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The best aquarium salts for your creating an environment for your marine fish

For seawater tanks, the importance of aquarium salt is obvious, but in the case of freshwater, adding salt can help kill parasites and help treat other health conditions like nitrite poisoning. A quick dip in salty tank water and you can remove larvae and parasites from your fish scales easily. Keep your pets healthy and free of disease with our carefully selected suggestions.

If you are wondering what aquarium sea salt is, you have sailed to the right shore. This is special salt that has the right alkaline levels for water tanks. We have researched and chose the best brands shown to be above the rest. The quality of your water additives can make a big difference in the overall health of your habitat.

API Aquarium Salt

Best for Fish Health

The API Aquarium Salt is the premium solution for freshwater tanks. It adds necessary electrolytes and promotes quicker disease recovery. It helps improve gill function making it easier for your fish to breath. It also helps maintain cleaner and clearer water for longer. Perfect as a water additive with every new aquarium or water change.

Instant Ocean Sea Salt for Marine Aquariums

Best for Marine Aquariums

For owners of marine aquariums, the Instant Ocean Sea Salt offers a nitrate- and phosphate-free solution including every major, minor, and trace element your delicate marine fish and invertebrate animals need. It creates the ideal pH in water and promotes wellbeing for the whole habitat. This has been the industry standard for over 40 years thanks to its superior quality.

Red Sea Aquarium Salts

Best for Reef Aquariums

Reef aquariums require special care and the Red Sea Aquarium Salts are the best way to ensure optimal water conditions for your habitat. Encouraging accelerated and healthy growth, you will see all your coral thrive. It is formulated with the perfect balance to provide all the nutrients your coral likes to absorb to continue growing and developing.

Maintaining the best water quality is the most important aspect of being a responsible fish owner. We hope to make it easier by creating this list with the best aquarium salt you can find. Provide nutrients, disease control, and a better overall habitat with these curated selections.

PawTracks Contributor
PawTracks Contributor
Wondering what to feed a baby bird? Here’s how to take care of an orphaned bird
We'll walk you through the baby bird feeding process step by step
Baby bird standing up

Feeding a baby bird is nothing like feeding a baby human. Since birds aren't mammals, they don't drink or produce milk (and you should never give that to an adult or baby avian). Instead, mama birds chew their food into tiny pieces and spit it into squalling infant mouths. That can make it harder to figure out what to feed a baby bird if you find one in your care.

Because baby birds are dependent on their parents not only for food but also for instructions on how to be a bird, it's best for the little one to stay with its parents. So, if you find a baby bird on the ground, try to bring it back to the nest rather than looking after it yourself. If you cannot return the bird to its nest, contact a rehabilitation center that can take care of it.

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Bettas can't live with one another so you should look to other species for friendship
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Betta fish are known for being territorial, feisty, rather combative, and therefore not great tank mates in general. This reputation, however, only holds true in particular situations and with certain fish friends. Male betta fish are aggressive, but only with other male bettas, so it is important to never put two males in the same tank. It will lead to tail-nipping behavior and other aggressive actions. So, what fish can live with bettas?

Happily, there are several other fish that can keep your betta company in a safe and non-aggressive environment. Many colorful, friendly fish cohabitate well with bettas. This is our guide to finding the perfect fish companion (or companions) for your betta.

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You'll probably find your fish resting periodically — don't panic
Fish resting in an aquarium

You might see your little swimmers still and peaceful in your tank and think that they're sleeping. But do fish sleep? It's complicated because first we have to define what sleep even means. Research says that many animals do rest and that slowing down intermittently helps with all sorts of processes, including things like fighting disease and recharging energy. So while fish don't sleep in the same way humans and most other mammals do, they still rest periodically to help them stay sharp.
How do fish sleep?
First, let's talk about our sleep. You'll notice that when we go down for the night, we almost always close our eyes and our furry friends do as well. That's thanks to our neocortex, which shuts off so we can get some shut-eye every night. Dogs and cats operate much the same, though they sleep at different times than we do (practically all day, in the case of cats).

Fish have neither a neocortex nor eyelids, meaning they can't sleep exactly the same way as humans. Researchers at Stanford studied fish brains and found that they do seem to be sleeping, though aquatic animals likely don't enter REM state (dolphins, too, have slightly different sleep methods). Sharks take this even further by swimming even during sleep — if they stop, they won't be able to keep breathing!
When do fish sleep?
You may be surprised to discover that fish usually sleep at night and spend the day awake. That's great for us to get prime-time aquarium viewing. Still, some fish are up at night, especially a few species of catfish that will do the bulk of their feeding in the wee hours of the morning. Interestingly, a few fish don't sleep at all, including some species of cavefish that live entirely in darkness, and many baby fish, which don't develop this ability until adulthood.
How do I know if my fish are sleeping?
As with all animals, you probably want to leave your tiny sea creatures alone while they get some rest. You don't want to get woken up from a nap, either, after all. Check for signs that they're catching a few z's. Fish are possibly sleeping when they stay motionless for a while, lay down on something in the tank, and don't respond to things going around them. So if you walk up to your fish house and see one snuggled up in the corner, they're probably fine. Come back later to make sure they've moved rather than tapping on their home to rouse them.

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