when is freshwater salt helpful?

[Penguin88]

I have a box of API "aquarium salt" and I do not know why I have it but it fixed my snail problem. I had to add a decent amount of it... I think i added about 1 tsp per gallon? I was essentially trying to add enough to raise the sg a little. It took a couple of days but it totally killed all the snails, didn't harm my fish but took out a couple of the plants. I wasn't testing my water but I don't think it took out my bacteria, I didn't notice any distress in my fish that would have indicated spikes. Sg can be raised slightly without impact on the filter. They say it can be raised by .002 per week without hurting the bacteria, and I think years ago when i was transitioning a green spotted puffer from fresh to marine I'd do the full .002 raise at once, once a week, without hurting the bacteria. Obviously you have to be careful with what fish are in your tank using this method for snails, I just had a couple platies. I figured this was better than buying a snail killing chemical, though. It killed my anacharis, but anubias and java fern were fine.

 

[fishorama]

Inform an oldtimer, what is sg?

 

[Penguin88]

Sg is specific gravity... Its a simple way to measure the amount of salt in water, mainly used for brackish and marine. Essentially what i did was use "aquarium salt" to bump my tank a little towards low-end brackish.

 

[OrionGirl]

Salty water is not brackish/marine. Yes, it's lethal to many FW invertebrates. Salted water is NOT the same as brackish or marine water. The 'aquarium salt' does not add the minerals and buffers needed for true marine/brackish animals.

 

[Penguin88]

Salty water is not brackish/marine. Yes, it's lethal to many FW invertebrates. Salted water is NOT the same as brackish or marine water. The 'aquarium salt' does not add the minerals and buffers needed for true marine/brackish animals.

Yeah, just salty enough to kill snails. I wouldn't use it for actual brackish fish. I have kept brackish and marine and of course you use a quality marine salt for that

 

[Frank Castle]

a re-post of mine from another thread

Salt has a lot of benefits besides just softening water, for example it is a natural antiseptic so torn fins and missing scales heal quickly and it works wonders when used alongside Stress Coat. It is also a natural stress reducer and promotes healthy digestive function. As a result of stress reduction it also rewards us with more vibrantly colored fish.

Salt kills parasites, fights bacteria and fungus. Use it as a preventative measure to keep dormant pathogens from surfacing and force them into "remission". Many fish love the salts, and standard tablesalt is a cheaper acceptable substitute for Cichlids salts or Aquarium salts labelled in stores. A big bag of rocksalt will work the same, or a big bag of Water-Softener salt. NOT Ocean Salt. Ocean salt is different and should ONLY be used in Brackish or SW-tanks.

When I add the salt after my 60-90% weekly water changes the fish RUSH into the cloud of salt and act like a dog rolling in the grass. I have used salt in my tanks 24/7, 365 for over 10 years and the results speak for themselves.

While I must respectfully disagree about large water changes and not using salt, the only thing I can really say in hopes to make you a believer is that every fish in the thread I linked earlier is UNDER 18 months old and some are approaching 10" while some hit the 10" mark several months ago.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

a re-post of mine from another thread

Salt has a lot of benefits besides just softening water, for example it is a natural antiseptic so torn fins and missing scales heal quickly and it works wonders when used alongside Stress Coat. It is also a natural stress reducer and promotes healthy digestive function. As a result of stress reduction it also rewards us with more vibrantly colored fish.

Salt kills parasites, fights bacteria and fungus. Use it as a preventative measure to keep dormant pathogens from surfacing and force them into "remission". Many fish love the salts, and standard tablesalt is a cheaper acceptable substitute for Cichlids salts or Aquarium salts labelled in stores. A big bag of rocksalt will work the same, or a big bag of Water-Softener salt. NOT Ocean Salt. Ocean salt is different and should ONLY be used in Brackish or SW-tanks.

When I add the salt after my 60-90% weekly water changes the fish RUSH into the cloud of salt and act like a dog rolling in the grass. I have used salt in my tanks 24/7, 365 for over 10 years and the results speak for themselves.

While I must respectfully disagree about large water changes and not using salt, the only thing I can really say in hopes to make you a believer is that every fish in the thread I linked earlier is UNDER 18 months old and some are approaching 10" while some hit the 10" mark several months ago.

This. I have a small amount of salinity in ALL my tanks, that includes the Amazonian fish (elong piranha in this case) as well as my African/Asian tank which includes clown loaches.

Echoing what Frank said above I will also add that small amounts of salt help osmoregulation in even freshwater fish.

 

[Tifftastic]

I strongly disagree that table salt is a good replacement for cichlid salts. Table salt is sodium chloride, cichlid salts are not. For example, the Seachem cichlid salt lists it's ingredients as

magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium sulfate, sodium chloride, aluminum sulfate, iron sulfate, potassium iodide

http://www.swelluk.com/seachem-cichlid-lake-salt/?gclid=CO-htdXc2NICFYY4GwodzwkLfg

It includes sodium chloride, but that is not the primary ingredient. Ingredients are listed in order of content, that means the greatest content in cichlid salts is magnesium chloride.

 

[Frank Castle]

I strongly disagree that table salt is a good replacement for cichlid salts. Table salt is sodium chloride, cichlid salts are not. For example, the Seachem cichlid salt lists it's ingredients as
http://www.swelluk.com/seachem-cichlid-lake-salt/?gclid=CO-htdXc2NICFYY4GwodzwkLfg

It includes sodium chloride, but that is not the primary ingredient. Ingredients are listed in order of content, that means the greatest content in cichlid salts is magnesium chloride.

it depends what you're using it for. What works for the goose doesn't always work for the gander

 

[Tifftastic]

If you're using it to replicate lake Malawi, Tanganyika, or Victoria it will not replace cichlid salts at all. Not even close. Saying that it is a good replacement, is misinformation.