Aquarium Salt Mishap

[Elyse]

So I added aquarium salt to my quarantine tank. Followed the directions of one tbsp per 5 gallons. When I left all the fish were okay. Came back a couple hours later and all the fish were at the bottom of the tank breathing hard. Did a 50 percent water change and they seem to be much more active. Tank includes red and neon rainbows. pH was 7, ammonium 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0. Water temp is 80 F. This is my second bad experience with aquarium salt, am I just using it wrong or should I have given it more time to work? I kind of panicked cause the red rainbows were pretty expensive and they looked stressed…

[JE47]

 @Colu any advice

[Colu]

On 9/15/2023 at 4:24 AM, Elyse Douglas said:

So I added aquarium salt to my quarantine tank. Followed the directions of one tbsp per 5 gallons. When I left all the fish were okay. Came back a couple hours later and all the fish were at the bottom of the tank breathing hard. Did a 50 percent water change and they seem to be much more active. Tank includes red and neon rainbows. pH was 7, ammonium 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0. Water temp is 80 F. This is my second bad experience with aquarium salt, am I just using it wrong or should I have given it more time to work? I kind of panicked cause the red rainbows were pretty expensive and they looked stressed…

I have used aquarium salt at that level multiple times with out an issue that shouldn't  causes an issue for rainbow fish when I use aquarium salt I desolve it in a jug of warm water before adding it to the tank and eventually distribute over the surface and always add an extra air stone aquarium salt can only be removed though water changes  is it possible you accidentally over dosed the salt

Edited September 15, 2023 by Colu

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/14/2023 at 8:24 PM, Elyse Douglas said:

Water temp is 80 F.

temp is higher on the spectrum, which means that you have less oxygenation for those fish.  I don't think rainbows need to be that hot and it would help the plants too to be a bit lower, but I will let someone who is more in tune with the rainbow side of things to help us out.  Maybe @mynameisnobody can help us out!

That being said.....

Temp is warmer, so you should have an airstone or added oxygenation.  You're adding salt, which further extends that need for more aeration and oxygenation.  It's a lot harder to move saltwater compared to freshwater, physically.  The fish are giving you signs of low oxygen by going to the surface and breathing rapidly. 

I don't think the salt is to blame here, but it made a variable worse.

Welcome to the forums too @Elyse Douglas!

[mynameisnobody]

@Elyse Douglas @nabokovfan87 personally, I never use aquarium salt. With that said, all my aquariums creep somewhere around 80-81, however they do have a ton of oxygenation. I believe adding an airstone or 2 would help tremendously. Once you add one, you should see an improvement within an hour. 
As a sidebar, did you use a dechlorinator? 

[JChristophersAdventures]

@Elyse Douglas Honestly, I have been looking into this for awhile now, including what salt water aquarium keepers say with regards to managing salt concentration. I had already come to the conclusion that in minute dosages, most freshwater aquariums can benefit from some salt... but, I'm talking about a mere fraction of what the labels typically recommend... maybe 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of marine salt (not aquarium salt) per 5 gallons and this is really more about adding in a few trace elements not normally present in most of our water sources.

Softer water fish (like many tetras, for example) are much more sensitive to salt than hard water fish (like mollies, swordtails and nerite snails), so it also depends on what you are keeping as to the potential benefit or harm of using salt.

It should be noted that the higher the salt content the more potential for salt "stratification" where the concentration becomes different at different levels in the water column. Salt should be very well dissolved and diluted in water before adding... then add very slowly and intermittently, making sure you have really good water movement and agitation. Any sudden changes to water parameters really stress fish anyway, but higher temperatures, oxygenation (which may be different at different levels due to the salt) and general salt sensitivity are all possible reasons for your issue. Thanks.