I always add 1 tbs of aquarium salt with every 5 gallons of water I replace in my tank, is this still safe to do with an apple snail in the tank? Are you supposed to lower the salt added to the aquarium to maybe half a tbs for every 5 gallons replaced?

I am sooo against aquarium salt so, I would say leave the salt out. It won't kill the snails (I have used it before with them in the tank) but it will make their shell's soft. If you decide to still use it (NOOO!! ) then yes, lower the dosage when replacing water. That is the last thing you want to do - overdose the tank with salt.

Are you against aquarium salt in general or just if there are snails in the tank?

I was wondering that as well. Salt has helped my bettas on more than one occasion.

I am against any salt (apart where needed in marine tanks) except epsom salt which aids in dropsy.

Don't add salt to a tank with snails in it as it will kill the snails.

I am not against salt at all - in fact, I am a huge supporter of using the stuff when treating something it will work for, *but* I am not a fan of using salt on a regular basis. I would leave the salt out, and if you ever do want to use it to treat, you may want to take the snails out, depending on the amount you plan on adding.

I am not trying to be a pain , I am just trying to learn. Having said that, may I ask why some of you don't like aquarium salt on a regular basis? Have you had something bad happen? Again, I am just trying to understand.

Salt WILL NOT kill the snails. It may not be good for them, but I have never had a snail die on me because of salt.

I think salt should be for marine aquariums - or whenever you're keeping a 'salt' tank. Not for goldfish. Just my opinion

Salt will kill a snail at the higher "treatment" doseages. I've done it.

Fire & Ice, I am not against using salt as a treatment at all. It's great for treating certain things, and even beneficial to the fish. Goldfish, even though "freshwater" fish, NEED salt in small amounts, and adding salt can be beneficial to a stressed/sick fish. I don't bother adding it to the salt with regular water changes because it's not necessary (tap water contains small amounts of salt), it causes you to raise the salt percentage higher if you ever do want to use it as treatment, the salt will crust up on your tank/hood, and without a salt test kit, you're never sure exactly how much salt is in the tank. I know people who keep their goldies at a continual .15% salt, and they do just great. Keeping salt in there, as long as you can be sure how much is actually in there, is not harmful, but there's no real benefit, either, so why bother doing it on a continual basis?

Just out of curiosity, what do you call a higher treatment dosage?

I've added salt to my tanks with my snails in them, and had no problem. I just put the salt in a net and let it dissolve, rather than just throwing it into the tank. And I make sure my snails are very far away from the salt "point of entry"

The best thing to do when adding salt to a tank is to scoop some water out in a cup and then add the salt to the cup and let it dissolve. Then, add it slowly to the tank. That way the fish do not come into contact with the crystals and you know the salt is fully dissolved.

.6% or anything over. I've killed some snails with .6%, though they didn't all die. Some others were removed after the others were found dead and they were fine.

Regularly salting your tank might make parasites, etc. develop a higher tolerance to salt so that it'll be harder to effectively treat sick fish with salt, so its better to use salt only when you need to.

I don't think parasites can have a resistance to salt as it works via osmosis...it changes their permeability to water, so I don't think resistance in a short term would be possible.

Parasites can adapt that quickly? When I think of resistance I think of gene mutations, natural selection, and evolution over the course of many generations. But then again I'm not a biologist

Salt is used to treat sick fish etc. it should not be added unless something is wrong. Why are you adding salt?

If you keep salt in your tank on a regular basis
and want to remove it. Do I just not put
anymore in and with regular water changes it
will all be removed? I guess I would need a salt
test kit to know when it was all out too. I sure
hope Petsmart sells the tests.