By increasing the amount of salt in the water, the pressure is less and equilibrium is easier to accomplish. Salt does not evaporate with water, so it remains in the aquarium when water does evaporate, for this reason, salt should only be added again when water is actually removed and replaced, otherwise the concentration will rise undetected.
Salt can be used in a wide variety of doses, I tend to use a teaspoon per 10 L when I do use it, there is literature available that suggests a dose as high as 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons 20 L is a good limit.
I tend to be slightly conservative because I know over time there is a good chance that the concentration will rise from evaporation and subsequent salt additions. For this reason, be very careful. Often the best way is to add the original dose and then wait a few water changes to dilute it out before adding any more.
It is often better to allow it to dilute and then add a dose to disinfect again, rather than trying to maintain an even solution which will probably rise too high across time. It has also been seen that the use of salt will tend to reduce the toxicity of high concentrations of nitrite. For me, I am more partial towards the second practice as I think goldfish should not be kept constantly with salt as it is not a brackish water type of fish.
If so, aquarium salt will no longer be effective in treating those infections or require higher dosage which will cause elevated discomfort to the goldfish. Important note : If you have any goldfish that is stressed, you need to identify the cause and deal with that. Check out this post on the causes of stress and what you can do about them.
In the case of early stage or minor infection , the dosage to use is 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt for every 5 gallons of water. In the case of major infection , you can put your goldfish through the dip method. This is actually upping the concentration of the salt and dipping your goldfish into it for a short period of time.
You will have to prepare a separate container and fill it up with some of your tank water. Then dissolve 4 teaspoons of aquarium salt for every gallon of water. After this is done, place the affected goldfish in for 30 minutes and then return it back to its tank or ideally, the quarantine tank. Aquarium salt is indeed the more natural remedy for most of the common infections that can happen to your goldfish. Besides that, it is very easy to find and in case I did not say it enough, it is also cheap!
To me, it is important to have aquarium salt for goldfish keeping. Let me know your thoughts and your experience with using aquarium salt. Did it work for you? This is really interesting! Hi Chantelle, That is true.
Hopefully it will be of help to other goldfish keepers. Wow I never knew you could use salt with freshwater fish. I have been treating my water with the standard chemicals. As you say they can get pricey. Is this good for all freshwater fish or mainly goldfish? I have 2 tiger oscars. My 2 goldfish are sick and one is grave sick. Someone told me to stir the anti biotic injection into the water and I did but my fish is still sick and fish is about to die.
Here is no shops for fish or aquarium. I have to go to other city for the treatment and it will be very hard for me. Please, tell me, what should I do for the first aid. It looks like you might have an overcrowding problem. Two fancy goldfish will need a gallon tank at the very minimum — goldfish contribute a ton to ammonia and ammonia buildup is never good for fish.
What kind of filtration system are you using? Have you tested the water for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
Hopefully you were able to solve the problem. If not, I suggest moving your goldfish to a larger tank and keeping the 10 gallon for all of your tropical fish. That way, any sick goldfish will have a lot more room and cleaner water to recover.
Also, you should never put in the tank table salt designed for kitchen use. Instead, always go for non-iodized rock salt, kosher salt, or freshwater aquarium salt formulated for fish. I have no experience about the fish but I like to have aquarium and fish. Whether or not to use aquarium salt is completely up to you. If you need help on how to add salt to your aquarium, see my salt treatment guide here. You can determine how much aquarium salt your tank needs in the aquarium salt treatment guide here.
Thanks for reading! This was another well written article. Thank you. My one concern for using salt as a preventative is brought out by David E. He says that if the fish are healthy, it may not be a good idea to have them produce extra slime due to the salt treatment, as the salt may be messing with what the natural world has given them in slime volume. Yes, we are talking about slime lol. Again though, interesting article. Take care.
0コメント