i have begun keeping freshwater tropicals again after many years gone by. about a year ago now. things are a whole lot different than they were when i used to do it.
i have cycled my tanks properly, done religious water changes, kept all the right checks and balances and yet i seem to have fish dying on a regular basis. i had my water tested and it is about as beneficial as you can get it for freshwater tropicals.
i also use aquarium salt. the aquarist store told me i was doing it right and that it as beneficial for them.
this i believe is the problem, i have tried everything else to rectify any problems like disease/parasites etc. my salt levels are minimal and i used it carefully. one tblsp. per 5 gal. and only added more when i did a water change so as not to end up with a high concentration from evaporation.
as of 2 days ago with my last water change at about 30% (65 gal tank) i quit using it. i will continue to dilute the amount of salt with the water changes. the salt is the only thing i can come up with that is causing the periodic deaths. fish healthy to dead overnight is rather disappointing to say the least.
i was wondering if anyone else has had issues with aquarium salt in their tanks and what the results were when they discontinued its use.
i have mollies, show guppies, swordtails, platies and *long-finned red minor tetras. *they help keep the number of fry to a minimum so there is no over crowding. sort of an aquatic wolf-pack to keep things in check.
also have a 55 gallon with 4 orandas, they are fine, no trouble at all. a 5 gallon with one betta and one dwarf frog living happily together, and finally a 10 gallon separated with two bettas. all doing very well.
could it be the salt? i am getting so frustrated...
i have cycled my tanks properly, done religious water changes, kept all the right checks and balances and yet i seem to have fish dying on a regular basis. i had my water tested and it is about as beneficial as you can get it for freshwater tropicals.
i also use aquarium salt. the aquarist store told me i was doing it right and that it as beneficial for them.
this i believe is the problem, i have tried everything else to rectify any problems like disease/parasites etc. my salt levels are minimal and i used it carefully. one tblsp. per 5 gal. and only added more when i did a water change so as not to end up with a high concentration from evaporation.
as of 2 days ago with my last water change at about 30% (65 gal tank) i quit using it. i will continue to dilute the amount of salt with the water changes. the salt is the only thing i can come up with that is causing the periodic deaths. fish healthy to dead overnight is rather disappointing to say the least.
i was wondering if anyone else has had issues with aquarium salt in their tanks and what the results were when they discontinued its use.
i have mollies, show guppies, swordtails, platies and *long-finned red minor tetras. *they help keep the number of fry to a minimum so there is no over crowding. sort of an aquatic wolf-pack to keep things in check.
also have a 55 gallon with 4 orandas, they are fine, no trouble at all. a 5 gallon with one betta and one dwarf frog living happily together, and finally a 10 gallon separated with two bettas. all doing very well.
could it be the salt? i am getting so frustrated...