How Much Salt can Plecos Take?

[Newman]

Hi,

I have a bloating issue with one of my albino Bristlenose juvies and i separated him into a 20L tank and am trying to treat him. unfortunately i think I overdosed on the salt. i put in roughly 7 teaspoons (not completely full) into about 15 gals of water. is that way too much for plecos? how much salt can they take?

This is not aquarium salt btw, it's Epsom salt which is Magnesium sulfide if that changes anything. i know that normal aquarium salt would be bad for catfish, but idk if epsom salt is any different. it's also salt. it supposedly helps for treatments more than aquarium salt - which is detrimental in higher amounts for catfish.

does anyone have experience?
pleco is also being treated with warm water temps (83F) and Tetra Parasite Guard to help his bloat infection if possible.

 

[FishDad]

When I had my cichlid tank I used to keep the salt at 1 (heaping) tablespoon for every 5 gallons. That was marine salt though. Anyway I kept three regular bristlenose plecos in there that thrived. No issues at all. I also kept 3 synodontis catfish in there too without any problems.

When I first started dosing salt I went light, but after more success with it I ended up keeping it on the heavy side. Maybe adding slow is the key as with most things in this hobby.

 

[Newman]

do you think i overdosed for one BN pleco? it was slightly less than 7 teaspoons for 15 gals. making it 0.46 teaspoons per gallon and 2.3 teaspoons per 5 gallons. if i am not mistaken that's only slightly over a tablespoon per 5 gals like yours?

 

[FishDad]

Maybe it's too much to start with. I don't know if it would cause bloat, I guess it could.

 

[Newman]

wait salt causes bloat now?
i'm using epsom salt which should help.

i added more tap water so now its 20 gallons total.

 

[FishDad]

Sorry, I misunderstood your OP. I thought you meant the OD of salt was causing bloat.

Is the pleco reacting negatively to the salt content?

 

[pjvenner]

I've used ordinary table salt at 1 level tsp per imperial gallon for post-transit stress on common plecs & more recently on zebras and the only effect were positive - The stress fading disappeared almost immediately. But IMPORTANTLY, I did a 40% waterchange immediately, followed by 4x20% changes allowing the temp to return to normal between each change.

Table salt is a grey area but I did a lot of research. as with all thing internetty I found a lot of conflicting advice. I took advice from 'fish pharmaceuticals' with a pinch of salt (no pun intended) because selling their product is more important than fish welfare. I combined the research with commonsense & worked out that the addatives in table salt are <1%, therefore, if you add 1 level tsp of table salt per UK gallon, you are adding around 5-6ppm of addative - as one article mentioned, The salinity would kill your fish long before any addatives.

I've kept fish for about 15 years and I've had more success recently with salt and tea-tree oil than I have with any commercial remedy.

 

[Newman]

ok thanks for the tips guys. i diluted the salt in his quarantine tank last night so its now at 0.36 teaspoons per gallon. he might make it through that. just maybe. this morning he is alive. temp is at 82F after climbing to maybe 85F last night. my heater is too big for the tank lol. i'm trying to keep it stable and warm.

 

[Rotaripsnoc]

Any salt will act as a laxative for freshwater fish, try feeding him a couple of shelled split peas, they also do the same thing.

Fish Bloat, Diagnoses and Treatment

Pleco's don't have scales, personally I would halve the dosage for treatment of salt, and adjust it very slowly, their bodies will absorb the salt faster than their scaled counterparts.

 

[Newman]

the problem is he cannot go to the bathroom - it has gotten that bad peas just blew him up even more. i have them ready for him once he gets better.
I raised these guys on green peas. i guess this male ate too much of the protein rich L260 pleco food i feed my tank at night.

 

[Thyra]

I assume everyone has considered that ordinary table salt could have iodine in it. Of course it would be labeled as such, but if it was no longer in the original container, you would never know.

 

[Newman]

which is why i never use table salt for anything. i am using epsom salts here. sea salt mixes also have iodine in them, i do not see a problem. the problem lies in table salt's sodium chloride composition which doesn't do anything good for sick fish. magnesium sulfates on the other hand should help.
pleco made it past 1 day!