Bobthenurse

when do I use aquarium salt? is it just for guppies and shrimp? should i use it for stress? should i use it in a tetra tank and if so how much? if i add shrimp to a tetra tank should i use it and if so how much? I am sooo confused!

BlowPhish

I went through a nightmare in one of my tanks because I added API aquarium salt. What you need is to read up on osmoregulation to help you understand the importance of salt. Do a google search and find some articles on it.

sirdarksol

My personal opinion is that salt is unnecessary in most cases.
Tetras definitely don't need it, and shrimp generally don't.
What is the pH and hardness of your water? (if you've got lime scale in your bathtub or sink, you've got hard water). If you have really soft water, some fish would appreciate some minerals added, but there are better minerals to add than salt.
Aquarium salt is a tool of a bygone age (again, my opinion). Now that we know how it helped fish, we know that there are better ways to deal with the issues that used to be treated with salt.

Are your fish showing stress? If so, what are the symptoms?

Bobthenurse

I have a betta who was stressed and showed fin rot. This was due to my inexperience in understanding the nitrogen cycle in this 5 gal tank, (I have learned a lot since then and am now doing a fishless cycle on a 47 gal tank that I plan to be predominately tetras). He (the Betta) is doing well now. I did use API salt at the suggestion of the web site "better Betta care". I have been monitoring water parameters regularly and the Betta tank is ammonia 0 Nitrites 0 Nitrates < 10 PH 7.4 water hardness moderate.

Lucy

Salt can be an irritant. For a stressed Betta I'd stick with some extra Stress Coat and nice clean warm water. That'll also help any fin rot unless of course it's become infected.

sirdarksol

To use your betta as an example, the salt is a treatment for fin rot, but there are better treatments. The salt slows bacterial, fungal, and parasitic growth, but it is also irritating for the fish. Meds can do the same things with less irritation.

With your pH and water hardness, fish like bettas and neons don't need any extra minerals in the water. You've got excellent water quality, and the fish aren't going to be under any osmotic stress.

As a side note, I wouldn't trust anything on the "Better Betta Care" website. They still talk about letting water age to remove chlorine (most cities use chloramine, which doesn't evaporate like chlorine did), keeping bettas in un-filtered aquaria, and I didn't see any mention of heater in their care guides.

BlowPhish

Most freshwater fish cannot handle salt very well. The internal fluids in a freshwater fish have a higher concentration of salts than their surrounding environment. Because of this the freshwater fish take in a lot of water and extract the salt. As a result they urinate a lot. If you put salt in the tank the fish will take in less water and as a result less salt will be extracted by the fish. Marine fish are the opposite they are surrounded by saltwater so they actually have to drink in water to get their salt. The excess salt they take in is discarded through special cells. Freshwater fish don't have this ability. So adding salt for prolonged periods can be very harmful even lethal.

slimfish

So guppies are just fine without salt as long as all other basic indicators are satisfactory ? Because i have seen the white caking salt crystalize on corners of hoods and such and can do without that.

sirdarksol

Yep. There have been professional guppy breeders on the site who have said that they don't use salt.

Shawnie

butterfly had an amazing reason why salt shouldnt be used...its more of old school ways...I so wish I could find her thread!!!!!! it explains alot about salt

Butterfly

Is this the one Shawnie