Salt is a go to medication for many goldfish keepers mainly because it is relatively cheap and treats a wide range of health problems in goldfish. There are two different kinds of salt that are used to treat goldfish, and these two salts treat completely different issues. The two salts are aquarium salt (NaCl) and epsom salt (MgSO4). Below I will go into what each salt treats for, how to use the salt in a bath, and how to use the salt in the aquarium water as a whole.
The first salt I’ll go into is aquarium salt or pure NaCl. Even though goldfish are freshwater fish, they do have a degree of tolerance for salt, that most freshwater parasites and pathogens do not, which makes salt a great treatment for goldfish. Aquarium salt can be used in baths or in the tank as a whole depending on what you are trying to treat.
Aquarium salt uses:
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Aquarium salt helps goldfish create their protective slime coat. This helps to protect against disease, heal wounds faster, and so much more. This one effect of the salt is responsible for multiple of the following benefits.
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Aquarium salt can be used as a both a preventive measure and as a treatment against many protozoan, bacterial, fungal and especially parasitic infections in goldfish. For the most part, aquarium salt can only treat infections that are external and on the surface or gills of the goldfish. You can prevent and treat these infections by both dosing it in the water and by occasional short term baths.
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Aquarium salt can be used to reduce stress in goldfish and improve gill function. When goldfish are sick or stressed, it’s harder for them to balance their internal electrolyte concentration. This makes it easier for the fish to maintain the needed concentration of sodium within their cells because the concentration of sodium outside of their cells is higher when salt is added. This would only be effective if used in the water, baths won’t exactly reduce stress for an extended period of time, they may actually increase short term stress.
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Aquarium salt can also help goldfish heal faster after they have been injured. It helps them build up their slime coat which in turn helps their wounds be protected from infection and heal faster. This can again be accomplished by adding salt to the tank water, or by doing short term baths.
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Aquarium salt also can help prevent nitrite poisoning if dosed into the tank before a spike in nitrites. It must be in the tank before any nitrite spikes because it only helps to reduce the absorption of nitrite.
Aquarium salt has a lot of uses and benefits and for multiple reasons listed above, it is highly recommended that you use it when you buy new fish and they are in quarantine. The reduction in stress and prevention or possible treatment of disease makes it a great thing to use when buying a new fish. However, I do advise AGAINST long term use of salt in the aquarium water. I think it's good to use to when buying new fish, good to use if you suspect disease, good to use if you’re filter is under performing, but having a high concentration of salt in the water for the long term can create pathogens that are resistant to the salt and can also have a negative long term impact on the goldfish itself. I would say when using salt in the water, do not use it for longer than a month. HOWEVER, it is okay to do occasional salt baths for your goldfish in the longterm to prevent and treat infections, help them heal from injuries, and to help keep them healthy in general. I will now go into how to perform salt baths and how to dose it into your water.
How to do an aquarium salt bath:
Doing an aquarium salt bath is very simple. You will need to pour one gallon of water from your fish tank into a bucket, make sure you are using tank water! To that one gallon of tank water, add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt and mix it thoroughly until it completely dissolves. After you have it dissolved, simply pick your fish up out of your tank and add them to the bath. Leave the fish in the bath for 10-30 minutes. HOWEVER, you must watch them closely and see how they respond to the bath! Every goldfish is different, some are more tolerant to salt than others. Some goldfish may have to be removed from the bath within a few minutes because it is too harsh for them. Generally the larger the fish, the more tolerant they will be to the salt, however sometimes this is not true. If the fish seems too stressed and appears to swim weirdly, it’s best to remove them from the bath and next time use a lower concentration. If you leave them in the bath for too long and the fish does not respond well to the salt, you could kill your fish! It is vital that you stay close and monitor them during the entire bath. Do NOT give very young goldfish salt baths.
How to dose aquarium salt to the tank water:
All you need to do is get a bucket, add some tank water in the bucket, add 1 tablespoon of salt for every 5 gallons of water you plan to treat, dissolve all that salt in the separate bucket so you create a very concentrated solution of salt, and slowly pour that solution of salt water into your whole tank. In the end you should have a tank with 1 tablespoon of salt for every 5 gallons of water. NOTE: when doing a water change, if you remove only 50% of your water in a 50 gallon tank, that means you should only add enough salt for 25 new gallons of fresh water (5 tablespoons), because the remaining 25 gallons of water in the tank already has salt in it.
Epsom salt is completely different from aquarium salt and also has completely different uses and effects when used on goldfish. While aquarium salt is great at treating external infections and helps with healing wounds, the effects of epsom salt are more physical and for more internal problems. Epsom salt can also be used in baths or in the tank as a whole.
Epsom salt uses:
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Epsom salt treats swim bladder disorder. If your goldfish is having trouble swimming correctly, is swimming upside down, or is stuck on the top or bottom of the tank, it could have swim bladder disorder. This problem could arise from an internal infection, if that’s the case epsom salt will not treat that, you will need antibiotics. However if the problem is more genetic, from overfeeding, or just from occasional bloating and gas, epsom salt will help treat the buoyancy issues from both adding it to the tank and from baths.
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Epsom salt treats constipation, it helps goldfish poop. If you have been feeding too much, or have been only feeding dry food alone, your goldfish might be somewhat backed up. Epsom salt helps to relax the muscles in the goldfish and cause them to poop because they become less tensed. This can also be treated by adding the salt to the tank and by baths. Because it helps goldfish poop, it can also be used when treating internal parasites to help flush them from the gut of the goldfish.
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Epsom salt helps in dropsy treatment. One of epsom salts most helpful uses is that it helps to draw fluids out of the body of the goldfish. Dropsy in goldfish could develop because of a number of different reasons and typically is a fatal disease, but depending on the cause it may be treatable. If the cause is purely organ failure, then there is no viable treatment, but if the cause is an internal bacterial infection, you can treat with antibiotics and use epsom salt to increase the chances of the goldfish surviving by helping to draw the excess fluid out of the fish. You can also add it to the tank directly, do baths, or preferably do both.
Epsom salt does have some great benefits, but note that it does not actually help fight or treat any pathogenic disease, but does help with more physical disorders. I would NOT recommend regularly using epsom salt in the tank water as a whole and only really using it in the tank when you see a majority of fish in the tank are suffering from constipation, buoyancy, or bloating problems. HOWEVER, I would say that occasional epsom salt baths are great to help prevent buoyancy and digestive issues in the long term.
How to do an epsom salt bath:
Doing an epsom salt bath is very simple. You will need to pour one gallon of water from your fish tank into a bucket, make sure you are using tank water! To that one gallon of tank water, add 1 tablespoon of epsom salt and mix it thoroughly until it completely dissolves. After you have it dissolved simply pick up your fish out of your tank and add them to the bath. Leave the fish in the bath for 15-35 minutes. HOWEVER, you must watch them closely and see how they respond to the bath! Every goldfish is different, some are more tolerant to epsom salt than others. Some goldfish may have to be removed from the bath within a few minutes because it is too harsh for them. Generally the larger the fish, the more tolerant they will be to the salt, however sometimes this is not true. If the fish seems too stressed and appears to swim weirdly, it’s best to remove them from the bath and next time use a lower concentration. If you leave them in the bath for too long and the fish does not respond well to the salt, you could kill your fish! It is vital that you stay close and monitor them during the entire bath. I have noticed that epsom salt baths are generally less harsh and stressful than aquarium salt baths, but it’s still very important to closely monitor them. Do NOT give very young goldfish salt baths.
How to dose Epsom salt to the tank water:
All you need to do it get a bucket, add some tank water in the bucket, add 1 teaspoon (NOT tablespoon) of salt for every 5 gallons of water you plan to treat, dissolve all that salt in the separate bucket so you create a very concentrated solution of salt, and slowly pour that solution of salt water into your whole tank. In the end you should have a tank with 1 teaspoon of salt for every 5 gallons of water. NOTE: when doing a water change, if you remove only 50% of your water in a 50 gallon tank, that means you should only add enough epsom salt for 25 new gallons of fresh water (5 teaspoons), because the remaining 25 gallons of water in the tank already has salt in it.
In Summary:
Salts are great and very cost effective in treating goldfish for various issues. Something many folks often confuse is what each salt treats for and when to use them. Just to recap, aquarium salt is great for more external issues, infections, injuries etc, and epsom salt is great for more physical internal issues, it will not actually fight infectious diseases but may help your goldfish poop out internal parasites, draw fluid out of their body due to infections, relieve bloating etc. I always recommend that you do plenty of research before using any product to treat your goldfish. Even after reading this article, I would recommend finding 2 other sources that confirm this information or something similar. Never trust any one source of information, even if that’s me!