Clown Loaches & Salt

[Fractal]

I'm prepping my 90gal tank for some Clown Loaches that I'll be picking up in the next 2 weeks or so.

The question I have is how well do they tolerate salt?

I ask this question because I add about 1tbs per 10g and keep it at that salinity level. So if I do an oil change I siphon out about 20g, fill, and add another 2 tbs of salt.

I also have a routine of upping the tanks temperature to about 85 degrees after I've added quarantined fish into the tank, just in case the disease they brought in didn't manifest it self in the week long quarantine/incubation period. I keep it at that level for a good 3 days. I normally keep the tank at about 80-82.

So am I doing this right or will I harm my new additions?

[Doc]

In my experience and my opinion they do not tolerate salt at all well so don't use it. It isn't necessary and certainly not with salt intolerant fish.

[clint]

Why do people add salt to freshwater tanks? Its my understanding this is a waste of time and not necessarily good for the fish.

Qt'ing fish should last at least a month some say 6 weeks. 1 week is too short of a period of time. sooner or later this will come back and bite you, i speak from experience.

[Marcos Mataratzis]

Although most loaches are able to tolerate a small ammount of salt if the acclimatization is long, it´s not recomend. Actually, as clint stated, most fishes do not need salt on the water and it´s benefits are dubious. So, don´t add salt to your tank. Salt can be used in some cases, during treatments. Not for regular use.

[clint]

Also upping the tank temps i've read, is only used to help ICh run through its life cycle quicker. Thus less time for treatment such as meds.

If this is a new tank then there is no need for a QT tank. Just put the clowns in hopefully a slat free environment. It sounds like the 90g is a new setup correct?

[sorce]

I started with 2 clowns in a 55 gl. Some time after started adding 1 tbsp per 5 gl. AFI salt. My clowns have fared fine with the sudden change. And my 2 new little guys are growing and healthy. Overall, my tank has been more apt to growth health and breeding since I started salting. So I swear by it.
the downside is the salt buildup around the top of the tank.

[Doc]

Why though? Why add salt? It isn't necessary and long term will affect the osmo-regulatory ability of the fish. Freshwater fish should be kept in freshwater simple as...

[soul-hugger]

Why though? Why add salt?....Freshwater fish should be kept in freshwater simple as...

I agree with this whole-heartedly, and I'm glad someone has broached this subject because one of the LFS in my area has started on an aggressive campaign to sell aquarium salt.:shock:

Letters have been written to the head of the store by myself and several other concerned hobbyists. They were recommending salt in every aquarium, same across the board from Livebearers to Loaches. While there can be no doubt that salt brings benefit to some fish and can be used to good effect in treatment, this uniform approach has its problems.

It can be hard to change something that you have been doing for a long time, especially if it has been working. But in this case it will be better if salt is not used. There is still a window of time to change the water from salted to fresh while you wait for your Clowns.

Loaches are scaleless fish, or they have very small scales, and this makes them extra-sensitive to any additives in the water, including medications and salt. The absorption through the skin is much higher. They also have very thick slime coats which can be eroded by the salt.

On the lighter side, congrats on your new tank, and hope all goes well!:)

soul-hugger

[Fractal]

This isn't a new setup as I've had it up and running for a good 6 months. What I meant by prepping is I'm removing the larger more aggressive fish to make room for smaller fish I will be putting in.

I add the salt to the tank as a preventative measure to get rid of any parasites/diseases that may be introduced with new fish and/or water changes. If 1 week isn't long enough of a quarantine time then I'll take the advice of increasing it to 6 weeks.

[Diana]

Before people could test the water for minerals, including General Hardness, Carbonate Hardness and salt they watched the fish, and kept track of what worked and what did not.

They found that when they did a water change, or moved fish to a new tank that sometimes the fish would die. Sometimes they would live.
There were two things going on here.
First: Fish are acclimated to the level of minerals in the water. Research ‘Osmosis’ and ‘Osmotic regulation’ for more details. When they are moved to water with a different level of minerals they need to adjust. It is easier to make this adjustment if they are moved into water that has more minerals in it than the water they were accustomed to. Early fish keepers had no way of measuring the minerals, but knew that adding salt helped, but did not know why.
Second: Often a new tank does not have a cycled filter. Salt (sodium chloride) can reduce the amount of nitrite that crosses the gills and enters the blood. Early fish keepers had no way of measuring nitrite, but knew that adding salt helped.

After a while it was possible to test the pH of the water. The mineral level of the water is loosely linked to the pH, and fish keepers started keeping track of pH, and seeing if the fish survived. Often what they thought was a pH problem was really water with a different mineral level. However, they called it a pH problem and came up with the guideline that the fish could not handle a change in pH of more than .2 units.

Now we do know the conditions that help the fish, and what sort of changes are OK, and how to help the fish acclimate to water that is different.

Fish thrive best in water that has the correct level of minerals, as measured by GH. Another measurement that helps is TDS, total dissolved solids.
The proper KH is important only in that it is a buffer that stabilizes the pH.
The pH is not as important as early fish keepers thought (when they had no other tests to see what was really going on).

Salt is not necessary for fresh water fish. Some tolerate it better than others, but many are irritated by it. Much better it to have water with the proper minerals, not substitute salt for those minerals.


I quarantine new fish for a month. If they need any treatment then I reset the clock at the end of treatment and they are kept in quarantine for a month beyond the last medication date.
During quarantine I will treat for internal parasites as a preventative. The water is not kept too hot or too cold, nor is salt added as a preventative.

Salt can be used as a medication, but its value is lost if it is kept in the tank all the time.
The value of salt as a medicine is in the CHANGING LEVEL of salt, not simply its presence. If it is always there, then the level is not changing, and the theraputic value is lost.

[sorce]

thank you diana. that is useful information