Ant Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 I know salt helps prevent disease by helping the stress coat on a fish develop but what else does it do? Does it effect PH? Does it effect Hardness? What else does it do??????? Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevy73 Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Think of Salt as natures anti-biotic....... it kills bacteria....... Great for white-spot and other diseases...... The only thing you need to be careful of when treating tanks with salt, is that it kills the good bacteria too, ie, the nitrite and ammonia destroying bacteria.... When I treat a tank with salt, I use 2g / litre....... the treatment lasts for up to 3 days, then you need to do a water change, otherwise you get a nitrite spike and kill your fish that way..... (speaking from experience here ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted January 7, 2004 Author Share Posted January 7, 2004 I dont believe that sorry, about it causing spikes. I've used salt in my tanks since i got them and has never caused a problem. I use 1gm per Ltr of salt (i think its marine salt). I dont use it for treatment i use if for general use to prevent disease and sofar it has worked. I also think it helps calm a fish. I could be wrong so perhaps somone could back up what Kevy73 said?? However when i do a water change i dont replace salt but every now and then i put a little bit of salt in. Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Salt also dissociciates in water into Na+ and Cl- hence increasing the hardness. I've not encountered spikes either and on occassion have put cichlids into very salted tanks to try to save them (when all else has failed) with a reasonable success rate. When fish came in from the east (shop situation) that were partially bouyant (and bodies already in the bag) I dropped them into very salty tanks and gradually diluted the water back to malawi conditions. Use to save quite a few fish in doing so. merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevy73 Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 The reason I mentioned "the spike" bit was because last time I treated my tank with the 2g per litre for 3 days I lost a fish a day after I stopped the salt...... I tested my nitrites and they were WAYYYYYY up the scale, the top of my test kit (can't remember ppm, but I know it was ridiculously high) So I presumed, rightly or wrongly it was the salt affecting the bio cycle within my tank, as my LFS had also said something similar. I am happy to stand corrected though..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Hey Kev, Maybe the nitrites were all ready high and that's what stressed the fish leading to the whitespot presenting itself?? merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevy73 Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Nitrites before I started were 0 ppm, I know this because I tested teh water the day before I started with the salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_Gun_Riff Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 ive never treated white spot with salt with suscess i prefur the normal treatments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHL Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 So I presumed, rightly or wrongly it was the salt affecting the bio cycle within my tank, as my LFS had also said something similar. Can't say I've noticed that in any of my tanks either; I run my goldfish tank with 1 tablespoon per 20L all the time, and have upped it for short periods in the past without problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevy73 Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 I am only saying what happened here, I use Pool Salt...... don't know if that makes a difference, and maybe it was because I was doing the high dose os 2g / litre for 3 days...... I don' t know. All I know is that I got a massive spike in Nitrites...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHL Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 I am only saying what happened here, I use Pool Salt...... There might be purity issue with your pool salt; after all, chlorine is the desired by-product, so might have been contaminated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corngrits Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 Ive used salt to cure my saratoga of parasites and for wounds on my cichlids with no ill effect to date. Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reesy1 Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 I put salt in every time i do a water change , never had a problem in fact i swear by it 1-2g per litre all the time helps gill function and their slime coat, can neutralize or reduce effectiveness of other treatments. Are you sure that the spike was not a coincidence , i dont doubt what you say at all but i have never come across it my self , my salt expereince is positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 I don't believe it ! Where are we ? 2004 and we still perpetuate the "old wives' tales" about salt from the 1940's and 50's ! I lived and kept fish back then, and like all myths and legands you have all got it wrong. We used salt to cure parasitic infections because there was nothing else. And we didn't put salt in the tanks but put the infected fish in a salt water bath. It even worked some times. The parasites died before the fish did. 'Stress coat" ? whose leg are you pulling ? pH ? no. Hardness? yes Anything else ? no (except conductivity) A sudden increase in disolved salts in the tannk will kill the bacteria in your bio filter the same as it kills fresh water parasites. Ooops one stuffed biosystem! Think about it. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevy73 Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 Thanks for agreeing with me on this one Alan..... Cheers mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reesy1 Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 If my bio system is so stuffed why do my fish breed like rabbits , and i have happy healthy big south americans and zero problems . Salt baths are good as well im sure.Can you post a link to where i can find that salt kills enough filter bacteria to effect the bio system , there cant be a sudden increase in dissolved salts if the tank always has the same amount of salt in it, can there??? thats why i replace the salt i take out when i do water changes.You do what you do and i'll do what i do and everyone can make up there own minds. There i've thought about it thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 hmmm, rather an interesting way to reply to over 60 years of fishkeeping expereince there reesy. not sure there is ANYONE on this forum with more knowledge or experience than Alan. not sure you need any online confirmation on that point..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reesy1 Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 Fair enough! his post seemed slightly hostile though , i wasn't being smart , it does sort of read like that though . Just saying what i do and what works for me and so are others . No disrespect intended allan im sure you have great fish. Kinerata i was only asking because everything i read on and offline has nothing but good things to say about salt and its use in tanks. I have implemented many things that i have heard/read/been told some good some bad salt has been good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_Gun_Riff Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 i read about a guy who put if boi system in a tank full of water and a few gold fish while he was treating the tank with salt to prevent the bio loss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 Well, i have only been in the hobby for 9 months and i still dissagree!!!!!!!!! I will continue to use salt and the moment i have a problem ill let ya know . So i dont believe you will be hearing from me soon in ever . Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catalyst Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 If salt causes these problems then how can the bio system work in a rift lake or marine system that has salt as part of its normal setup. I am only asking not having a go! But it dosent seem logical to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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