Will treating Ich with salt harm my plants? The guy at the LFS told me that it would, but I havent heard anyone else mention anything about it. I have amazon swords and another freefloating, rootless type of plant.
Thanks
Thanks
Will salt hurt my plants?
- Thread starter chrisblack2k2
- Start date
I recently had an outbreak of ich in my tank. I treated with 1tsp/g pickling salt (kosher, table, aquarium - they're all the same) and my plants showed no signs of distress at all. I was worried that the temperature would affect them as well, but they didn't seem to mind it - though I'm sure the salt and heat aren't ideal conditions, they seem to be able to handle it short term.
I have read up on this issue and it seems that it will not harm the plants. The treatment is only temporary as well. I am treating for ich in a moderately planted tank with 2 teaspoons of salt per gallon.
Blinky said:
I was under the impression that table salt was treated with chemicals and was also iodized in order to make the salt grains not stick...but isn't this bad for the fish?
The new thinking is that iodized salt is not as harmful as has been believed for years.
I'm from the old school, and would never use it.
I clean tanks and glass tops with salt and wouldn't even use it for cleaning. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Len
I'm from the old school, and would never use it.
I clean tanks and glass tops with salt and wouldn't even use it for cleaning. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Len
I'm the same way. Table salt has very small amounts of additives so I prefer to spend a little more for the pickling salt, which is just NaCl - when I said table, pickling, aquarium and kosher salt were the same, I meant in terms of all being NaCl and working for ich - I know there are quite a few people here on AC who've used table salt with success and no ill effects. I use it to clean decorations because pickling salt is large-grained and table salt makes a much better abrasive.
I just took a box of windsor table salt out of the cupboard to see what the additives are, and there's sugar in it! Ingredients: salt, calcium silicate, invert sugar, potassium iodide.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't even small amounts of sugar just asking for a bacterial bloom in the aquarium?
I just took a box of windsor table salt out of the cupboard to see what the additives are, and there's sugar in it! Ingredients: salt, calcium silicate, invert sugar, potassium iodide.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't even small amounts of sugar just asking for a bacterial bloom in the aquarium?
The supposed hazards of iodide (for the thyroid, nothing to do with clumping) are grossly exaggerated. This is hardly "new" thinking - it is just that old aquarium myths die hard.
tests by Bonnie's Plants
The pond plant store Bonnie's Plants did an experiment to see what level of salt killed pond plants. IIRC, 0.1% was no problem for any plant -- that is roughly 1 teaspoon per gallon, 0.2% killed floating plants , 0.3% harmed many submerged plants.
I've read a caution that you must not add more than 0.1% of salt per day for more will shock the biofilter. But, you can go to 0.3% over the course of 3 days.
The pond plant store Bonnie's Plants did an experiment to see what level of salt killed pond plants. IIRC, 0.1% was no problem for any plant -- that is roughly 1 teaspoon per gallon, 0.2% killed floating plants , 0.3% harmed many submerged plants.
I've read a caution that you must not add more than 0.1% of salt per day for more will shock the biofilter. But, you can go to 0.3% over the course of 3 days.
I'm from the old school also and would not add any salt to my tank. I just raise the temperature a bit to about 85F or so and let the Ich go through its cycle. It looks dastardly, I know, but in a few weeks it will pass. Not sure if it weakens the fish or not but I don't think I lost any. Anyone know for sure if Ich kills?