Salt or no salt in freshwater tanks

I have never used salt in my freshwater tanks because I assumed that it would b bad for the fish but I’m reading more and more about salt in the freshwater tanks being helpful to fend off disease and helps with gill and lung function I’m looking for some advice here from people with experience in this all thoughts and experiences are welcome thanks

 

Hardwater fish: Use Salt.
Softwater fish: Use Tannins.

Lung function? In fish?

 

I have never used salt in my freshwater tanks because I assumed that it would b bad for the fish but I’m reading more and more about salt in the freshwater tanks being helpful to fend off disease and helps with gill and lung function I’m looking for some advice here from people with experience in this all thoughts and experiences are welcome thanks

I used salt to help my betta with his fin rot. Salt can be beneficial in proper doses for the proper uses. Creative Pet Keeping on YouTube is a betta breeder and she doses all her juvenile bettas water with a little aquarium salt to ensure they’re at top health (she frequently changes the water too since they’re in smaller containers)

 

i've never used salt. but some use it regularly.

 

Hi,

I have found that the constant overuse of aquarium salt makes it totally ineffective, like over using antibiotics. Aquarium salt shouldn't be used over 2 weeks at a time. I only use it in my freshwater tank for things like fin rot or mild injuries.

Just my opinion based on my personal experience and research...

 

Lung function lol yea I guess not a thing should think before repeat what I read lol and thanks for the pointers I think I will keep the salt out unless I see problems in the tank I used it to help a sick molly and it worked well mind u they are a brackish water fish

 

I have never used salt in my freshwater tanks because I assumed that it would b bad for the fish but I’m reading more and more about salt in the freshwater tanks being helpful to fend off disease and helps with gill and lung function I’m looking for some advice here from people with experience in this all thoughts and experiences are welcome thanks

The first person to teach me to put salt in a fish tank is my grandfather, who probably explained to me why back when I was young but it was most likely over my head. I just knew it was good for the fish. This applied regardless of the fish we kept back then - cyprinids, plecos, livebearers.

I did the same thing when I started keeping fish, whether it was cichlids, corydoras, shrimps, snails, or anything else.

When I did my Bachelor's, I started to learn why. Pathogens of freshwater fish tend to be adapted to well, hyposaline conditions, and vice versa. So subjecting them to saline conditions they are not used to can really hurt them, far more so than the live stock themselves. That is at least generally the idea.

More recently I found out that apparently a lot of the live stock I had kept are very susceptible to even slightly elevated saline conditions. I am not sure if I just got lucky or the information I have found is false.

 

So basically what ur saying is u always had put salt in the tanks but the research u have done says otherwise I mean that sounds right to me like I said in the first post having salt in the freshwater tanks didn’t make sense to me cause there isn’t salt in the freshwater in natural habitats or am I mistaken is there some salinity in all water ? Just different levels?

 

So basically what ur saying is u always had put salt in the tanks but the research u have done says otherwise I mean that sounds right to me like I said in the first post having salt in the freshwater tanks didn’t make sense to me cause there isn’t salt in the freshwater in natural habitats or am I mistaken is there some salinity in all water ? Just different levels?

Honestly, I have no concrete answers to any of those questions. I would presume freshwater systems have very little if any salinity though.

 

For mollies, if you have soft water I would keep salt or any other appropriate mineral added to the tank all the time to help with osmoregulation.
This purpose is not necessarily as a direct remedy but is for indirectly improving their health by giving them more suitable water conditions to reduce stress, therefore allowing them to have a stronger immune system so they can fight off diseases on their own.
If you already have minerals (hardness) in your tap water it won't be necessary.

 

So basically what ur saying is u always had put salt in the tanks but the research u have done says otherwise I mean that sounds right to me like I said in the first post having salt in the freshwater tanks didn’t make sense to me cause there isn’t salt in the freshwater in natural habitats or am I mistaken is there some salinity in all water ? Just different levels?

It's not that there is salinity in all freshwater bodies, but you will be surprised in how many. How else is brackish water to explain. River mouths, deltas, tidal swamps, mangrove belts... but also often times rivers with a lot of industry along their shores might have some salinity as part of uncleared industrial waste.

to help with osmoregulation

Good, you mention osmoregulation. I'll expand: Hardwater fishes gills and kidneys are adapted to release a lot of minerals and salts, not as much as brackish or saltwater fish, but significantly more than softwater fish. That way they retain quite a lot water, but release minerals. A certain salinity besides being helpful rather against parasites than pathogens, is thus helpful for their osmoregulation.

Softwater fish are adapted to retain as much salt and minerals as possible, as the osmotic pressure would otherwise strip them of that very quickly. Softwater fish treated with salt thus have a tendency to retain a lot and get hypersalinity in their bodily fluids, which is very detrimental to the inner organs. So for softwaterfish like tetras or bettas salt treatments should be as short as possible and avoided whenever possible.
The best way to prevent pathogens raging havoc in softwater fish is giving them natural conditions. Many fish in those waters have made an evolutionary deal: Little nutrients, poor mineral supply and low pH for an environment with little bacteria and pathogens and optimal conditions for their eggs. This is why e.g. softwater fish are very succeptible to bacterial infections and internal parasites while shrugging off a lot of external parasites.

 

Personally i dont really like it and think its way overused and overprescribed.

Water hardiness can be raised without salt and ive never needed it to treat parasites or the like with salt.

Ich seems to be the biggest reason i see for treating with salt but ive never had any trouble with upping the temp and doing extra water changes to treat it.

 

I use salt in my quarantine tank. Its a first line of defense for new fish, and occasionally its a general purpose treatment for sick fish. But I don't use it anywhere else other than my qt tank. And I don't think it makes sense to use it all the time.

I could be wrong about this, but my understanding is that a big part of the lethality of salt comes not from the total concentration, but from the change in concentration. When the salt level goes up quickly, the osmoregulation of bacteria and parasites can't keep up, and they dry out and die. But those who survive the initial spike, will remain mostly unaffected moving forward.

I don't think that keeping the salt level elevated provides much additional benefit. And the downside is that if those survivor bacteria/parasites get out of control again, then you need to add even more salt to kill them. If we had returned the water to its normal state, then dosing the same amount of salt again would knock the population back enough to give the fish's immune system an opportunity to fight it off.

Someone please correct me if I am misunderstanding this. I'm certainly no expert.

Edit: I'd also like to add that saltwater fish get sick too. I think its safe to assume that there are pathogens/parasites that thrive at pretty much all salt concentrations that are suitable for fish. So keeping your salt levels elevated may prevent some things, but also might just open the door to more salt-tolerant diseases/parasites. And if you don't have easy access to anti-biotics or other meds, and salt is an important treatment option for you, then you really don't want to be providing an environment where salt tolerant pathogens will thrive.

 

This all makes sense and is very helpful I think I will keep the salt out and only use for treatment of sick fish witch brings me to this my front is all of a sudden out of no where hiding and not eating fins look a little ruff but all other fish are fine should I b considering a salt bath for him in a hospital tank ?