Freshwater Salt

I added a small amount of salt to my 65gal tank because it says its good for my fish. I used freshwater aquarium salt. I used less than it said because it says some aquarium plants can be sensitive to the salt and since I have 1 plant I decided to just add a small amount until I see if it will effect my plant. Well my plant is fine but since I added the salt I have lost 2 fish. 1 angel and 1 mollie. They started acted out of character and then BAM just died. Was it the aquarium salt? Or is there something else wrong? I do weekly water changes. 1 week I do about a 25% water change and rinse filters then on the second week I do a 50% water change and use new filters. I don't have a master water test kit but I have been using the ones you just dip and they seem to always basically say the same thing ph looks fine and so does my nitrites and nitrates level. I do have a test kit for ammonia which is showing 0 for that.

 

Salt adds to the water hardness and should be added during partial water changes, not directly to the tank. It’s also entirely unnecessary. I use it only to strip the slime coat of sick fish to promote the growth of a healthy one.

It has no prophylactic benefit.

 

How much salt did you use ?
What are the readings for Ammonia, nitrate, pH and nitrite ?

Btw when you say you use new filters every other week can you be more specific about that ??

 

I used about 3tbs of salt. It says on the box to use 1tbs for every 5 US gal and my tank is 65gal. I only added the salt when I did a water change and I didn't just dump it directly into the tank.

Ammonia shows 0, No2 shows 0, and No3 shows around 20.

I put in new filter pads every 2 weeks. I have 2 Quiet flow filters that sit on the back of the tank. I also always use dirty water to clean the filter pads I never run them under the tab water. I also use ALI Tap water conditioner to clean my tap water before adding it to my tank.

 

I added a small amount of salt to my 65gal tank because it says its good for my fish. I used freshwater aquarium salt. I used less than it said because it says some aquarium plants can be sensitive to the salt and since I have 1 plant I decided to just add a small amount until I see if it will effect my plant. Well my plant is fine but since I added the salt I have lost 2 fish. 1 angel and 1 mollie. They started acted out of character and then BAM just died. Was it the aquarium salt? Or is there something else wrong? I do weekly water changes. 1 week I do about a 25% water change and rinse filters then on the second week I do a 50% water change and use new filters. I don't have a master water test kit but I have been using the ones you just dip and they seem to always basically say the same thing ph looks fine and so does my nitrites and nitrates level. I do have a test kit for ammonia which is showing 0 for that.

Mli...

Salt is fine to use especially for livebearing fish like a Molly. Egg laying fish don't really care for it. A teaspoon in every 5 gallons of water is enough to benefit most fish and won't harm plants. Be consistent with your water changes. Changing different amounts of tank water will mess with the water chemistry and fish won't tolerate anything but a steady chemistry. Work up to the point you remove and replace half the water weekly, no more, no less. No slacking! If you change half every week, you won't need to worry about pH, hardness or any of that chemistry stuff. You'll maintain a steady water chemistry and that's all your fish need.

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