kevkoi
This board is my second home
Posts: 516
Posted: 7/23/02 10:12 pm
On SALT... my views
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The use of salt is an area which has seen a lot of controversy in the last 6 months on message boards here and there. This post is my perspective on the areas of controversy about its use.
The first area of controversy is the level of salt. Some say use 0.3% salt is a good level of salt for general use, most people agree about that, not much controversy there. I find 0.3% salt is not particularly useful for treating my koi if I have a significant problem which requires salt for treatment, and have used the range of 0.6% to 1.0% to treat both koi and goldfish in both hobbies and fish handling business for many years. The higher levels of salt do not hurt the fish, and do kill more of the parasites. They also protect better against the effects of nitrite poisioning from inadequate filtration or new filter cycling. The reason the higher levels of salt have become a huge area of misunderstanding is a serious error written into Dr. Johnson's book on fish health many years ago, which is only being corrected currently. He made the statement that 3 teaspoons of salt per gallon of water gives 0.3% salt. That simply is not true. I have made many exhausting personal scientific tests with a variety of teaspoons with good equipment and test methods to show that 3 teaspoons of salt per gallon is typically 0.7% salt level, and sometimes is as high as 0.9% salt. This incorrect statement has been used by thousands of goldfish aquarium folks as absolute gospel since it came from Erik Johnson's book. Then these aquarium hobbyists tried what they labeled 0.6% salt, which was actually 1.4% salt, and sometimes it cured the fish with no problem, sometimes the fish died from the high salt content. So word spread that 0.6% salt level, which was actually 1.4% salt level if anyone would have actually measured the level with a decent instrument or test kit, is too high for pond fish.
I have kept many different batches of goldfish and koi at salt levels of 0.8% to 1.0% for up to a year at a time, and they only seemed to be in better health from the experience. I would expect them to slowly die at 1.4% salt level, which was incorrectly called 0.6% level. I have seen 10 koi survive being held for 4 hours at 3.5% salt level in a holding tank, while 20 other koi died from the high salt level in that same tank. This was an occasion when a hobbyist badly overcharged salt to a holding tank.
Then there is the other math problem with salt levels. Hobbyists in the USA are told that 3 pounds of salt per 100 gallons of water is 0.3% salt level. That is also untrue but stated to be true on most USA pond hobby web sites. Each 1 pound of salt per 100 gallons of water increases the salt level in the water by precisely 0.119%, not by 0.1%. So more math errors creep into the hobby from this misrepresentation in normal USA ponding.
Then there is the "iodized salt" flap. Supposedly using iodized salt is a bad idea. There is only, in the USA, 0.006% potassium iodide in iodized salt. No one argues that the potassium iodide will harm the koi or goldfish, since anyone knowledgeable knows it does not harm the fish. Many goldfish aquarium hobbyists have been using iodized salt for many years, and have never experienced any problems using it in that hobby. The current issue of a aquarium hobby magazine in the USA publishes that avoiding the use of iodized salt is one of the great myths in the hobby, there is no problem using iodized salt. Counter to that argument, Erik Johnson stated on several message boards recently that he agrees the potassium iodide will not hurt the fish, but he saw a filter stumble once when using iodized salt, blamed the iodine content for the filter problem, and from that single experience recommends to everyone not to use iodized salt.
The British frequently post and publish here and there that potassium permanganate and salt cannot be used together, because using them together will kill the fish. There is absolutely no truth to this insane statement. Practially every knowledgeable hobbyist and professional in the USA koi hobby uses the combination of both high (typically 0.6% by actual measurement) salt and PP treatments to eradicate flukes from a bunch of koi or goldfish. Neither one alone seems to kill all the flukes, combine the treatments simultaneously and success is achieved.
I hope some part of this message is somehow useful to some of you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
thank you
"Our hobby is about 'water keeping'. Keep your water, and the water will keep the fish."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kerfrog
Posts: 188
Posted: 7/23/02 11:39 pm
Re: On SALT... my views
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hmm....never had a disease or other major problem that required salt treatments to speak of.......but if I do.....I will remember your knowledge and experience. Thanks
BTW, I used to know a koi farmer in Murrieta, Ca. What a neat business that is. He had visitors from all over the world coming to see his fish. Quite profitable too, if I remember well.
~* Keri *~ Friend of all creatures big and small
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
bdcgflvr
I test the water once a month
Posts: 184
Posted: 7/24/02 4:45 am
Re: On SALT... my views
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Kev, thats a pretty interesting post. I have been keeping fish on and off for almost 20 years. The mistakes that hobbyists make I have done them all. One of the first things that I learned was the use of salt either as a tonic or as a cure. The stuff is great, it is economical and it truly works. Now the dosages that I use is as follows: 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons as a tonic or for newly cycled tank. For disease I use 1 tablespoon for 5 gallons, if your calculations are correct I have been using the incorrect dosage. The percent comes out to .16 per gallon (????? is that right????).
My wife won't let me get a bigger tank.
Bigger house first!!!!
bdcgflvr and shelly
Edited by: bdcgflvr at: 7/24/02 12:03:27 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------