Habitat - Indoor :: Salt in Aquarium Water

[MEL]

Has anybody ever put salt in their turtle's aquarium? I've read that it's ok to put approx. 2 Tbs of table salt in the tank to keep fungal infections at bay. Any thoughts? Thank you.

[Daniel3507]

ive heard of that with betas but not with turtles

[megcornell]

My take is that salt is good for some tropical fish like guppies, but I don't think turtles benefit from it.
So long as you dechlorinate the water and have the proper filtration you should be fine.

[meltedspork]

Salt is used for fish, I don't think it would be good for turtles. It works with fish because they have a slim coat and it helps increase their slime coat to protect them against illness and reduce their stress.

[MEL]

The following paragraph is some info I got off a website called austinsturtlepage.com:

"A little something to aid in your struggle with water quality, is adding some fresh water aquarium salt to your tank. This also helps fight fungus and is over all beneficial to your turtles. Just don't over do it."

So, I know it's ok to add the salt, I was just wondering if anybody had done it and if it was successful.

[steve]

As long as it's fresh water aquarium salt (not table salt!) and used as directed, it's fine. Remember that it will not evaporate, so only replace it after a water change. To be honest, I have not noticed any difference in the water when I used it. My turtle has a reoccurring shell fungus problem, so I plan on trying it again later.

[MEL]

OK - Thank you, Steve. I appreciate the help.

[Bumby's Mom]

Crud. I figured it evaporated so everytime I add more water to my fish tank I add more salt!!! I guess I will stop doing that if I haven't just killed my fish.