Treating aquariums with salt

[sharkweek178]

I'm setting up a new tank. I've been adding plants and ended up with some ramshorn snails. Which is fine. I like having them. But in researching them, I've found that they can often bring parasitic flukes into a tank. I also read that aquarium salt is a good way to treat that. So I was thinking of adding a little salt to the tank to make sure that there aren't any flukes by the time I add fish.

So what can you tell me about using salt in a freshwater aquarium?

 

[Byron]

No. Salt is detrimental to freshwater fish, especially soft water species. Its effectiveness for a few issues requires a substantial dose, and given the "possible" issue here, not worth the risk.

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[connorlindeman]

In addition to what @Byron said, salt will also negatively affect your plants.

 

[sharkweek178]

OK. Is there a good way to treat for flukes as a precautionary measure?

 

[Byron]

Never, never "treat" for disease unless there is a very certain sign it is present. Any medication added to the tank water has the probability of getting inside the fish (the criteria is simply if the substance can diffuse across the cell membrane), and this is going to cause stress no matter what, so it is negative.

 

[sharkweek178]

Never, never "treat" for disease unless there is a very certain sign it is present. Any medication added to the tank water has the probability of getting inside the fish (the criteria is simply if the substance can diffuse across the cell membrane), and this is going to cause stress no matter what, so it is negative.

Thing is, there are no fish yet. The idea was to treat as a preventative measure before I added fish so that there would be less of a chance of having to after adding them. Add the salt or whatever to remove the potential threat, then do a massive water change before adding fish.
I appreciate what you're saying though. I saw one guide on isolating fish before adding them and it recommended a battery of treatments for stuff like ick over the course of a month, whether or not the new fish actually had any illnesses. That sounded terrible to me.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

There are a lot of urban aquarium myths out there.

New fish should go through a quarantine to insure they are not bringing in anything bad. I normally use 30 days from farmed or tank raised fish and 3 months for wild caught imports. It can take that long for some things to manifest with the problem tha can ride in on fish arriving almost directly from the wild.

Since you have no fish you can actually use and anti-fluke med treatement as a preventative. Whateve rthe direction say on the med is what you should do. When you hit the end of the treatment, you should do two things. First, do as big a water change as you can. Next, rund a bag of carbon in the filter or hanging in the tank where there is flow, If possible in the filter is the best place for this. Run the carbon for a couple of days. ythis way you know 100% there is no residual med in the tank.

As Byron noted, when fish are present this means there are other important considerations. One is that a med which is not needed may do harm to fish or inverts and in some case to one's filter/bacteria. Think of it like chemo for treating cancer. Killing the cancer os worth the risk of any side effects from the treatment. But nobody get chemo unless it is 100% certain they have cancer. It is the same for fish. Unless they are on death's doorstep and you don't know why, only medicate when you know for sure what you are treating.

I have bought fish from breeders, from stores, online and as wild caught imports fresh off the plane. I never treat proactively unless I know what I am treating. Not everyone does this. But there is a difference for a hobbyists with one tank and wholesalers and importers who bring in fish that are worth many 1,000s. One way to minimize the need to treat prpoactively is to make an effort to buy healthy fish. One of these is worth at least 3 DOAS or 5 really sick fish.......

 

[DoubleDutch]

I don't exactly why some people see a certain possible disease as an extreme risk and want to treat in any case.

There are hundreds / thousand possible diseases : fungal, viral, bacerial, parasital, etc...

Most meds are "designed" to treat the disease on the fish. If the disease isn't present treating is useless and on the contrary can lead to immunity / medresistant diseases.

 

[sharkweek178]

Since you have no fish you can actually use and anti-fluke med treatement as a preventative. Whateve rthe direction say on the med is what you should do. When you hit the end of the treatment, you should do two things. First, do as big a water change as you can. Next, rund a bag of carbon in the filter or hanging in the tank where there is flow, If possible in the filter is the best place for this. Run the carbon for a couple of days. ythis way you know 100% there is no residual med in the tank.

Would carbon filter salt though?

 

[GaryE]

No carbon doesn't affect salt. Salt is hard to remove, and I only use it if I really have to.
Check the dose you'd need for flukes....

The odds against snails bringing flukes are small. 56 years of snail hating, and I still can't blame them for that. But reading your posts, I think you've decided. Please factor salt in the water in to your fish and plant choices after. It is going to stick around for quite a few water changes...

Salt: Friend of the parasite?

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

 

[sharkweek178]

No carbon doesn't affect salt. Salt is hard to remove, and I only use it if I really have to.
Check the dose you'd need for flukes....

The odds against snails bringing flukes are small. 56 years of snail hating, and I still can't blame them for that. But reading your posts, I think you've decided. Please factor salt in the water in to your fish and plant choices after. It is going to stick around for quite a few water changes...

Salt: Friend of the parasite?

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

I haven't actually decided yet. I like to bring these things to the forums to get the thoughts of people with more experience than me.