Salt in a planted tank

[GaspingGurami]

Anyone who use salt in their freshwater tanks for longer periods (1 month) encounter problems?

I talking 1 tbsp to 5 gal type of dilution for rocksalt. I understand it kills the scaleless fishes like Khuli Loaches as well as plants.

I'm thinking of salting my tank to sterilise it with fish and plants living in it still. How viable is it for my plants?

[steve]

hi,

if my memory don't fail me, i read somewhere in AQ that salt (Not large quantity) is harmless to plants. Currently, whenever my fish shows discomfort (rubbing the bodies), I would add in some salt. I did not deliberately control the quantity, so don't ask me how much i dose.

steve

[prec]

small amt of aquarium salt shld do no harm to the plants.

[trenac]

I have been using pickling salt (1 tablespoon per 5 gallons) for about a month now to treat ich in my planted tank; no harm to plants or loaches.

[Jas]

just est yourself not to put in too much. Though every WC i put in Sera Aqutan 5-in-1, I still pour in a certain amount of salt. Shld be no harm to plants.

[hirowen]

Ya not too much will not harm the plant

[GaspingGurami]

Thanks for all your responses. I have thrown in the salt yesterday night. Since I read that some of you use salt continuously, I have another question. Do you also add some salt to the water you use for top up?

By theory, I think it need not be necessary as water evaporation will leave the salt behind. Topping up with tap water actually re-dilutes the salt in the tank and brings it back to the correct concentration.

However, I noticed that in the case of buffering, my kH drops after some days of topping up with tapwater. Baking soda might have different properties to salt, but I just wanted to be sure — I want to clear whatever parasites etc effectively from the tank and not want to risk having a half finished job when I introduce replacement livestock.

So I don't want to keep an over diluted salt solution that is not effective in what it is meant to do.

[elmike]

[quote:3fcfd6fca4="GaspingGurami"]Anyone who use salt in their freshwater tanks for longer periods (1 month) encounter problems?[/quote:3fcfd6fca4]

Salt concentration greater than 2 g per 10 litres of water can damage aquarium plts.

My own experience has been in agreement w this guideline taken from a comprehensive reference book on fish disease treatment. Even anubias nana, the so-called iron plant, will succumb with prolonged exposure to salty water. IN my experience, the leaves turned yellow after 2 wks. There was also some extent of stem rot. There seem to be a general weakening and the plt never recovered fully.

[PeterGwee]

GaspingGurami, unless you are really having fish issues, it is not necessary to add salt to the water column. Fishes fall sick due to weaken immunity from either stress, poor water quality and etc. Prevention is always better than cure...Take care of your plants and they will take care of your critters. Healthy plants equals to healthy fishes. Adding salt will only complicate things and high sodium content is detrimental to plants.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[juggler]

I think the same too. I don't put salt in my tanks unless there is a disease outbreak like white spots.

I am also not sure if Salt (NaCl) may upset the nutrient balance as discussed here.

[Plantbrain]

Since your goal is one of sterilization, just use H2O2, peroxide(3%), then it kills everything, and reduces to harmless by products, O2 and water.

It'll kill bacteria, spores etc

Salt you will need to remove at some point or will through water changes etc.

Regfards,
Tom Barr

[hoonming]

[quote:f09dca031e="Plantbrain"]Since your goal is one of sterilization, just use H2O2, peroxide(3%), then it kills everything, and reduces to harmless by products, O2 and water.

It'll kill bacteria, spores etc

Salt you will need to remove at some point or will through water changes etc.

Regfards,
Tom Barr[/quote:f09dca031e]

Hi Plantbrain,

Are the above one or two medicine?

Where can I buy them?

Many thanks!

[Plantbrain]

Most every drug store and grocery store sell hydrogen peroxide(3%) for about 59 cent a pint here in the USA. H2O2 is peroxide.
It's used for disinfecting cuts, whitening teeth, bleaching hair lighter color etc.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[robin]

Guardian pharm has h2o2 SGD$3.15 per bottle.

Robin