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Post by fishfever on Nov 6, 2009 15:57:49 GMT -5
First, this is not a whether to use or not use salt question. I do use it in the tank, hospital tank as well as baths and have been experimenting for a while with the very cheap water softener salt available at hardware stores. If you use salt and want to save money on aquarium salt, this might be helpful. The only kind of water softener salt that I've found locally are the 40 lb bags with mostly huge crystals for about $5/bag. So once I figured out what 1 tablespoon of water softener salt weighs (I took a bunch of salt and crushed them to aquarium salt size in a thick bag and put it on a scale) I know that 1.XX ounces (forgot what XX is now) of uncrushed salt is the equivalent of 1 tablespoon of normal sized aquarium salt. So I adjusted the zero control on my scale with a container on it so that when I put 1.XX ounces or 1 tablespoon of uncrushed crystals it reads exactly 2 ounces. This way I don't have to measure 1.XX ounces, I just put enough crystals in the container to line it up with the 2 ounce line. Now I have all these clean jars (about 5 of them). I put 1 tablespoon of uncrushed salt in each except for the large container in which I put 2 tablespoons of uncrushed salt. Fill them with water and let them sit. I could agitate to speed this up but I don't bother since I have plenty of jars and there are always jars with fully dissolved salt. I use the big jar when I'm doing a larger water change and I know there are 2 tablespoons for dissolved salt in it by the jar size. Every time I use a jar I fill it back up with salt and water and rotate it to the back of the line. I don't know how much salt I've used so far but the bag looks almost as full as the day I bought it so it's possible I'll never have to buy salt again. LOL
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Post by goldenpuon on Nov 7, 2009 16:30:36 GMT -5
Very informative post Fishfever.
This is very helpful epecially for people like myself who would like a cheaper alternative to pet store-bought aquarium salt.
(I hope I misidentified this as not being a question. If so, sorry about that.)
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Post by fishfever on Nov 8, 2009 20:12:11 GMT -5
Thanks goldenpuon, I experiment a good bit and this turned out to be one that turned out well. I'm always interested in doing things better, lowering costs, saving time, etc. and this one covers a little of everything.
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Post by Carl on Nov 9, 2009 10:32:42 GMT -5
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Post by goldenpuon on Nov 9, 2009 16:49:54 GMT -5
Great idea! XD
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Post by parker002 on Nov 10, 2009 11:19:21 GMT -5
What types of fish are you using the salt with?
The family-owned LFS I go to doesn't really recommend using salt.
I noticed that the Petsmart/Petco-type places all have salt in their freshwater livebearer tanks, and the little tags say to "use salt".
I don't think I've ever put salt in my tank (I have catfish), is that bad?
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Post by bikeguy33 on Nov 10, 2009 13:04:41 GMT -5
while working on a fish farm....we used watersoftener salt as well. salting a million gallons of water would have been un-feasible any other way.
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Post by goldenpuon on Nov 11, 2009 20:15:40 GMT -5
As far as I know, catfish are very sensitive to salt. But they can handle it small doses or for short amounts of time such as during disease treatment.
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Post by fishfever on Nov 12, 2009 7:50:08 GMT -5
You can read more about salt use in freshwater setups in Carl's article (I believe in the fish illness section). Since I have cory cats and tetras in my 26g I use only 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons. Since each of my jars of dissolved water softener salt have 1 tablespoon, I normally use 1/3 bottle per 5-6 gallon water change. So at any time I may have some full bottles, 2/3 full bottles or 1/3 full bottles ready to be used. In my fry tank I use a full tablespoon per 5g since it only has livebearers (platys/mollies). I also sometimes increase the salt in the 26g to as much as 1 tablespoon or slightly more when treating for disease or a problem that is helped by salt over the short term (maybe 1-3 weeks). Then when I am done treating I can ratchet it back down to 1 teaspoon/5g by either making a larger water change with no salt added or a series of smaller water changes over a normal schedule with no salt added. Then it's back to 1 teaspoon/5g on future water changes. I also note that since my tap water is extremely soft (no detectable hardness on my water test kits) I use Wonder shells to add the important missing minerals in my tap water.
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Post by parker002 on Nov 12, 2009 17:44:09 GMT -5
My tap water is extremely hard so I'm sure that offsets the fact that I haven't added salt.
From reading Carl's info, it looks like I should probably add at least a little.
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Post by parker002 on Nov 12, 2009 17:52:26 GMT -5
As an aside for anyone that's looking for cheaper salt alternatives and doesn't have access to the water softener stuff mentioned already, there is another option.
Canning/pickling salt also contains no additives. My ENT prescribed it to me in lieu of using the $15 pre-packaged sinus rinse product.
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sherry
Junior Member
Posts: 29
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Post by sherry on Feb 14, 2010 10:49:27 GMT -5
This is all very good information to know Thanks for sharing1
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Post by twinkle789 on Jan 20, 2011 5:06:58 GMT -5
This is an informative discussion. I am going to try it to my fish tank and see the results. Thank you.
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Post by angelkitty on Feb 10, 2011 13:25:05 GMT -5
I have been using pickling salt in my goldie tank for quiet awhile now!
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Post by kagome on Feb 13, 2011 12:55:15 GMT -5
I have been using salt that is meant for swimming pools and it is a much finer grade than the water softener salt. It's about $5 for a 40lb bag and it dissolves really easily. I use it in all my tanks except for my betta. I have catfish in two of my display tanks and I just make sure to make the percentage very low per the volume of water. I've noticed that this has really improved my fish's overall health.
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Post by Suzie Q (Lori) on Feb 15, 2011 11:12:20 GMT -5
(for the new Members posting): I breed and show Betta. When I DON'T use salt in my individual jars, I find that they develop Velvet or Ich very easily.
I have tried my hand (for the 4th time) to raise Daphnia and they don't like salt at all, so I had been not adding salt to my Endler tanks and my Black Bar Endler's developed Ich. I added salt to the tank and treated for it, and with in 3 days I was seeing fewer and fewer Ich spots on the females. I am not sure what I'm going to do about the Daphnia because used tank water is what they require for food.....hmmmmm...maybe every other water change or every 2 water changes...don't add salt?
I recommend using salt unless you have a water softener.
Lori
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Post by josephsteve on Oct 31, 2011 3:50:54 GMT -5
Thanks for the informative post.. great job
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Post by tosoross on Jul 11, 2012 23:09:45 GMT -5
I always use salt for betta fish. I used to test on "not using salt" , I feel my bettas ill easily.
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Post by cashay on Apr 3, 2013 4:19:02 GMT -5
I have a question, If I were to get ( not sure what it is called) it looks like a small tree branch twigs really, I found them on the beach, I thought about rinsing them off and putting them in my tank for decoration. mind you they looked like a piece of dead tree but just a small branch, anyway..... I took it home and put it in fresh water to soak out all the salt cause it was from the ocean and got washed up on shore. But after a day or two it seemed to come alive again. it filled out and got full and soft, looked like a piece of coral but it wasnt cause it was soft. My question is, could I still put that in my tank even if it did come back to life ( so to speak )
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Post by parker002 on Apr 3, 2013 7:24:27 GMT -5
I wouldn't.
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