Salt in frashwater
- Thread starter Jason_Rookey
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The salt is a conditioning solvent comparable to stress coat. Top Fin makes it, $3 for 32 oz at my lfs. On the shelf at the pet store some labels stated that the fish needed salt, like gouramies. The salt doesn't hurt fish in the tank that don't need it, just keeps you from using your stress coat, using both would double the dose and potentially kill everything in the tank.
Stress coat and salt treats ick?
Uses on the salt - Enhances slime coat to protect fish, prevents nitrite damage to gills, repleneshes necessary electrolytes to reduce stres.
I use it during water changes, when adding new fish and anytime my fish looks stressed. No you don't need any water conditioers and you really don't need a chlorine remover either, but these things can help keep your fish healthy. IMO
Uses on the salt - Enhances slime coat to protect fish, prevents nitrite damage to gills, repleneshes necessary electrolytes to reduce stres.
I use it during water changes, when adding new fish and anytime my fish looks stressed. No you don't need any water conditioers and you really don't need a chlorine remover either, but these things can help keep your fish healthy. IMO
Haha... what? I'm getting confused. 
Okay, I think the average opinion on this forum is that you do not need stress coat. But, I doubt it will hurt anything if you do use it. I think most people also say you don't need it because they don't want you to waste your money.
Aquarium salt is supposed to do basically the same thing as stress coat. Again, people probably say you don't need it because they don't want you to waste your money. I have personally used salt and I didn't see any difference between using it and not using it. I have not used stress coat.
If your water has chlorine though, you absolutely do need water conditioner. Besides the occasional med, conditioner is probably one of the few additives that you must use for optimum fish health.
Okay, I think the average opinion on this forum is that you do not need stress coat. But, I doubt it will hurt anything if you do use it. I think most people also say you don't need it because they don't want you to waste your money.
Aquarium salt is supposed to do basically the same thing as stress coat. Again, people probably say you don't need it because they don't want you to waste your money. I have personally used salt and I didn't see any difference between using it and not using it. I have not used stress coat.
If your water has chlorine though, you absolutely do need water conditioner. Besides the occasional med, conditioner is probably one of the few additives that you must use for optimum fish health.
I think I got myself confused a bit too. I use meds and conditioners as needed. If a fish is getting over ick, I make sure the tank has stress coat in it, or salt if the fish desires. Likewise, when moving a fish I use stress coat/salt to help prevent any sickness. If I do a large water change I will use stress coat/salt in that procedure too, as a just in case. Maybe more of a preventative measure, but a bottle lasts me a long time. IMO, not a waste of money, but Jason, you can make your own decisions, and now you have different opinions to consider. Best of luck to you and your fish.
Just to sum up all this befuttling info.. lets see if this helps..
Is salt good to use in every situation in fresh water? NO
Is their benefits? yes (stimulates gill function, used as a PREVENTATIVE of some fish disease & parasites, stimulates formation of a slime coat, etc.)
Is their drawbacks? yes (some fish may be sensitive to salt in the environment, FW plants don't like it much, etc.)
Is it good to have on hand? Yes (great cheap and simple treatment for a wide variety of fish illnesses, you use it to raise up some baby brine shrimp to feed to fry, etc.) Oh.. and did I say it was CHEAP
Do some fish like the addition of FW Salt more than others? YES (Mollies, for example, do better with some salt added to the water, and so on...)
Long story short..... To each, his own. Some use it and have great success with it, some don't use it and have great results also. It just depends on user preference, & aquarium situation. I use it in some of my tanks, some I do not. And I don't use it religiously every time.
*** For clarification, someone stated you don't have to use a water conditioner. Well, you don't, if you like to play a waiting game. If you let your replacement water sit uncovered for 24 hours or so, chlorine dissipates (BUT>> CHLORAMINE DOES NOT!) Your local water company should post what it uses in it's water supply. If it uses chlorine, you can play that waiting game, if it uses chloramine, you need a conditioner to remove/neutralize it.
But I, for one, do not like to wait around for water to sit. I use a chlorine, chloramine remover/neutralizer of some sort, and you can go as simple, or as elaborate on the conditioners as you want. Salt can not remove these items, but they still act as a type of conditioner for the fish, not the water per say.
Again, there are many products out there that some recommend over another. Purchase a water conditioner based upon your needs.
Have a great day!
Is salt good to use in every situation in fresh water? NO
Is their benefits? yes (stimulates gill function, used as a PREVENTATIVE of some fish disease & parasites, stimulates formation of a slime coat, etc.)
Is their drawbacks? yes (some fish may be sensitive to salt in the environment, FW plants don't like it much, etc.)
Is it good to have on hand? Yes (great cheap and simple treatment for a wide variety of fish illnesses, you use it to raise up some baby brine shrimp to feed to fry, etc.) Oh.. and did I say it was CHEAP
Do some fish like the addition of FW Salt more than others? YES (Mollies, for example, do better with some salt added to the water, and so on...)
Long story short..... To each, his own. Some use it and have great success with it, some don't use it and have great results also. It just depends on user preference, & aquarium situation. I use it in some of my tanks, some I do not. And I don't use it religiously every time.
*** For clarification, someone stated you don't have to use a water conditioner. Well, you don't, if you like to play a waiting game. If you let your replacement water sit uncovered for 24 hours or so, chlorine dissipates (BUT>> CHLORAMINE DOES NOT!) Your local water company should post what it uses in it's water supply. If it uses chlorine, you can play that waiting game, if it uses chloramine, you need a conditioner to remove/neutralize it.
But I, for one, do not like to wait around for water to sit. I use a chlorine, chloramine remover/neutralizer of some sort, and you can go as simple, or as elaborate on the conditioners as you want. Salt can not remove these items, but they still act as a type of conditioner for the fish, not the water per say.
Again, there are many products out there that some recommend over another. Purchase a water conditioner based upon your needs.
Have a great day!
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Pretty much. There is really just a few applications that actually call for it.
Ick is the main treatment and just about the only thing 'aquarium salt' is useful for. It does stimulate the slime coat, by causing irritation. However if the fish is healthy there shouldn't be any need to help stimulate the slime coat.
Right on. Several scaleless species don't do well at all with it. I can't say for sure, but if I had to stab at a guess I'd say it was due to the irritation factor that 'helps' stimulates the slime coat. FW plants do fine with Aquarium Salt, it's marine salt that adjusts the waters salinity that many plants don't adjust to well.
Baby Brine Shrimp WTW! It does have limited use, however it is dirt cheap.
'Aquarium Salt' does nothing for mollies, types of puffers and other fish that come from brackish enviornments. Aquarium Salt does not increase salinity in a tank, and when stores or whom ever says 'does better with salt' more than likely that fish comes from brackish waters. The only way to make a tank even a little brackish is by using Marine Salt. There isn't any other way.
I'm still not sure what stress coat does. But if you keep your fish healthy then there really isn't any need to help stimulate a fishes slime coat. If you think you HAVE to add the stress coat for healthy fish, you really don't. I don't use it and my fish have always been great for years. I know it's also removes chlorine, and thats fine, but I just don't like adding extra things to my tanks that I don't need too. If it isn't needed for a specific reason then it has no business in my tanks. That's why I like to use Prime. It has a specific purpose, and doesn't beat around the bush about anything. Gets the job done without leaving me wondering what else might be going on. There are several others other than Prime that are just water conditioners, I just keep using that in my examples because that's what I'm used too and what I use. YMMV.
Ick is the main treatment and just about the only thing 'aquarium salt' is useful for. It does stimulate the slime coat, by causing irritation. However if the fish is healthy there shouldn't be any need to help stimulate the slime coat.
Right on. Several scaleless species don't do well at all with it. I can't say for sure, but if I had to stab at a guess I'd say it was due to the irritation factor that 'helps' stimulates the slime coat. FW plants do fine with Aquarium Salt, it's marine salt that adjusts the waters salinity that many plants don't adjust to well.
Is it good to have on hand? Yes (great cheap and simple treatment for a wide variety of fish illnesses, you use it to raise up some baby brine shrimp to feed to fry, etc.) Oh.. and did I say it was CHEAP
'Aquarium Salt' does nothing for mollies, types of puffers and other fish that come from brackish enviornments. Aquarium Salt does not increase salinity in a tank, and when stores or whom ever says 'does better with salt' more than likely that fish comes from brackish waters. The only way to make a tank even a little brackish is by using Marine Salt. There isn't any other way.
I'm still not sure what stress coat does. But if you keep your fish healthy then there really isn't any need to help stimulate a fishes slime coat. If you think you HAVE to add the stress coat for healthy fish, you really don't. I don't use it and my fish have always been great for years. I know it's also removes chlorine, and thats fine, but I just don't like adding extra things to my tanks that I don't need too. If it isn't needed for a specific reason then it has no business in my tanks. That's why I like to use Prime. It has a specific purpose, and doesn't beat around the bush about anything. Gets the job done without leaving me wondering what else might be going on. There are several others other than Prime that are just water conditioners, I just keep using that in my examples because that's what I'm used too and what I use. YMMV.
This topic is always a subject of debate, like I stated, it is of the aquarist's own choice, based on preference and/or experience, to use it, or not to use it.
Adding plain old NaCL (sodium chloride) to water will raise salinity. Sodium Chloride is the basis for most FW Salts. (I DO know that.. I work with all types, and Percentages, of saline solutions with sodium chloride at work, every day.)
Here is some helpful sites that assists in this discussion for more detailed information, for the use of salt in a freshwater environment. It may fill in some gaps, and leave out some of biases that we all have, for and against, for a hobbyist to make up their own mind. These sites help point out Pros/cons, for and against.
But I do have to say this when asking for opinions and suggestions on any forum, on any topic... "TAKE ALL ADVISE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!" (sorry.. just had to throw that in )
ARG - Aquarium & Pond Info - The use of salt in the freshwater aquarium or pond
Aquaworld Aquarium - Adding Salt to a Freshwater Aquarium
Salt in the Freshwater Aquarium
Adding plain old NaCL (sodium chloride) to water will raise salinity. Sodium Chloride is the basis for most FW Salts. (I DO know that.. I work with all types, and Percentages, of saline solutions with sodium chloride at work, every day.)
Here is some helpful sites that assists in this discussion for more detailed information, for the use of salt in a freshwater environment. It may fill in some gaps, and leave out some of biases that we all have, for and against, for a hobbyist to make up their own mind. These sites help point out Pros/cons, for and against.
But I do have to say this when asking for opinions and suggestions on any forum, on any topic... "TAKE ALL ADVISE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!" (sorry.. just had to throw that in
)ARG - Aquarium & Pond Info - The use of salt in the freshwater aquarium or pond
Aquaworld Aquarium - Adding Salt to a Freshwater Aquarium
Salt in the Freshwater Aquarium
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I have checked out the links very good info, heres my question, I agree with what you have said, but everyone here says you can not create a brackish tank with "aquarium salt", why not? If the point is to bring up salinity to a certain level then yes aquarium salt does work. What are the compounds in "ocean salt" that make it so much better for a brackish tank. Not trying to start a debate but I know "aquarium salt" adds salinity because when I first started back into this hobby I used it with my mollies and platies and I did check salinity between that tank and my tap water.
Because the way I understand it, it does acts different in the water than Marine Salt like Instant Ocean. You could pee in a cup and argue it's a sewer because it has human waste in it but it doesn't mean it is.
I'm not a chemist. I hate chemistry. I didn't think there was enough NaCL in Aquarium Salt to mess with the salinity, so I learn something new everday. And it's not just the salinity that makes a tank brackish or SW, Marine Salts have LOTS of weird minerals, trace elements and nutrients that make up Marine Water, or even Brackish. So just raising the salinity in a tank and calling it brackish is hardly, the salinity is only part of the equation. So you take the cup of pee, add some plumbing, leach lines and then we'll think of calling it a sewer.
I'm not a chemist. I hate chemistry. I didn't think there was enough NaCL in Aquarium Salt to mess with the salinity, so I learn something new everday. And it's not just the salinity that makes a tank brackish or SW, Marine Salts have LOTS of weird minerals, trace elements and nutrients that make up Marine Water, or even Brackish. So just raising the salinity in a tank and calling it brackish is hardly, the salinity is only part of the equation. So you take the cup of pee, add some plumbing, leach lines and then we'll think of calling it a sewer.
If you are dealing with just salinity issues, sure, NaCL will raise salinity, but the sea salt contains buffers, trace minerals & other important compounds that are naturally occurring in sea water, and most akin to sea water. The use of marine salt for brackish systems is more natural. Different salt mixes contain varying degree of different compounds. There in lies another debate, what salt mix is best? OK.. NOT even going to get into it *PEACE!*
Can you make a brackish system with just FW Aquarium salt (Plain old NaCL)?
YUP.. I've done it with mollies and puffers. Kept them for a couple months with it, before I switched to sea salt mixes. (Mixed better, more soluble, easier to regulate, fish seemed happier in it, and all that jazz.) After a while with that, then I went to a pure SW setup, and the brackish system is now gone, puffers & mollies gone to other fish buddies. Diggin' the reef and corals now.
Here is another good site to read up on it.
The Brackish Water Aquarium by Les Pearce
OK.. I am QUOTING an article on this link above. I'm not trying to start a debate
As a side note, my mollies DID do better with aquarium salt. As per MY experience.
*PEACE!*Can you make a brackish system with just FW Aquarium salt (Plain old NaCL)?
YUP.. I've done it with mollies and puffers. Kept them for a couple months with it, before I switched to sea salt mixes. (Mixed better, more soluble, easier to regulate, fish seemed happier in it, and all that jazz.) After a while with that, then I went to a pure SW setup, and the brackish system is now gone, puffers & mollies gone to other fish buddies. Diggin' the reef and corals now.
Here is another good site to read up on it.
The Brackish Water Aquarium by Les Pearce
OK.. I am QUOTING an article on this link above. I'm not trying to start a debate
As a side note, my mollies DID do better with aquarium salt. As per MY experience.
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FW Aquarium salt "IS" NaCL, sodium chloride. It is not a question of "enough", it just IS sodium chloride. Lesson learned.
In addition, two of the most popular brands are API and Dr. Wellfish FW Aquarium salt. The API brand of FW Aquarium salt is made from evaporated SEA WATER. Dr. Wellfish's Fresh water aquarium salt is also, made from EVAPORATED SEA WATER. They just don't contain the extra additives that make the sea water, well....sea water. It is just sodium chloride.
I started my first mini brackish system with that, and it DID affect salinity, which I checked with a refractometer, and not a hydrometer, because I liked the accuracy better.
AND.. on Dr. Wellfish FW Aquarium salt website, I quote..
For Marine systems, FW aquarium salt is a pure NONO, for brackish systems, it is best to use marine salt, but SALINITY CAN BE ACHIEVED with FW aquarium salt. Do I think it is the BEST.. NO! But can it be done, Yes, at least, I did, short term, before I switched to Marine salt.
In addition, two of the most popular brands are API and Dr. Wellfish FW Aquarium salt. The API brand of FW Aquarium salt is made from evaporated SEA WATER. Dr. Wellfish's Fresh water aquarium salt is also, made from EVAPORATED SEA WATER. They just don't contain the extra additives that make the sea water, well....sea water. It is just sodium chloride.
I started my first mini brackish system with that, and it DID affect salinity, which I checked with a refractometer, and not a hydrometer, because I liked the accuracy better.
AND.. on Dr. Wellfish FW Aquarium salt website, I quote..
For Marine systems, FW aquarium salt is a pure NONO, for brackish systems, it is best to use marine salt, but SALINITY CAN BE ACHIEVED with FW aquarium salt. Do I think it is the BEST.. NO! But can it be done, Yes, at least, I did, short term, before I switched to Marine salt.
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