# Salt in NPT?!



## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

I finally corrected my substrate, planted the plants, put the sand substrate in place in my new 29 gallon tank... it took me hours. My back is a wreck.
I transferred some gravel/plants/decor from my established tanks. I added Betta-specific water treatment; a bit of dried fish food, Stress-Zyme, Biozyme, and 3 tablets of Ph 7 tablets. BUT....thinking I was doing the right thing, I also added 3 teaspoons of aquarium salt.
Then I re-read some of my NPT material- apparently salt will kill my plants?! Do I have to start all over again???


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

You don't want to put ph adjusters in anything you use with fish because they're temporary and will only cause lots of swings which are really hard on fish. Your betta can adjust to almost any ph between 6.5-8.6 or so. What is the natural ph of your water?

You don't need both stresszyme and biozyme..It's intention is the same, which is to supply live bb to jump start your cycle. I'm not sure either will really help though. The only kind I've found to really work have been Dr. Tim's One and Only, but other people may tell you different. What water conditioner do you use? You need something that removes chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals..

You also don't want to use salt with freshwater fish, unless you're treating them for a specific disease, and then you only want to do it for 2 weeks or less.

Yes, salt kills plants.. you don't want to use it with plants at all..


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

Yeah no salt in an NPT, if you need to treat fish for illness always move the fish to 1 gal hospital tanks so you won't get any medication residue hanging out in the tank. It's the easiest way to keep the NPT water healthy.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

Groan- so I have to change all the water again??? There are no fish in there yet. At this rate, there never will be...:0(


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

I'm sorry, yeah I'd start over.. Don't use the ph adjusters, choose one source of bb, don't use salt, and make sure you have an actual water conditioner in there.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

P. S. I tossed all this stuff in w/o fish; I just powered up the filter & am letting it cycle, fishless. My tap water (even treated) tends to be hard; that's why I added the Ph tabs. So they're useless? Why do they sell them?


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

They sell them because it's something else to make money off of? IDK. What's the ph of your tap water?

To cycle fishless you'll need a drops kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and a source of ammonia. Fish food works, but personally I really like use bottles of pure ammonia from Ace Hardware and it's a lot less messy and way easier to control/more accurate dosing.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

What's an "actual" water conditioner?


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

Something that says it removes chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals.. I didn't see anything in your list that would do that.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

What does?


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

There's lot of conditioners out there. Personally, I like Prime:http://www.petco.com/product/7929/

Are you not using conditioner with your bettas currently? You need to always use conditioner..


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

Yes! I use Aqueon BettaBowl Plus. It says it removes chlorine and heavy metals.


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

Oh okay yeah that works.  Just know you'll have to use A LOT to treat a 29 gallon, so you may want to try something else for cost reasons. 

Directions say use 1 tsp per gallon, so for 29 gallons you'll need 29 tsp or 9 tablespoons + 2 tsp. That's more than the entire 118ml container


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

Yes; I had to buy more. I'll try Prime.


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

Prime is 2 drops per gallon. Quite cost effective and very good. Good luck with your tank! What lucky fishes to live in that


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

So, should I remove the real plants and forget about having them? Is there any other way to lower the salinity w/o a total water change?? Again, no fish are in there.


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

You need to remove all the water anyway unless you don't plan on putting fish in.. No way to remove salt without removing the water. Sorry.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

callistra said:


> You need to remove all the water anyway unless you don't plan on putting fish in.. No way to remove salt without removing the water. Sorry.


Are you saying the fish will remove the salt???


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

No. I'm saying your fish should not be put in salt. The only way to get the salt out of the tank is to remove the water.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Just make some water changes...make some 50% back to back. And with just plants, you don't need to add the dechlorinator until you do the finial refill. Just don't forget to add it.....

When you setup a soil based heavy planted tank-the soil and plants have all the beneficial bacteria for the nitrogen cycle-No need to add anything other than a dechlorinator that covers chlorine and chloramines if you are on city water-the plants will use any heavy metals. With plants-especially soil based planted tanks you do the silent cycle-it won't hurt to add a bit of extra fish food for the plants since that is one of the better plant foods for soil based systems anyway.

What is your pH and KH/GH....most of the plants that do well or recommended for NPT's like hard water.
Some plants are salt tolerant-but its still not recommend to add sodium chloride-you can add magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) its also a good plant fert-But right now, I wouldn't add any chemicals other than the dechlorinator.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

OK I just "manned up" and sucked on the tubing, getting 95% of the water out... do you think that's good enough?
I hope to get the water back in the same way: a clean bucket in my tub w/water running into it + sucking on it (there's no fish poop on it yet, so I'm less grossed out.

What is a "Silent Cycle"?


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

P. S. It's New Year's Eve and I'm fussing with fish...well, better than drunk people!


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

The silent cycle is the type of cycle you will do with heavy planted and soil based systems. The plant themselves have bacteria-anything organic for that matter-either contain or create bacteria to either start the process or to feed the bacteria. You don't need or want to cycle the traditional way with heavy planted tanks-especially soil based planted tanks-you can stall the cycling process and/or cause chemical reactions that are not healthy for the tank/plants.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

:cheers:

SIP, Brooke


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