Aquarium Salt for Treating Diseases in Fish Tank | Which Salt is Safe and How to use? 

Aquarium salts are the best option that you can go for remedy and prevention of diseases in your fish tank. There are major treatments for diseases but keep it as the last trump card. You wouldn’t want to go dwindling around with chemicals too much.

Aquarium salts help is a cure and a solution for a myriad of occurrences and keep your fish in tip-top health. From aiding in the healing of wounds, stimulating slime formation enhances gill function, reduces nitrate uptake, lowers osmotic stress, and is even helpful against some external parasites. Aquarium salts help in a multitude of things.  

But before making use of salt, you must do a bit of research on the species of fish that you have. As different species of fish have different levels of salts that they can endure or tolerate. Species like catfish are not able to endure high levels of salt.

Remember if you have planted tanks, you must use salt with caution. For even a small change can bring out dire consequences in an aquarium.

So maintaining the amounts of salts you use in an aquarium is a must. If you use salts in the right amount and do not overdo it, this is a great remedy and a proper replacement for chemicals in fighting diseases. 

What is aquarium salt?  

Aquarium salt is a compound of sodium chloride made solely for use in an aquarium. This NaCl salt brings a multitude of benefits to your fish, freshwater fish, and does not affect the ecosystem.

Although for it to work perfectly, you will have to use it in the correct quantity.  

Substitutes for Aquarium Salt  

There are substitutes for aquarium salt that you can use to treat diseases in an aquarium. These are rock salt and kosher salts. Kosher salts are the cooking salts or table salts. These kinds of salts are manufactured from the sea. While Rock salts, also known as halite, are mined from salt ranges.  

These are the well-known substitutes for aquarium salts. Although using them is not recommended as they have additives.

In kosher salts, there is added iodine, and using it in an aquarium will not be a good idea. As in the case of rock salts, their composition cannot be determined accurately. The NaCl in the rock salts cannot be determined, you will not know how much of the compound you are adding to your aquarium.  

Another one and the best substitute is Epsom salt. Epsom salt is the compound magnesium sulfate. This salt can be used to remedy illnesses of fish like dropsy, constipation, etc. It can be used to increase the hardness of freshwater aquariums as well.  

How do Aquarium Salts work?  

You must be questioning yourself how salt helps with diseases in the aquarium. Well here is the answer for you.

If you have a sick fish, it will be stressed. So when you add aquarium salt, it will help the fish conserve its energy and remove its stress. Then the energy will be utilized in its immune system to fight off the disease.  

It also effectively helps in getting rid of parasites. When you add salt to an aquarium the external parasites will dry up and wither away.  

Which salt is the best for your aquarium?  

This is a question that many of you are messing with. Getting and using the right salts in your aquarium is the one priority that you will have to keep in mind. If you use salts which has additives it will do its work but will have side effects. It will directly harm your fish.  

So for an aquarium, the best salt is the one you get in the aquarium store, the “Aquarium Salt.” It is specifically made for use in an aquarium and does wonder in getting rid of diseases in the aquarium. It will not affect your fish as it has no extra additives like kosher salt.

Although you must remember to use it in the right quantities as nothing is good in excess. The best brand for aquarium salt is Fritz A+ aquarium salt and API Aquarium Salt. 

If you don’t have aquarium salt and it is hard to get your hands on one where you live, then there is a perfect substitute for it. Epsom salt is the best one to use instead of aquarium salt. It does an equal job of treating fishes with diseases.  

How to use and how much to use?  

The usage of correct proportions of the salt is important. If used in excess then your fish will go through negative effects.  

For aquarium salts, you can use 13 grams per gallon. This amount is good for mild diseases and bacterial and fungal infections. But if you see no improvement, then you can increase the amount to 25 grams per gallon. Also, remember to dissolve the salt in water first before adding it to your aquarium.  

You can also make a salt bath with aquarium salt. Add aquarium water to another clean container and add the required amount of salt to it. Followed by adding the fish to the bath and removing them after a while.  

In the case of Epsom salt, take a bath with the proportions of 25 grams per liter. In the bath keep the fish for about 30 minutes daily till they are completely free of their illness.  

How to remove salt from the aquarium?  

Everyone knows that salt doesn’t evaporate with the water, so it is up to you to manually remove the salt from the water. If you haven’t followed the bath method of treating with salt, then you must remove the salt after it has done its work.  

You can remove the salt content by doing water changes. Although don’t do a complete water change as you want some salt content for the disease to not return. First, do a 30 percent water change and don’t add any salt. For about a week or so notice if any of the fish starts having the illness again or not. If the fishes remain healthy then do more than 30 percent water change.  

After the water changes if you happen to notice an ill fish add salt again but increase the concentration by a bit. But don’t forget about water changes to remove the salt content.  

All aquarium owner never wishes for their fishes to befall any kind of sickness. But it is not inevitable and sometimes they fall sick. Instead of running to the vet, you can use aquarium salts as a remedy for the illness. You can get them in any aquarium store or pet store near you. Even if you don’t have aquarium salt you can use Epsom salt as a treatment. But if the situation becomes dire and your fish becomes too sick then you are advised to visit a vet.