Who adds Aquarium salt to their Fresh water tanks?

[Warrior-Lady]

I've been doing this for ages, when i do a water change i should add 8 tablespoons to mine but cut back on 2 so i'm adding 6 and i use API Aquarium salt (crystals) i had some hot water and dissolve and add it to my fresh water.

 

[dougall]

Nope... No real need to IME.

And aquarium salt is really just more expensive table salt

 

[TwoTankAmin]

20+ fw tanks for years. No salt goes into any of them except as a medication. When I do need salt, I use kosher rock salt.

I was fortunate to know the author online when I first started keeping fish,
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/wiki/The_Salt_of_the_Earth

 

[fishorama]

No salt for me either except rarely as a med.

 

[Hexo]

i've heard livebearing fish like a bit o salt in the tank.

 

[Wyomingite]

I've been doing this for ages, when i do a water change i should add 8 tablespoons to mine but cut back on 2 so i'm adding 6 and i use API Aquarium salt (crystals) i had some hot water and dissolve and add it to my fresh water.

I did when I first got into the hobby years ago, but quit after about a year or so when I read it there wasn't really any benefit. 30-some odd years and 50+ tanks later and I've had any issues.

i've heard livebearing fish like a bit o salt in the tank.

It's true that many livebearers do require hard water, but you can't achieve that with aquarium salt. As far as those that are actually brackish go, you really should look at using a marine salt designed for saltwater tanks. Chemically, marine salt isn't the same as aquarium salt. The mixture of salts is different. Only a percentage of marine salt is sodium chloride, the component of table and the so-called aquarium salts.

Of the commonly sold livebearers only mollies, guppies and Endler's are actually found in brackish water in the wild. Many populations of both Endler's and guppies, as well many species (and some populations) of mollies, are found inland and never see brackish water. With most fish of these species being captive raised these days, many captive bred fish never see salt in their water. The only livebearer I've ever had that really benefited from salt in the water is mollies. Captive strain mollies are mostly a hybridized strain with varying degrees of Poecilia sphenops, P. latipinna and P. velifera in their ancestry, all of which regularly live in brackish waters. IME, mollies seem to stay healthier, eat better and reproduce more quickly when salt is added. I've never seen a difference with guppies, platies or swordtails. I can't say about Endler's; I've never kept them. I target a specific gravity of ~1.005 with mollies.

Please note, if you try any kind of wild-type or wild-caught livebearer, everything above doesn't necessarily apply. Research into water requirements of the fish is a must.

WYite

 

[Hexo]

I did when I first got into the hobby years ago, but quit after about a year or so when I read it there wasn't really any benefit. 30-some odd years and 50+ tanks later and I've had any issues.



It's true that many livebearers do require hard water, but you can't achieve that with aquarium salt. As far as those that are actually brackish go, you really should look at using a marine salt designed for saltwater tanks. Chemically, marine salt isn't the same as aquarium salt. The mixture of salts is different. Only a percentage of marine salt is sodium chloride, the component of table and the so-called aquarium salts.

Of the commonly sold livebearers only mollies, guppies and Endler's are actually found in brackish water in the wild. Many populations of both Endler's and guppies, as well many species (and some populations) of mollies, are found inland and never see brackish water. With most fish of these species being captive raised these days, many captive bred fish never see salt in their water. The only livebearer I've ever had that really benefited from salt in the water is mollies. Captive strain mollies are mostly a hybridized strain with varying degrees of Poecilia sphenops, P. latipinna and P. velifera in their ancestry, all of which regularly live in brackish waters. IME, mollies seem to stay healthier, eat better and reproduce more quickly when salt is added. I've never seen a difference with guppies, platies or swordtails. I can't say about Endler's; I've never kept them. I target a specific gravity of ~1.005 with mollies.

Please note, if you try any kind of wild-type or wild-caught livebearer, everything above doesn't necessarily apply. Research into water requirements of the fish is a must.

WYite

yes,
are all poecilia found in brackisH?
will chiclid salts do the thing?

 

[tankquarium]

I did at certain times. especially when I realize (maybe) the fish got sick. I call it "salt bath"

 

[Warrior-Lady]

I did when I first got into the hobby years ago, but quit after about a year or so when I read it there wasn't really any benefit. 30-some odd years and 50+ tanks later and I've had any issues.

Well i do as i've said and ? it keeps my fish healthy i did buy 4 emerald corys from a shop which i couldn't see as you had to keep a distance 3 out the 4 the top fin was in bad shape on them and they've healed beautifully with it.

I call it "salt bath"

Mines a permanent salt bath and it's everyone to their own.?

 

[Wyomingite]

yes,
are all poecilia found in brackisH?
will chiclid salts do the thing?

No, not all Poecilia species live in brackish water. I've never really categorized them, but I feel safe saying that there are at least as many species, if not more, that never see brackish water.

I've always had harder water and have never used cichlid salts, so I'm not sure of the composition of said products. I know some are advertised as specifically for Rift Valley cichlids, some are advertised specifically for CA cichlids, and some are just generally described as "cichlid" salts. Other than that, I don't have any experience so I can't say.

WYite