# Adding Salt



## SpeedFreak (Mar 14, 2008)

how much salt should I had per so many gallons for my mbuna tank. Its a 75 gal tank


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## tropheus duboisi breeder (Jan 31, 2007)

You don't need it. Are your fish sick? What are your Water Perimeters?


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## FishGeek (Sep 29, 2007)

I was going to say these fish are from lakes not the ocean. They dont need the salt and aquarium salt doesnt change your salinity.


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## f u z z (Mar 19, 2008)

I hope you have " Aquarium Salt"...

If it is aquarium salt, the direction should be on the box. Do not add ANY kind of salt UNLESS the box cleary states " Aquarium."


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

But you don't need aquarium salt either. What is your pH?


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## thevein (May 10, 2006)

this topic always brings up interesting conversation and IMO should be stated as such...........opinions and not facts. While some hobbyist prefer salts to replicate the levels that are "naturally" found in Africa's Rift Lakes, others may not. I'm one of the hobbyist that like to use salts in my tanks as I feel it helps to thwart off parasites, eases digestion during a bloat outbreak, and duplicates the wild environment that my fish are found in.

To me the hobby isn't about what I need or don't need, it's more about what helps my fish thrive.


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

Adding salt is completely ok, it has absolutely no bearing on your Ph or water hardness it is actually for your fishes well-being as it stops parasites from setting in and helps with your fishes digestion. I use a buffer recipe which inludes Epsom salt and baking soda which buffers Ph. and hardness and salt which are all added every water change.
If you are adding salt add 1 teaspoon per 19 litres (convert to gallons if thats your method)
NOTE: The so must noy contain iodine. I use iodised rock salt or sea salt :thumb:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Depends on whether you are talking about sodium or "cichlid salts" designed to alter pH or hardness. I don't know whether there are studies making the desirability of either a fact or a preference, so point taken.

Let me put it this way. I have read everything and listened to everyone possible over the last three years (lots of books, several forums), and the opinion I have formed is that sodium can be useful to treat disease (ich) and "cichlid salts" can be useful if you have pH or hardness problems. Leaving out the additives (again an opinion I have formed based on research and a short three years experience, but not necessarily a fact) does not hurt the fish and in fact may be beneficial. Wow, that's a lot of caveats!


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## SpeedFreak (Mar 14, 2008)

Yeah, i know its not something that has to be put in but anything that makes it more like their natural environment cant hurt and can only bring out more natural behavior and color and so forth. i just need to know which kind of salt is best. it seems like theres no harm done by it and it only stops disease and such. so i guess my next questions is wheres the best place to get salt and what kind. i would like to buy it bulk like seasalt from sams club or something instead of spending a ton and a lfs for a small bag


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Don't want to belabor the point, but also want to make it clear. It is not a proven fact that adding sodium will prevent disease or adding cichlid salts makes the fish more comfortable or makes the tank more like their environment. IMO these things CAN be harmful, so I don't add them. In the _opinion_ of Gibbs and thevein, additives can prevent parasites, aid digestion and make the water more like the lake.

It is possible for your tap water to match the pH and hardness of the lake without additives. That's why I asked about your pH...you may NEED to raise your pH for example.

Some fishkeepers I have the greatest respect for with 40 or more years experience swear by adding sodium. Other fishkeepers with more recent experience and science-related jobs or backgrounds think adding the "rift lake trace elements" is a waste of money. You will form your own opinion as well!

There is an article in the library about how to mix your own "cichlid salts". Or if you prefer to purchase a product there will be instructions on the label.


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## SpeedFreak (Mar 14, 2008)

DJRansome said:


> Don't want to belabor the point, but also want to make it clear. It is not a proven fact that adding sodium will prevent disease or adding cichlid salts makes the fish more comfortable or makes the tank more like their environment. IMO these things CAN be harmful, so I don't add them. In the _opinion_ of Gibbs and thevein, additives can prevent parasites, aid digestion and make the water more like the lake.
> 
> It is possible for your tap water to match the pH and hardness of the lake without additives. That's why I asked about your pH...you may NEED to raise your pH for example.
> 
> ...


yeah i'm sure i'll add some but keep it a minimal. thanks for the help


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

Gibbs said:


> NOTE: The so must noy contain iodine. I use iodised rock salt or sea salt :thumb:





f u z z said:


> Do not add ANY kind of salt UNLESS the box cleary states " Aquarium."


I thought that even the salt fans had long ago dismissed both of these two suggestions...

Iodized salt contains such tiny amounts that it's not important and the only thing that makes it "aquarium safe" is the extra price tag... I deny that 90% of tap water needs more NaCl to make it like fresh water lakes and so don't ever add salt, but hey... cheap kosher salt or table salt is so cheap I'm not going to give it much thought beyond that...


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## Mitch101 (Sep 15, 2007)

I have read lots of threads on this also, one question was "what is the salt content of lake Malawi" the response from a very well known fish keeper "if you use a toothpick to add salt to your tank, you are very close to their natural enviroment" lol


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

per 5 gallons 1 teaspoon.

Trust me your fish will love you for it. Mine did from the minute i added it and since then they are much happier and breed like flies. Ordinary NON IODISED rock salt or sea salt is perfect.

Go for it and tell all the non believers how much your fish love it afterwards

NOTE: desolve the salt in a bucket of your tank water before adding otherwise it forms a layer on the bottom of your tank :thumb:


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## Mitch101 (Sep 15, 2007)

What is the salt content of lake Malawi? I just want to match their natural enviroment... :wink:


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

So far and do not quote me on this becuase i haven't had that much time to research and will do some more and actually sign of with an answer, i have come across levels and readings such as:
56mg/L Sodium
Quote, "Lake Malawi has high concerntrations of mineral salts"
<1.1/G

The more i read the more i believe that the lake actually does have i concentration of Sodium


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

Whilst doing a little more research i stumbled across the work of "Tallings and Tallings 1965".
Their work provided us with the information that Lake Nyasa/Malawi contians approximately 21mg/Litre of sodium.
You guys are in the US will have to convert to the system you use.


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## eoconnor (Nov 24, 2006)

I read that the level of Lake Malawi (and the other rift lakes) has gone up and down greatly throughout it's history, and that this has led to a concentration over time of minerals and salts. That seems to suggest it has less water now than the recent past? But it doesn't matter, here in the of the UK the tap water though relatively hard, contains very little salt, probably due to high rain and very little elevation/watershed. Where I am from, in San Diego there is more salt, in fact in Santa Barbara I could taste the salt in the drinking water...

Here I add 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sodium bicarbonate, and one tablespoon Epsom Salt(magnesium sulfate) per 20 liters of water. I mix sodium chloride 1:1 with potassium chloride (healthy salt? lite salt?) and use that. Sea salt for human consumption bothers me because it contains thinks like strontium and manganese which I'm not sure I need and if I do it's in tiny amounts that will be contained in my food. Like Gibbs said, when I started adding salts, my fish seemed to become more active and more prone to breeding. I got my salt from the lab so I don't know if trace iodine matters but I'd trust number six that it likely doensn't. Try it and let us know, it will not hurt them and salt/epsom salts/baking soda are very very cheap.


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## SpeedFreak (Mar 14, 2008)

ok thanks for all the info. keep all the good stuff coming


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

So the lake is somewhere in between 20 to 60 mg/l

and your tap water is at?

What? you don't know? I thought you guys are all adding salt to match the level in the lake... don't you have to know what mg/l you are starting from to match the sodium levels in the lake?

As eoconnor states... mg/l in tap water can vary from place to place... of course, I think you'd be surprised how few places are over the 50mg/l level...

(sorry I typed under, meant over...)


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## tropheus duboisi breeder (Jan 31, 2007)

Agreed. Lake Michigan Water is very hard. PH is about 7.6 -8.0. Never buffered and have never had a problem. IMO it depends on where your from, as *Number6 *and *eoconner *said.  [/b]


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

Here in Australia my tap water comes out in the low 7s for PH(acidic), 4 for hardness(soft). It's a fact we have to buffer our water


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## nick a (Apr 9, 2004)

While I realize that everyone is not blessed with the liquid limestone I enjoy in central TX, IMHO, adding salt (or other things) purely for the sake of adding it is an exercise in pointless overkill. The time spent measuring out and mixing etc... these things are far better served doing a little more basic tank/filter maintenance.

As far as some of the mythology that gets passed around:

As far as the prophylactic benefits against parasites--where are these parasites coming from in a closed loop system? Proper quarentine of newly purchased stock and short term prelimenary treatment prior to adding them to your primary tank is a method available to keep a tank parasite free. If no new fish are being added--once again, where do these litte buggers come from?

As an aid in digestion/as a laxative--healthy fish, properly fed shouldn't need help in this should they?

As a prophylactic against bloat & other maladies---unless you wake up every morning, take two aspirin, hook up to a saline IV bag, inject a little morphine etc...just in case you might get sick----don't do it with your fish. Spend your time making sure your fish's environment is clean, your stocking levels are good, your feeding choices/methods are good etccc....take care of the basics and the other things will not be an issue.

Just my .02 that a OZ/HR of elbow grease is worth more than a mg/L of cure.


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## SpeedFreak (Mar 14, 2008)

thanks for all the help and info


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