Salt adding routine?

[chua]

Hi all,

Recently, i had posted regarding how i win the fight against white spot diease.

I am just wondering if it is ok for me to add aquarium salt into my tank in a much lesser amount as a weekly routine? By doing so, it may reduce the chance of another outbreak.

Thks.

[budak]

Congratulations on your success with tackling ich with salt. Once the fish are ok, though, I don't see any reason to add salt regularly, as this messes up the tank's salinity. Ich will occur (whether or not you add salt) when new infected plants/fish are introduced, so getting healthy livestock from LFS tanks without signs of disease is more crucial for prevention.

[akoh]

Good to " Q " newly purchased fishes before you put them in your main tank ! " prevention is better than cure " ! cheer !

akoh

[plantmania]

Huh? why u keep adding salt to the tank ? As well as you reach the correct concentration you can stop, adding more will make it "saltier" or in scienticfic terms increases it's salinity...

It's up to you to give a constant tonic to the fishes as salty water( not too much) helps fish to function better as it improves gills function and controls (fish secretes) slime production. Usually it's 1 tablespoon per 5 gallon. ONLY top up salt for the amount of water you had changed :

E.g :

100 gallon tank ---- 20 tablespoons added (first time )
1st week changed 50% water (50 gallon) --- add back 10 tablespoons to maintain same concentration of salt.
2nd week changed 10% water only (10 gallon) --- add back only 2 tablespoons to keep the salt constant.

So on and so for....



Take note that salt does not cure Ich.....It helps in its treatment. Use proper medication to ensure ich and its offspring is removed. Adding salt helps as it acts a tonic , calming the fishes and makes Ich tomites die faster. Usually you double the dosage for salt (E.g 2 tablespoon per 5 gallon) during treatment and returns/reduce after successful treatment...