Adding Salt.

[saluki]

I am asking for some advice re my tank.

Its 30"x18"x12"

23.37 Gallons

Water Tested Today

NO3 = 5
NO2=0.1
NH3=0
PH = 7.5

A couple of weeks ago i lost 3 Clowns
4 Cardinal tetra and 2 zebra danios

I then took a sample of water to my local maidenhead Aquatics who tested it for me the results then were as follows:

NH4 = 0.05
NO2 = 0.1
NO3 = 80ppm

I then did a 25% water change added Nutrafin cycle after cleaning my filter (fluval 4) left it a week and tested again and god the results the same as i tested today.

I have since lost no more fish so today i went to the aquatic centre and brought replacement fish which includes 3 mollies, the lady at the aquatic centre said that i should add aquarium salt as thats what the mollies have to have and that it wouldnt hurt my other fish, looking at the dosage it seems a lot of salt to have to put into the water?? is this really necessary?

The fish i have are as follows:

2 silver shark
5 small guppies
2 zebra danios
3 mollies
6 cardinals
1 plec
5 Platties
3 corridors catfish
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[font="arial]I really dont want to lose any fish so thought i would ask the experts.[/font]
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[font="arial]Also i tried to post in the tropical fish thrad thing but it wouldnt let me start a new topic for some reason???[/font]

 

[OldMan47]

If you have hard water, leave the salt on the shelf for disease treatment. The 7.5 pH often indicates harder water so you may not need any boost in the mineral content of the water. People often mistake a molly's ability to adapt to a high salt content as a requirement to have salt. A molly does need a fairly high mineral content but that need not be provided by salt. The corydoras, zebra danios, cardinals and the plec are all much better off without any salt in the water. They do fairly well in my semi-hard water though. In most cases "aquarium salt" is plain sodium chloride, the same stuff that's on the kitchen table. If you decide to add any salt to raise the pH of your water and increase its mineral content for mollies, at least you should use the same sea salt that you would use for a saltwater tank. The sea salt has many different salts in it and will drive the pH higher.

Changing the water parameters in any tank is a bad idea unless you actually know what the starting point is and what chemical changes you want. A simple statement that mollies need salt is very misleading.

 

[saluki]

Thankyou so much for your advice, i put 1 tea spoon in yesterday but got a bit worried as it said i had to add 23 spoons lol and i wasnt going to do that before speaking to you guys first. once again thanks. happy new year. x

If you have hard water, leave the salt on the shelf for disease treatment. The 7.5 pH often indicates harder water so you may not need any boost in the mineral content of the water. People often mistake a molly's ability to adapt to a high salt content as a requirement to have salt. A molly does need a fairly high mineral content but that need not be provided by salt. The corydoras, zebra danios, cardinals and the plec are all much better off without any salt in the water. They do fairly well in my semi-hard water though. In most cases "aquarium salt" is plain sodium chloride, the same stuff that's on the kitchen table. If you decide to add any salt to raise the pH of your water and increase its mineral content for mollies, at least you should use the same sea salt that you would use for a saltwater tank. The sea salt has many different salts in it and will drive the pH higher.

Changing the water parameters in any tank is a bad idea unless you actually know what the starting point is and what chemical changes you want. A simple statement that mollies need salt is very misleading.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi there saluki and welcome to TFF!

OM47's advice is top notch, so you can't go wrong there. I may be missing something but you look to be one of our newcomers possibly in need of learning about the concept of a biofilter and how to maintain your tank to encourage and understand the growth of the biofilter. You look to possibly be in what we call a "Fish-In cycling situation" and the members here will no doubt team up to help you get all the needed information if that's the case.

I'd suggest starting with the Fish-In Cycling article in our beginners resource center and being sure to learn about good test kits, good water change technique and those sorts of topics.

~~waterdrop~~