# Salt in a planted tank?



## phoenix2013 (Aug 11, 2013)

I just started a female sorority about a week ago in my soil based live planted tank. I noticed that one of the girls has gotten beaten up sorta bad so I went to my local pet store to find out what I should do. I didn't tell her about the plants even though I should have and she said to put 1 tbs of salt for every 10 gallons of water, turn up the temperature to 80, and continue the metafix that I had already started.

With more research when I got home I found out that the salt is probably bad for my plants. What other things could I do? Is the metafix and higher temp enough? Can I add some salt but not that much? 

I currently have some ghost shrimp, oto, snail, and endlers guppies in the tank with my girls.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Never use any sort of salt in a planted tank, Epsom Salt is okay in small dosages but if you need to treat a fish, take her out. You don't need to fully take her out since that will ruin their hierarchy but instead get a 1 gallon critter keeper or something and float her in that while you treat her so she can still see the other fish while being treated. Also salt will kill the shrimp and snail so that's also not good.

Melafix isn't the greatest "medication" to be using, I would discontinue that and honestly chuck it out. It's a nice herbal med but it really doesn't do much for the fish and can occasionally hurt their labyrinth organ if already compromised by a sickness. It sounds like she's just got some fin nips and maybe some lose scales? She will heal up just fine in the regular tank as long as you keep it clean. What size tank is this? You've got a lot of stuff in that tank!


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## phoenix2013 (Aug 11, 2013)

Its a 10 gallon I am realizing that it may be over stocked and I will probably need to move some friends around to make everything work.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah, just a little bit 

How many girls do you have? I think the tank would be fine with the fish except for the Endler's, they could be moved out and I think then you would have a happy tank system depending on how many girls you have. Since it is an NPT and I assume your plants are growing well, it will be able to handle the bioload for all of them for the most part, just keep an eye on your water parameters is all.

But the girl should be fine as long as there aren't any mortal wounds to her that you can see. If it's just scale missings and ripped fins she will be just fine. If you want to show pictures of her that would be helpful as well.


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## phoenix2013 (Aug 11, 2013)

I have 5 girls right now and they seem to be great with the guppies who were already (it was a male betta community but my buddy passed so I decided some girls were safer then a new male) in the tank when they moved in. They even seem to swim around together and I never see them chasing each other.

The plants are pretty well grown in but I still have a filter running since I am a crazy person and don't trust things to run on their own. I also am away every weekend for 2 nights so the filter gives me a little piece of mind that I wont come home to everyone passed.

They don't look too mortal but she is a little lethargic I was thinking about putting her in a breeder net till she heals since she is the only one getting picked on but they told me that it may just let her heal then go back into aggression again. 

Im thinking I will leave the heat turned up to 80 I out in a small pinch of salt before posting this so I may do a small water change but it wasn't much so I'm not sure. I just did a water change so I don't wanna stress them too much at once. 

If normal salt is bad for the shrimp and snail is aquarium salt bad too or just normal salt? Do you think I need to do a water change for the little bit of salt that fell in? Do you disagree and think I should pull her out?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Okay! Your stocking sounds fine then  Are your guppies true Endler's or hybrids? I ask because it seems that Endler's are not as messy of fish as regular Guppies are probably mostly due to their size as Endler's are much smaller and so then tend to have less waste. Could be wrong about that though since I was just informed.

As for your girl, she should be fine if you put her in a breeder net, I've done that loads of times when someone was hurt. The trick is to never actually pull them out for an extended time unless you plan to take them all out or something but to let them always see each other; if you do that you won't have any issues. If it is possible to use a clear breeder box, this would be more ideal since they could see each other easier but the breeder net should also be okay for them all.

As for the salt, Aquarium Salt is pure Sodium Chloride which isn't the same salt as your regular table salt or sea salt. It is, however, the same as Kosher salt or Iodine salt. All of these are bad for the plants though and should not be used with any planted tank. It can be used in a dip solution to rid plants of snails and other unwanted pests when you first get them but leaving the salt in there will cause the plants to die. It does depend on how much salt you've got in there of course for how long it will really take effect but since you only put a pinch it should be _okay_ but I would do a water change as soon as you can to just pull out most of it. It shouldn't stress them too much unless you're really knocking around the tank, otherwise they should be just fine.


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## phoenix2013 (Aug 11, 2013)

I am working to get some pictures so I can show you. Maybe you can tell me if I should separate or leave her.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah, pics will certainly help


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## phoenix2013 (Aug 11, 2013)

I think they are hybrids since I got them from Petsmart and they do not look like the pictures that I have found online. They are still quite small and don't seem very messy at all. The one girl doesn't wanna cooperate but here are the best pictures I have gotten. She wont let me get a good shot on her bad side.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Okay, yeah she doesn't look terribly bad. I would leave her in but just keep an eye on them all in case they decide to pick on her some more and then if she gets worse, I would separate her with the breeding net then to give her a rest and let her heal up a little bit


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## phoenix2013 (Aug 11, 2013)

Cool thank you so much for all of your help!


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