Usage Of SALT in Aquaria for various diseases

[jibran_shariff]

we add salt to our tanks (fresh water), may be because some one told you to, or you have seen somewhere, but salt is being used from almost as long as the hobby. There are many reasons why fishkeepers add salt to a tank, to reduce stress, as medicine(ich, parasites), increasing hardness. It has also become a common practice for lfs guys to tell their freshwater customers to add some salt to the tank. But experienced hobbyists do not do this, nor is it recommended. Before you add salt to a freshwater aquarium, you should understand why you are doing so, and any possible side effects.

Why salt is not required in freshwater fish tanks?

fresh water fish in their wild conditions do not come across much salt, and thus even though many fresh water fish can take some amount of salt for quite a period of time, in the long run it is not good for them. especially fish which prefer soft water, as salt increases hardness in water, for example plecos, bettas, eels, many south american cichlids.

Most common uses of salt

as a medicine:

salt is used for ich or commonly known as white spot disease, salt generally kills this parasite only when this parasite is in one of its particular life stage.
usage:
scaled fish and fish that can take hard water: 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons(19lts) of water.
nonscaled fish and soft water fish: 1 Tablespoon per 10 gallons(38 lts) of water.

the above dose of salt can also be used for Stress relief, when the fish is injured, by maintaining the salt level in the fish's blood. But once the fish is healed it is better to remove the salt content in the water.

anchorworms can also be killed by using salt but this can be done only with a very few set of fish as the salinity required is quite high almost 1-1.5 cups of salt per 10 gallons(38 lts) of water and the dozing has to be kept so for atleast 3 weeks. the fish that can take this amount of abuse are very few namely, Central american cichlids, african volcanic lake cichlids, many livebearers, and Koi.

the above method described for anchorworms can also be used for skin fluke treatment.

Note for chemical Filtration:
If Zeolite is being used in fresh water, as filter media, remove all the zeolite before adding salt to the tank, as it might actually cause an ammonia spike in your tank, as zeolite which has been absorbing ammonia and other nitrites will release all these when salt is added, as sodium replaces the ammonia and nitrites in the zeolite.

Although u might think that in salt water tank filtration zeolite is used, it works just like the ceramic rings and does not work as it is supposed to, ie absorb ammonia and other nitrites.

[maaz]

Nice write Up Jibs..

[SCORPIO]

This will be very helpful for all of us.

[cichlids]

Nice info.. Thanks jibran. Didnt know that salt are used for these purpose

[Aqua Gardenz]

For Anchor worms, i would suggest potassium permanganate bath to weaken the Worm and then to slowly remove from the body of the fish.. Salt can be used then to heal the wound...

[Romi]

potassium permanganate for Anchor worms is something i will try if i find pulling the worm out of the fish (held carefully in hand, and kept wet by dipping in water every minute) with tweezers seemed too invasive or difficult. Sometimes it is, sometimes it is not. Experienced fish keeper with a high common sense quotient are more likely to do it easily.

Fish louse I have easily pulled out with tweezers and used salt in water to reduce possibility of fungus.

[Romi]

I must point out there that Anchor worm is no worm but a copepod (crustacean, like shrimp and daphnia are), the female copepod infects fish coz she needs the blood for her eggs (like female mosquitoes do). If it seems too deeply embedded, no tweezers. Your experience should tell you that.