Salt or not (plants and fish)
- Thread starter DGC
- Start date
the use of salt as in outside disease treatment, or just overall?
I've used salt, for example, to treat ich, in both planted and non planted tanks, successfully.
However... outside of illness, freshwater is freshwater. nobody sprinkles salt into a river to "liven" or "improve the color" of wild fish.
I've used salt, for example, to treat ich, in both planted and non planted tanks, successfully.
However... outside of illness, freshwater is freshwater. nobody sprinkles salt into a river to "liven" or "improve the color" of wild fish.
That's usually because the river already has salt in it.
Fish need salt just like humans need salt (but we should probably continue to avoid McD's fries, etc...). I dose 1 Tbs per 10 gal in my tank as a standard. When disease rears its ugly head, it goes up to 1 T/5 gal or more.
Not only does it help regulate water balance in plants (yay turgor pressure) and fish (yay healthy kidneys), but being healthier, things usually look prettier.
IM *very* HO, of course.
the salts a freshwater system needs are potassium, calcium, magnesium... not salt as in table salt, aquarium salt, nacl, etc.. these can be measure as kh, gh, tds and individual fert tests.
the reason salt can be used as a freshwater parasite cure is because freshwater organisms don't thrive in salt water. taking that out of context and adding salt as an everyday elixir can be detrimental to many species we keep.
the reason salt can be used as a freshwater parasite cure is because freshwater organisms don't thrive in salt water. taking that out of context and adding salt as an everyday elixir can be detrimental to many species we keep.
That's usually because the river already has salt in it.
Fish need salt just like humans need salt (but we should probably continue to avoid McD's fries, etc...). I dose 1 Tbs per 10 gal in my tank as a standard. When disease rears its ugly head, it goes up to 1 T/5 gal or more.
Not only does it help regulate water balance in plants (yay turgor pressure) and fish (yay healthy kidneys), but being healthier, things usually look prettier.
IM *very* HO, of course.
Yes, salt is present in the river. Often at lower levels than in your tap water. Do you think the water company distils your water as it moves it from the river system to your tap? Adding more salt to the aquarium makes it less like the river than it was before.
Fish kidneys have evolved for a particular osmotic difference between the fish and the water. Reducing that difference by salting the water does not necessarily benefit them, any more than "helping" human lungs by giving pure oxygen all the time would benefit them.
As for plant cell turgor pressure, this is maintained by water intake from the environment to the cell. Salt in the water lowers the osmotic difference and makes it harder for the plant cell to take on water and maintain turgor pressure. If anything, a saltier environment will tend to dehydrate plant cells. Again, they do best in the osmotic conditions for which they have evolved.
Actually - water treatment, either by a company or by well treatments - do remove dissolved salts using chemical equilibria. Of course, this depends on the region, but often even clean and clear spring water is hardened by dissolved sediments and minerals.
Yes - and kidneys are not reverse osmosis systems. They actually use solutes like sodium chloride to set up concentration gradients between the ascending and descending limbs in the nephron to maintain plasma osmolarity at homeostatic levels. Same reason humans need a balance of sodium and potassium in their diets. Kidneys function using these dissolved solutes. It's called the countercurrent multiplier system. Pretty awesome actually.
And you can't compare kidneys with lungs. Lungs use dissolved gasses to transfer between tissue spaces. Too much oxygen will damage lung tissue because oxygen causes oxidative stress to the delicate cells. Solutes like sodium and chloride don't work the same way in the kidneys.
One of the four colligative properties of water: osmotic pressure. By increasing molality, we increase the osmotic pressure of a system (i.e. increase the force water exerts trying to enter the system. Thus maintaining PHYSIOLOGIC levels of salt balance actually INCREASES turgor pressure because it draws more water into the plant cells. You are correct, though, placing a plant outside of natural parameters, i.e. in a hypertonic solution, will crenate the plant cells. However, salt is needed to MAINTAIN physiologic balance.
Therefore, I add it in low concentrations.
Salt is great for helping with disease. Its not necessary from what Ive told for normal integral aquarium car. If you want to monitor salt levels and measure new things, its entirely up to you. With proper care, the aquarium salt couldn't hurt and I'm sure lots of people add salt to their tank as a precaution.
Note some fish do like the aquarium salt more than others.
Note some fish do like the aquarium salt more than others.
Don't confuse "salts" with salt. There are different types of salts that make up the chemical balance of your water, and then there is sodium chloride (often referred to as table salt)and potassium chloride (table salt substitute). Certain sulfates and other minerals fall into the category of "salts" and that was not the OP's question. Reference to table salt can be inferred from the OP's question.
Please keep answers less technical for those of us that are unfamiliar with the science. Thanks.
Please keep answers less technical for those of us that are unfamiliar with the science. Thanks.
