NANFA-- Aquarium Salt

Thomas L. McLean (tmac2_at_opusnet.com)
Thu, 10 Jul 2003 07:48:54 -0700

Joshua and Lee:

I don't have any scientific back ground for my habit of using salt in the
aquarium water. I think that I picked it up in from a college chemistry
Professor that introduced my to fish keeping.

Yes, I believe that you have to be careful how it is done. The water in
this part of Oregon is soft and has a low to medium dissolved solid content.
Also, I do weekly 20 % water changes. I am keeping some Killifish now. but
have found that I don't have a lot of problems with velvet, fungus, or ick
when I use salt. In general, the whole tank seems to be healthier. I do
have a lot of medium light plants, like java moss, Java fern, hornwort, and
Vallisneria. Without the salt, I managed to louse two bettas, and five
small tetras. I made a couple of other mistakes about the same time so the
whole picture is a little fuzzy. I don't use a heater and in the cold
months the temp. gets down to 65 F. I have raised a set of five killifish
from juveniles to adult in super health after I changed to a larger (15 gal)
and water practice. I will post some pictures when I figure that out.

Tom McLean
Near Portland, OR
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org