salt

[jackobean]

hi all

in my tank could i put salt in and would it damage my pump filter or any thing that

thanks

 

[tttnjfttt]

Would you mind giving a little more information about the system you have?

Without knowing specifics on your tank, I would not worry about it damaging any hardware. In general, salt does not build up on parts, atleast I have never seen this (except in extreem cases of evaporation).

What types of fish do you have in your tank? I know scaleless fish can't handle salt, so check that before adding the fish.

 

[sardine]

Can gouramis handle salt? I would like to add one dwarf gourami to my platy tank.

 

[jackobean]

iv just gotgold fish

 

[tttnjfttt]

I know goldfish can handle salt. I THINK gouramis and platys can handle salt.

That said, why do you want to add salt to their tank? Salt isn't natural in any of these fishes environment, I wouldn't recomend using it on a regular basis. Salt is good to add to help soothe fish when they have some illness or skin condition.

 

[black angel]

for goldfish .1% for a tonic effect,.2% to help them through nitrite spikes, fungus..3% to fight parasites. some people do keep the goldfish tank salted at .1% for long periods of time but personally i dont think you should add salt unless for a specific reason and for no longer than two to three weeks.

 

[sardine]

Somewhere on the internet I read that platys do better with a little salt. If this is not true please let me know so I can stop using it. I was just trying to give them optimum conditions.

 

[black angel]

All livebearers do well with some salt but its not always neccessary, especially for platies. I would only add salt for mollies and guppies personally but only at 1 level teaspoon per gallon of tonic salt. I dont think your gourami would like any salt though.

 

[sardine]

Thanks, I'll wait until enough water changes clear the salt from the tank before I get my gourami and if it's not necessary for platys to have salt then I won't add anymore. It's good to have someone tell me these things.

 

[tttnjfttt]

I was leading towards yes on gouramis because i know they are related to bettas, and I put salt in my betas tank when necessary.

 

[sardine]

I don't want to get confused. Would aquarium salt be more likely to be beneficial or harmful to my fish? I have 3 platies and I want to get a dwarf gourami too. I bought some salt because I read that platies do well with it. I currently have 2 tablespoons in my tank. So to keep things simple, should I keep adding salt every 2 months or should I throw that carton of salt in the trash and never use it again since it's not necessary?

 

[tttnjfttt]

Some people use salt in their tank regularly, others say don't do it becasue it is not natural. There is no constant advice on this one, assuming your fisn can handle it. Other people, like myself, use salt to help the fish when stressed or sick. The main fish that can't handle salt are scaleless fish, especially catfish species, which you don't have. But you may want to do some research, or maybe someone else can answer definitavely. (You can also try posting on the board for specific species).

OK if you decide to keep salt in your tank on a regular basis, there are a few things you need to pay attention to. The first is evaporation. Salt will not evaporate with the water, it stays behind in the tank. So when your water level decreases, you have a higher concentration of salt. I would not recomend using salt long term if alot of water tends to evaporate out of your tank.

The only way salt will leave your tank is if you take it out through water changes. So if you want to keep salt in your tank, add back in the amount of salt you removed. For example, I have a 20 gal tank, and do a 25% water change weekly. So If I had salt in my tank on a regular basis, i would add back in the salt for the five gallons of water, not completely redose the tank. Make sense?

 

[sardine]

Thank you. I like the view point that it's not natural. It makes things so much easier. I'm not going to get mollies anyway. But I think I'll hang on to it just in case any illnesses happens and it might come in handy.