Posted by kelly on March 17, 2003 at 08:19:39:
In Reply to: Re: Help with Open Wound! posted by Queen on March 15, 2003 at 15:46:19:
Though you're right about pet store people not knowing everything...
So much salt use is not really that good for bettas. They are, after all "freshwater" fish. Though salt can prevent ick, it's not exactly healthy. It's one thing to give a 15 minute salt bath (at the concentration you normally keep your tanks at), but to keep them in salt all the time?
It may work for you, but it's not somethign I'd recommend- especially as bettas are native to soft, acidic waters with LOW dissolved solids. I know of several big breeders that use salt as well, but I still don't necessarily think it's the best thing for them. Pilfered from another board:
""Is it necessary?"
Depends on your situation. For your typical hobbyist, with some random problem that can be solved by salt then you'd be using it temporarily. This is anywhere from two days to a week. Some people like to use it as a disease/illness preventative (i.e. maintain a low, but neglgible salt concentration in a fish's water all the time) however, ***you're likely do more to prevent illnesses by keeping up on your maintenence and avoiding overfeeding your tank than you would do just by keeping salt in the water on a long term basis***"
liv2padl, on the main freshwater board has some thoughts on this as well
