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Originally Posted by joe kool
Boxermom.
I've used salt in all my freshwater tanks to the tune of about 1 TBS per 10 gal for years now. "most" FW fish benifet from the added salt more than there are any negatives for using it. Some cories and other FW fish are pretty salt intolerant but that's a small %. The "catch phrase selling point" it improves gill function, stimulates slime coat production, and scale fromation but in the real world there are many FW fish that are very salt tolerant and will actually seek it out to a certian dilution over straingt FW if available in their natural habitat. Other FW fish have a large ammount of salts and dissolved solids in thier natural habitat (african rift lakes, tanganyika in particular) and need them to thrive as they have adapted to it over time. So just generalizing and saying no salt in any FW doesn't quite fit. I'd reccomend against salt for cories and a limited "short list" of FW fish but as a whole msot would show some benifet of 1 to 2 Tsp and up to 1 TBS of salt (some even more) but only after researching the natural habitat for that species. "Tank raised" species don't always negate this need either as they have adapted to thier natural waters over many many years centuries in some cases and may have only been tank raised for the last few generations and therefore still have that adaptation "built in"
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I think im going to have to side with Boxermom on this one. Of course most fish are tolerant of dissolved salts in the aquarium water, but why add it if its not neccessary? Also like she said, adding it straight into an HOB filter can cause the beneficial bacteria to die since your adding a largely hypertonic solution directly into their colonies. She is also right when she said that whatever is on the box of the aquarium salt cant be taken literally nor be taken in the context that the manufacturer states. They base their "guarantees" on unproven myths, which many are in-fact, disproved myths.
Also when people say that fish "benefit" from salt applications, it is almost always taken out of context. Unless your putting your fish in pure distilled or RO water then your fish are most probably doing fine. There are dissolved salts in most tap water supplys, there is no need to add more.
In many cases adding salt may not be harmful, but if its unnecessary then dont add it! Your fish will do fine without it. There will be no soothing effect since there is no pain to soothe to begin with!! The salt addition is usually used for treating ich, but the "guarantees" of it doing other things are mostly empty promises.
There are some good effects of aquarium salt in condtions that contain high nitrite levels, but thats about it.
The "magical powers" of salt that people speak of and its "magical" benefits to the aquarium setting is nothing but empty rhetoric.