Habitat - Indoor :: Aquarium salt?

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

I see some people using aquarium salt in their turtles tank. They put them in those little containers you see in aquariums at pet stores. I was wondering what does that do for the water and turtle?

[kachua-love]

Salt is awesome! It prevents the turtle (and fish) from getting bacterial diseases and fungus. It also helps to control algae =D! I don't know what containers you're talking about though...

[VeipaCray]

Salt is awesome! It prevents the turtle (and fish) from getting bacterial diseases and fungus. It also helps to control algae =D! I don't know what containers you're talking about though...

This is incorrect. You should not be adding aquarium salt to tap water. Salt will obviously raise the salinity of the water, increase the hardness of the water and potentially raise the PH of your water. All three things we don't want to do.

Aquarium salt will contain phosphates, the major food source for algae and actually promote algae growth.

When should you use aquarium salt? When you have an animal that naturally lives in brackish water or when you need to increase the hardness of your water to stabilize PH. For example, if you filled your tank with RO or distilled water, it's very soft. Very soft water generally speaking will not hold a stable PH. Adding a product like RO right or remineraliz is a phosphate free salt+mineral buffer to bring RO water back to a hardness similar to naturally occurring fresh water.

Using aquarium salt is also common practice with keeping some species of African cichlids that live in a higher PH freshwater
lake.

With some species of fish, certain diseases and infections can be treated with hypo salinity. This is a more common practice in salt water fish keeping and hypo salinity should not be the normal living conditions of your turtle.

Proper water conditions will help promote a healthy turtle.

[kachua-love]

OK, I don't know if there's a difference between aquarium salt and rock salt. I use the latter... I have soft water where I live, I put a spoon for every 5-10 gallons of water, that is not a big amount at all. It was recommended by a lot of people to me and it helps keep my fish healthy and doesn't bother the turtle. It may not be right for everyone but it works for me .

[VeipaCray]

An interesting read on aquarium salt....
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article22.html

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

So no salt then! I don't want my water becoming any harder then it already is. Thanks!

[Amaryllis]

For the past few years I have added a pinch of salt every other time I change the water in my 40 gallon tank. Recently I got a pen that reads the PH, salt content (EC) and overall PPM because her shell hasn't been pretty and I got concerned. Now, the shell business could be due to the PH being too low (fixing that) or any number of things I may not even be aware of. But my interest here on this thread is on point. Salt. Does anyone know if there is an accepted range of salt content for a RES? My pen reads an electro conductivity reading of about 2000. I started thinking about the nature of salt and water and how the only way to get salt out is to take out existing water. I don't think the filter will do it and I know evaporation doesn't do it. So all the salt I've added is theoretically still in there, other than what was manually taken out during changes. So then I thought, there must be an accepted range to get it to and then keep it at. They're fresh water animals so 2000 EC seems too high to me. I should have thought all that through before going along with the salt myth but I didn't, she's fine and the fish are fine. Anyone know of an accepted range for salt content?

[steve]

RES generally do not like brackish water (salinity 0.05–3%), but I don't know what the EC would be for that @ 75F. You're right, salt should only be added after some is taken out. Over the years, I haven't seen much evidence of added salt having any benefit.

[Amaryllis]

Thanks! Wish I had more info on conversion from EC to percentage, PPM, TDS, etc.. but for now, I'll go with my gut that says an EC of 2000 is too high. I did find an official looking site indicating EC of 2000 is approaching not good but not bad yet. How do you measure salinity percentage? How do other people measure salt content in their tanks? For now I will continue to take out 10 to 20% of the water weekly and replace it with fresh water until the EC reads under 1000. That, I am 80% sure, will be sufficient.

[steve]

People normally go with what's on the instructions. I do not measure salinity, I just do regular partial or complete water changes. I'll occasionally check municipal water readings. What does fresh water read at?

[Kansasslider]

I do not test my water for salt nor do I add salt. There is no reason to add salt to your tank. Only if you need to treat sick fish or need brackish water.