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Salting Your Fish? Important
information that you need to know:
We have been selling
fish medications for 39 years now, and in the last couple of
years... hobbyists are using salt by the ton on their fish as some
kind of new "wonder drug". We would like to explain what
happens to freshwater fishes, when exposed to high sodium levels
over periods of time. Many customers that we talk to, tend to
think that their fish have dropsy, because the fish are swollen,
they stop eating, and eventually start breaking down with many
different secondary infections, due to the high stress levels that
are introduced by using salt. Some of these infections
include: Hemorrhagic Septicemia (red streaks in body and/or fins).
Saprolegnia Fungus (white cottony puffs on skin, fins or tail).
Pseudomonas Bacteria (Fin and Tail Rot). Aeromonas Bacteria (Sores
on body with ulcerations). Heavy slime covering the fish.
The fish produce heavy slime as a defense against the high salt
levels. Extreme swelling similar to dropsy. High mortalities,
sudden death and complete tank or pond wipe-outs. Salt at
high levels will also destroy the nitrifying bacteria in your filter,
that keep your tank or pond cycled and ammonia free. So, if
you are using salt and notice abnormally high ammonia or nitrite
levels in your water... this is the cause. Osmotic Pressure
On Fish: The use of salt is being promoted mainly by
hobbyists in chat rooms, that have little or no understanding of
fish pathology or osmotic pressure on fish and how this works.
This is a case of hobbyists, consulting to hobbyists can be
detrimental to the health of your fish. **In the ocean, fish
will swim into freshwater to rid themselves of parasites, and then
swim back into the ocean. The fish do this only for a few
minutes, and then return to their natural environment. The
reason that the parasites fall off is due to increased osmotic
pressure. When you put a marine fish into freshwater, it
is like putting a heavy weight on top of the fish. So, this
does not mean that this will work for freshwater fish the same way.
Salt can be used for external parasites if used properly. Make
a 0.3% salt dip and leave the fish in the solution for 3-5 minutes.
Return the fish to fresh water. This is stressful for the
fish, so care should be taken when using this approach. It is
suggested that if you have parasites, to treat the whole pond with
either De-Los or Praziquantel. This salt dip will not cure
many bacterial diseases that fish carry in their bloodstream, and is
no cure-all for fish diseases. Testing The Salt Theory:
A good way to test the salt theory, would be to set up 2 aquariums.
1.) Salt one aquarium (tank 1) according to the
instructions that were given to you and use a dechlorinator, if you
are using tap water. 2.) In (tank 2), use a
nitrifying bacteria like our Aqua Gold, and a good dechlorinator for
your tap water. Do not add any salt to this tank.
3.) Go down to your local fish store and purchase a
dozen fish of your choice. Tell the fish collector to separate
them and put 6 fish in each bag. 4.) Get yourself a
small note pad, so you can keep a log of events on both aquariums.
This experiment will take some time (around 2-3 months) to complete.
So, now let's look at some facts: Salt is
anti-bacterial and anti-viral. This does not mean that it is
good for freshwater aquarium or pond fish. You could pour a
bottle of Mr. Clean into your aquarium, and we could guarantee that
it will kill any living pathogen in there, but it would also kill
all of your fish. See our point? Salt is toxic to your fish
if used at high levels for long periods of time. It will shut
down their kidney's, and that is why so many people have fish with
"pop-eye" or fish that have the same symptom's as Dropsy. Salt
is toxic to humans if ingested in quantity, and high salt levels are
toxic to animals. Use some common sense with the information
we
have provided for you, and remember that if salt was such a great
treatment option, we would have not been in business for so long.
"These salt treatments are nothing but the Fleecing of America".
Would you rather buy a small bottle of medicine that really works,
or lose a whole pond full of fish from over-dosing with salt? |
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