So I found a section in my Yates Garden Guide book about Aquatic plants and some fish diseases/problems. Their recommendation for all of them is to put the fish into a salt treatment (Tbsp per 5L) for two hours. Is that like OLD or what? Or is this something still done?

Hi, sometimes the old remedies are the best. Salt baths are still used to treat some diseases and a little salt in the tank is often used as a preventative.

I have used salt baths and added salt to my tanks on many many occasions.

I have used it to successfully treat wounds, fin rot, white spot etc etc

I hardly ever use chemical or pharmaceutical preparations.

It's my first go-to treatment for anything. A concentrated mixture like the one in your book is a good way to treat really obvious symptoms of fin rot as well as a few other ailments.

i like salt :sage:

i like salt :sage:

:lol:

Salt is the only additive I ever use in my tanks for treating any fish.

It is fairly safe to use and in my opinion it does more good than bad. And its cheap.

is table salt ok to use? or does the 'anti cakeing' agents make it unsafe?

Do NOT use table salt. At the aquarium store what you want will be labeled "Tonic Salt" or sometimes simply "Sea Salt". But yes, table salt with anti-caking agents will not help your fish.

you can get sea salt from the supermarket in rock form that doesn't have anti-caking agents in it. Ingredients: sea salt. that's it.

Do NOT use table salt. At the aquarium store what you want will be labeled "Tonic Salt" or sometimes simply "Sea Salt". But yes, table salt with anti-caking agents will not help your fish.

There is a good article online somewhere that de-bunks the "don't use table salt" mantra.

Pams iodised table salt is what I use to treat my natives, and some of them tend to be very chemical intolerant.

Got a link to that article? How do they demonstrate that the iodised salt would be okay?

I read that article too, was very good. I use table salt also and havent had any problems

Yeah i have read the article too, some even suggest that iodine is good for fish.. So can be very hard to figure out..

Iodine is good for fish and some products like JBL aquatrop J contain iodine.

It's the anti caking agent in table salt that is the concern but I think that in the quantities used in fish tanks it isn't really an issue

Iodine is good for fish and some products like JBL aquatrop J contain iodine.

It's the anti caking agent in table salt that is the concern but I think that in the quantities used in fish tanks it is really an issue

really an issue or rarely an issue? :slfg:

The most common anticaking agent, and the one in this salt...

If that's going to hurt your fish then you better hurry up and take them out of your fish tank and get rid of any of that toxic substrate in your tank.

It's silicon dioxide, aka silica, aka sand, aka glass, aka about the most non toxic material on the planet.

I can never tell if you're being sarcastic or not Ira :oops:

Silica is often used as a natural remedy/treatment. It promotes the expulsion of foreign bodies etc. from under the skin as well as other objects from where they're not supposed to be. It's not a bad thing if that is the anti-caking agent used.

Oh sweet That's the stuff I've been using. I was suprised how quickly whitespot cleared up after using it. I usually use whitespot cure but it had nowhere near as quick results!

Well - turns out i was very wrong!

It also causes silicosis but since fish don't have lungs it wont be a problem for them. Table salt also contains iodide but in such low concentrations as to be harmless. You can pay more for rock salt if you want but hardly worth the extra coin.

Good to know all this thanks