower dose, and only increase if there is a failure. To each their own. For more info on ICH try this link

With nitrites, The nitrites block the ability of the fish's blood to properly carry O2. Chloride will counteract this. It takes very little salt in reality, and additionally there are plenty of other way to deliver chloride to a tank without delivering Sodium. I would not hesitate to use Salt for this if I had a problem, but honestly nitrite spikes should not occur often if ever for an informed aquarist. I did have a good one about 2 years ago when I DIY'd an auto feeder and made a mistake. It dumped a weeks worth of food in my tank overnight, and by the morning my nitrite levels were very high. It was corrected with water changes, and the bio-filter took care of the rest. no need for salt.

as far as Othe rparasites (And there ae many but not many common ones) Salt gets mixed reviews at best. In Most cases it is listed as an aid to treatment. for instance with Velvet (oodinium) Salt is suggested to make the environment more hostile to the parasite, but it is usually mentioned that salt alone will not kill off oodinium, so formalin and Malechite green are still needed. My thinking is if Formalin and malechite green are still needed, Why add salt as well. The meds will do the job on their own.


HTH
Dave
 
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daveedka said:
There are many folks who do, I'm not sure if EMG is one of them. The myth is rampant in the hobby, and propbably will always be so. That still does not make it a good practice, it just means people do it.

With ich, Quite simply ICH cannot tolerate salt. There are numerous strains of ich and multiple tolerance levels. The highest actual study I have found is 5ppm for any strain of freshwater ICH to survive. So I generally reccomend 4-6 ppm Salt for ich treatment. Some folks prefer to go with a lower dose, and only increase if there is a failure. To each their own. For more info on ICH try this link
HTH
Dave
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Thank You. That was a terrific article. I feel much more informed about the big picture of ick. I think my normal way of handeling it was pretty close, but now I am more armed with info about why I am doing what I am doing and how to tweak it to specific needs and situations.

BTW, I was wondering. I was personally invited to join the site that your link took me to, and I did. However, I have never been very active there becuase I don't seem to have posting privilages. If you knwo more about the system of such things there, please PM me with any helpful info.

Thanks Again to you and Roan

Roan Art said:
Salt *is* helpful on a short term basis. The key is short term and you can think of it as why we never take antibiotics all the time. Not only would that be harmful, but we would develop a resistance to that which is trying to help.
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PS I wanted to say, just because I am a geek and I think that Roan is herself a stickler for correctness and will apprciate rather than resent someone else who is too.... that the analogy of the antibiotics is only correct if what you (Roan) meant was that the parasite (or fungus, or what have you) will build an immunity to salt if it is in the tank all the time. I mean, I am througly convinced that salt is not a good thing for normal use, but the reason we don't take antibiotics all the time is not because *people's systems* build immunity to them, but because any infection that survives treatment with antibiotics may/can/some say will evolve to be immune to them in the future. The medical stance these days is that we are creating super viruses/bacteria by over-treating with antibiotics when it is unessecary instead of saving that treatment for when we *need* the big guns. I think that is what you me
ant anyway.. but I wanted to clearify.
 
Hypatia said:
PS I wanted to say, just because I am a geek and I think that Roan is herself a stickler for correctness and will apprciate rather than resent someone else who is too.... that the analogy of the antibiotics is only correct if what you (Roan) meant was that the parasite (or fungus, or what have you) will build an immunity to salt if it is in the tank all the time. I mean, I am througly convinced that salt is not a good thing for normal use, but the reason we don't take antibiotics all the time is not because *people's systems* build immunity to them, but because any infection that survives treatment with antibiotics may/can/some say will evolve to be immune to them in the future. The medical stance these days is that we are creating super viruses/bacteria by over-treating with antibiotics when it is unessecary instead of saving that treatment for when we *need* the big guns. I think that is what you me
ant anyway.. but I wanted to clearify.
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Correct, that's how I meant the analogy. IMO people are too darn quick to throw medications in their tanks. Most problems can be resolved with a QT and constant fresh water. Every time we throw a medication in the tank we heighten the chance of doing *exactly* what you have said above.

However, on the same subject people can and do become *sensitive* to different types of antibiotics when used over a period of time. I've developed allergies to several types of antibiotics: cillan and the cycline family to name just two. I wasn't allergic to cyclines until just recently -- I think it was the fourth or fifth time I had had tetracycline perscribed. I cannot take anything from that family anymore and I now refuse to take any antibiotics unless it is absolutely necessary.

Roan
 
Salt is an antiseptic. I think of it sort of like when you "gargle with salt water" to get rid of a sore in your mouth. So I only give it to my fish when they get something that requires "gargling with salt water" (Mainly just Ich and Fungus).

Belly Dancer? RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
 
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