Do You Use Salt In Your Tank?

[Tag2008]

Hi Guys,

I havent seen a topic on this as yet so thought Id ask what you all do...

When I first kept fish (20 odd yrs ago) I was told I should keep a little salt in my freshwater tropical tanks as an aid to healthier fish..I recall some said yes and others said no to doing this.

It was of course aquarium salt and I did do this in some of my tanks at the time.

Im wondering if this is a practice thats still done or not? Or is this more outdated old skool thinking?

Comments appreciated.

Regards
Tag

 

[Don Trinko]

Only if there is a nitrite problem Don T.

 

[Tag2008]

Only if there is a nitrite problem Don T.

Hi Don,
What does salt do for a nitrite problem?

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Tag,

Adding salt to your tropical community tank as a matter of best practice is 'old skool' thinking as it is now known to be wrong.

Salt can be beneficial in certain situations, like helping open wounds to heal or to de-toxify nitrite (this answers your question above).

We now know however that lots of fish will not tolerate salt and as such it isn't a good idea to add salt to the tank as a matter of course. Even in the case of the fish having an open wound or having a nitrite spike, salt can do more harm than good, so it shouldn't be used lightly.

If you are ever unsure about the use of salt in your tank for any reason, ask on here and someone will be able to help you, but i certainly wouldn't recommend adding salt as a matter of course.

Hope this helps.

BTT

 

[Tag2008]

Thanks BlackTropical,

I ask because Im having a bother with bulling fish and he/she is nipping fins ...so I have seperated them but 2 are still at it and until I can rehome one I wondered if I should add some salt as recall doing this in the past....

I dont recall having any problems with salt and did always think it was benificial but as yet since setting up my tanks Ive never started this practice again as yet.

Im finding a lot of what I thought I knew about fish keeping is now Old Skool thinking and as I dont think ive seen any salt topics in here I just wondered ....


Would this also apply to a salt bath too? I have given a few of these in the past? Is this bad practice too?

Thanks for your comments..
Tag