salt in tank....

[odarwin]

hello guys... ive long been into fish keeping and i have mostly cichlids....

i just started with discus and i have a 50 gal tank.... with 7 discus...
4 pigeon bloods and 3 turquoise all of which are no more than an inch each.....

i would just want to ask if it is ok to put salt in the tank..... and if ever it is ok, how much?

thanks a lot in advanced....

-darwin

[georgef]

Hi, Darwin --

First of all, welcome to the forums! :)

I am by no means an expert, but since nobody else has hopped on this, I'll give it a stab.

It's best to only use salt for your discus as a treatment for illness, certain parasitic infestations, or stress. Here's an excellent link given to me by somebody here at Simply when I asked the very same question a while back:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VM007

Adding salt will also increase the conductivity of the water.

HTH,

George

[odarwin]

thanks a lot george.... the article was very informative...

-darwin

hey Darwin,
Welcome!!! ;D

In addition to what George said, salt can be used when new fish are brought into a tank or any time the fish appear to be stressed out. Start out at 1 tbs. per 10 gallons and then go up to 2 tbs. if they start getting worse. I hope that helps and good luck.
brad

[odarwin]

thanks for all your reply... i placed 5 tablespoons of salt in the tank and i noticed that the fish were swimming more.... but still shy when i would come near the tank.... they are eatingvery well though.... but are really very very shy.

-darwin