Salt in the water

[stonefox]

Is it an good idea to put salt in the water to my Killies ?

If yes :

With or without iodine ?

and how must salt pr. litre water ?

[whuntley]

Is it an good idea to put salt in the water to my Killies ?

If yes :

With or without iodine ?

and how must salt pr. litre water ?

The answer is yes and no.

It depends on what is already in your water, and what kind of fish you keep.

Iodine, like chlorine is a deadly poison. I suspect you meant iodide, which is added to table salt to prevent thyroid disease. Fish need it as much as we do, if your local water has low iodides, naturally. It is no more toxic than the chloride in sodium chloride, just a thyroid-specific nutrient.

The aquarium myth about not using iodized salt was because of silicates, not the iodides. Fancier brands of salt use silica gel, a close relative to finely powdered broken glass, to make them resist caking and clogging in humid conditions. The stuff does serious gill damage, and should be avoided.

A safer additive is found here in the generic or store brands of cheaper salt, sodium ferrocyanide. Because of widespread chemical illiteracy, here in the US, that name would scare customers, so they use the medieval name "Yellow Prussiate of Soda" on the package. It is soluble, so doesn't irritate gills and is quite non-toxic.

Rain forest fishes, like most Aphyosemions don't need much. I usually add none. I stay well below 1 tsp per gallon (4 liters) for them, only going higher to lower osmotic pressure when treating a disease. Some Aphyos are estuarine, like australe do benefit from a little added salt, in my experience.

Savannah fishes, like Fp. and Nothobranchius can tolerate 1 tsp/G easily and even more in some cases. Many Lampeyes need quite a bit more to be really happy. Pantanodon sthulmanni and Kryptolebias marmoratus like it to be about 50% sea-water strength, making it tough to grow plants with them.

CAUTION! Never add sodium chloride to RO or distilled water, or even very soft tap water. It is quite toxic if it has no other electrolytes to balance it, particularly potassium. It can kill your fish, inverts, and plants very easily. A little Seachem "Equilibrium" o/e can provide those electrolytes and should always accompany salt added to really soft water. Another choice is to use the salt mixes made for reef and salt water tanks. They have a good mix of various electrolytes already in them.

For those in SG, I guess I can skip the bloviation on the various kinds of salts used for melting ice on sidewalks and roads.

Wright

[TyroneGenade]

Hi Wright,

I really took your advice on this matter of salt and electrolytes to heart. Alas we don't get Seachem's Equilibrium here in south Africa but from previous experience plain salt was a recipe for disaster. The Java moss and other plants would simply die if I added salt to my sfot water that I kept my Notho in. I now use a marine salt mix "Dolphin Marine Salt" and my Java moss and hornwort thrives! The little bit of Calcium and Magnessium in the marine salt mix seems to make a tremendous difference.

I was having chronic velvet problems and had to return to salt. Your advice really helped me out a great deal. Thanks! My Nothos (and Java moss) owe you their lives.