salt in the discus aquarium

[aquababy]

What are your thoughts on salt in the discus aquarium? short term? Long term?

[RedTurquoise]

I use it for short term stress relieve. It eases the digestive system and so forth. Long term? No depending the term long! 1-2 weeks? short term! A month? long term!

[wayne at home]

Don't like it, short or long term. Why bother with RO etc., if you're just going to dissolve in a bunch of sodium chloride?

[RedTurquoise]

RO? We didnt mention anything about RO!

Regular salt, pickling salt (sodium chloride), helps discus gill function and will reduce fungus and bacteria at high enough concentrations. A typical dose is 1 or 2 tablespoons per ten gallon of tank water disolved in a cup and poured in tank. This treatment usually lasts a week or so. Usually used when new discus are introduced to a tank.

Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) on the other hand, is a laxitive. It will help constipated, bloated fish pass feces (poop). You use 1 or 2 teaspoons for each 10 gallons of tank water. Disolve the epsom salt in a cup of water and pour into tank. It should work in 2 to 4 hours. You can redose after 4 hours, but if it hasn't worked in 24 hours, it probably won't work at all.

[YZFR1rider]

I put some salt in my tank everytime I change the water and my discus are doing excellent.

Matt