| Re: Using salt in your aquarium |
Subject: Re: Using salt in your aquarium by captk on 15/5/2005 0:52:06 Goldy, couldn't agree more.  I did notice that the links on the other web page seems to be broken so I'll just throw in a few common dosage rate just in case you are using rock/sea/canning/solar salt and it doesn't come with instructions as in aquarium salt. Salt is an excellent tool and treatment option which I heartily recommend but it is still a chemical and should only be used when there is a need. Over used of salt have lead to salt tolerant parasites which kind of defeats the whole purpose of using salt.  OBTW, to avoid any confusion with US and imperial measurements, I shall use grams and liters. The following are tank wide treatment and you should only add 1g/L of salt every 12 hrs. So if you need to raise it to 0.3% then it will take 3 seperate doses of salt over 36hrs. 0.1%-0.15%: (1 to 1.5g per L) general tonic level. Aids in de-stressing the fish, helps with breathing, protect fish against nitrIte poisoning (brown blood disease). Can be used indefinitely but not necessary. 0.3%: (3g per L) use to treat certain parasites such as ich. Helps to control fungus. Can be maintained for weeks. 0.6%: (6g per L) used for salt tolerant parasites. Controls fungus. Promote slime coat regeneration. 2 weeks duration max. Now we are going on to salt baths and dips. (health warnings attached. )1.0%: Salt bath. Can be helpful to restart osmotic process in case of dropsy/bloating. Kills some parasites. Perk up a sick fish. Controls (not cure) bacteria. 1 hour max. Care must be taken with small or very weak fish. Any sign of destress (e.g. rolling over), remove the fish into a bucket of fresh dechlor water immediately. 1.5-3.0%: salt dips. This is serious stuff. Kills saprolegnia and other fungus. Controls bacteria. Treats fin and tail rots. Strips slime coat so meds can get to the parasites underneath. Must be used with great care. 10 mins max. As soon as a fish rolls over, remove it and place in a bucket of fresh dechlor water immediately. DO NOT use with small fish or very weak, sick fish as the dip will push them over the edge. Be warned! This is only general information and what should be done on specific cases must be assessed individually. |