Aquarium Salt Advice

[stevo_gti]

i had couple of diseases in my tank just lately so was thinking of adding some aquarium salt to the tank as a bit of protection as i heard its harder its harder for diseases to spread with salt in the water? so if someone could give me some advice on if this is true and worth doing what salt i need and if it will be ok with my fish

the fish in the tank are

1 orange spot plec
3 molly
4 mickey mouse platy
3 corys
1 red tail black shark
2 khuli loach
2 amano shrimp

i know the mollys will like the salt but dont want to add any if it will harm my other fish the tank is only a 2ft (60L) i know its not big enough for the plec but once he gets to a nice size he will be going in my 4ft (260L) tank.

thanks for the help. mark

 

[LauraFrog]

The plec, cories and loaches will not appreciate it. You could use 1/2 teaspoon/gallon or even 1 teaspoon/gallon, but it's not really safe on a permanent basis for those fish.

 

[rabbut]

The Corries, RTBS and Khuli Loach are salt intollerant and would likely be harmed by it

Salt can be used to treat Whitespot and various bacterial infections, as well as for reducing NitrIte's toxidity in a cycling tank. Long-term it puts the fishe's internal organs under increased Osmotic pressure, leading eventually to premature death Salt IMHO sould be used only short-term, not long-term.

Repeated Disease episodes would indicate that something is stressing the fish and making them suseptible. In your case, I suspect the issue might be overstocking, as that is one heck of a lot of fish for a 60l tank At least you are upgrading though, so once the 260l is in place, and they are moved across, you should fing the problems just stop

You have 45inches of fish when they are adult in a 12g tank, so you are stocked to 4.5 inches per gallon (NOT including the pleco, as that could be alot of species realy from that description) with mostly messy fish. The guideline is 1 inch per gallon...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[stevo_gti]

cheers rabbut can always rely on you for a good answer i do realise the tank is overstocked but most the fish are only small at the min and i have good filtration, as for the slt ill stay away from it