Rules for Aquarium Salt in Freshwater Tanks

[batray girl]

Hi, everybody. This is my first post on this site. I went to aquaria central for help today, but apparently that site is down. This one seems great though, so I am very excited to join!

I know that freshwater fish benefit from a certain amount of salt in their water, but I don't know how much. I have a needlenose gar, a green spotted puffer, and a dragon goby all living in a freshwater tank with completely freshwater tankmates. I know that the puffer's lifespan should increase as it is introduced to brackish water, so I'm interested in adding salt. I don't want the water to actually be brackish per-se though, because of the many freshwater fish that live with the above mentioned.
I would greatly appriciate any advice or comments anyone has to offer. *ie. healthy freshwater salt:water ratios, whether to put salt in before gravel, how long to wait for it to dissolve...etc.

THANKS!

[shev]

What other fish are in there? some FW fish will hate salt more than BW fish will like it.

[batray girl]

thanks for your reply
60 G
`1 baby slider
`2 blood parrot cichlids
`1 black ghost knife
`1 clown knife
`1 banjo cat
`1 wood cat
`1 peacock eel
`2 dinosaur eels/ bichirs
`1 black mystery
`1 ramshorn
`1 fiddler crab
`1 raphael cat
do you know if there's a standard amount that ALL fish benefit from or is it 100% species-specific?

[steve]

I would put one tablespoon per 10 gallons of freshwater, use a good quality fw salt. When you do water changes add one tablespoon per 10 gallons that you replace. Alot of people will disagree with me but I have 4 South American characins who dont require nor need it but I use it for them and it seems to help. I have always used aquarium salt for all my fish though.

[batray girl]

I went ahead and put 30G worth of salt in the 60G tank. I want to avoid any conditional shock, so if I eventually do go all the way to 6 tablespoons, it will happen gradually. My 2 bichirs are extremely active right now, which is unusual for them. I don't know if it is due to the water change or not. Gilbert (the turtle) seems completely unaffected. He's eating like a pig, as is normal. Since he was my main concern I am satisfied with this setup change thus far.
I would still like to hear who has what in freshwater w/ salt so I can make sure I'm not slowly harming my other fish with my salt progression.
THANK YOU

[Lexus]

Your snails wont be able to survive the salt they will die. Also I strongly suggest you get the puffer its own tank with the gar and goby and have it brackish. Puffers are very aggressive towards other fish and puffers so I dont know how long all three will last. How long have you had him in this tank?

Also... to get water brackish you dont use aquarium salt, you use what is used for SW tanks such as Instant Ocean.

With the turtle do you have the 60G full or half full for him. IMO I would not keep a turtle with these fish.

[shev]

I agree with lexus I would seperate the brackish and FW fish. especially the puffer. instant ocean is good for making water brackish, but I'd definately not use it on the current situation. instant ocean has a lot of different minerals in it that will raise the PH alot, which the S. american fish wont like even more. I think the cons are outweighing the pro's in this situation. and I think your turtle is going to eat your fish when big enough. is the wood cat a farowella? they are pretty sensitive...

also about "the rules of salt in FW aquariums", its a misconception that you need salt in a FW aquarium, and that it'll keep diseases and parasites away.

[TheOldSalt]

Since you've already added that much salt, I'd leave it alone now right where it is.

[maxpayne_lhp]

Right... I myself can't find data on the benefit of salt in FW aquarium. Some even are against it. So just leave there and the partial water change will help you get rid of the salt.

[flynngriff]

I suspect that adding salt to a freshwater aquarium will actually make your fish less likey to get infections and some diseases.

I'm sure that some viruses and bacteria and whatnot will have a harder time surviving if there's salt in the water...

But for the same reasons, a lot of fish will have a harder time surviving. You're putting something into the water that they're not evolved to live in.

[Lexus]

Originally Posted by flynngriff

I suspect that adding salt to a freshwater aquarium will actually make your fish less likey to get infections and some diseases.

I'm sure that some viruses and bacteria and whatnot will have a harder time surviving if there's salt in the water...

But for the same reasons, a lot of fish will have a harder time surviving. You're putting something into the water that they're not evolved to live in.

Yes and the snails will die, I dont know how the turtle will react to salt either. Fact is Aquarium Salt does help with sickness but isnt what is needed for brackish water

[Larry-T]

I would be very careful about using salt with a fish that relies on an electric current to sense food. Your black ghost could be at risk from salt in its water.


While some fish will benefit from the salt, it's harmful to fish which are not adapted to excrete the excess salt, so they will eventually die from kidney failure and other indetectable causes.

[TheOldSalt]

D'oh!
I missed the Black Ghost in the list. Good catch Larry!
Never put salt in a tank with Mormyrids, Gymmnotids or other electric fish, except for Torpedo Rays, Stargazers, and other saltwater/brackish electric fish designed to handle the extra "feedback." The extra conductivity of the water will drive them nuts.

Batray girl, my best advice is to sort the salt tolerant fish from the others into separate tanks. That way you can make all your fish happy. that might be impractical at the moment, though, so in that case just don't add any more salt, and dilute it down with future water changes. You can wait a couple of weeks before starting, in order to let the salt do it's work on the aquarium environment. The current level of salt you have isn't high enough to do enough damage to panic over in that short a time.

[maxpayne_lhp]

Ouch! Then electricfish can be picky with water conductivity o.O

[batray girl]

Thank you guys all very much. To answer the question before, I've had the puff in there for a couple of months. As for the worries about Gilbert, he's way too small to do any damage to any of my fish right now, but don't worry, he's got a new home waiting for him when he grows up. I just got back from an overnight in Baltimore and when I got home I found my dragon goby dead. He was the least likely on my suspected list to kick the bucket after the change. I don't know what that's all about. Do any of you?
the nipping issue doesn't really apply to my puffer, he's a solitary little thing and lives in a plant by himself, so that's not a problem, but thanks for the heads up. The gar is one of the original fish in my little collection. This is the first time he has existed in anything but freshwater. He was raised freshwater, so I don't think he'll have to move to a separate tank, but if for some reason he gets a little gimpy looking when I go back to all fresh, I'll set up a brackish system for him and the puff.
THANK YOU

[dolifisis]

I've just recently within the last 2 months put together two small freshwater tanks, 5 and 12 gallon and I'm ready to introduce some new fish. However I noticed at the pet store the better part of their selection states they require salt. Does this mean once they are introduced to the salt they can't be put back into a regular tank? If so that would limit my possibilities. Do I need to try another retailer?

[emc7]

Post the specific fish you want. Some fish require salt, some can be acclimated to doing without it, as long as the change is somewhat gradual. What else will go in the tank?