To salt or not to salt, that is the question..

As some of you may know my kids (2 oranda goldfish) are coming home soon,I was told by their breeder to salt the tank and treat with prazi..my question is since there are no fish in my tank and the 2 fish are healthy and from the same tank at the breeders, should I attempt this? I have no knowledge when it comes to salting ect, so I'm wondering because of my lack of knowledge if I would be better off to just not do it??? I'm nervous and don't want to harm my kids..please help..

This is the directions I have been given..what do you all think?


For basic procedures, here are the steps.
1. Dose one teaspoon per gallon of salt or equivalent to 0.1%.
2. After 12 hours and assuming the fish has tolerated it very wellso far, repeat step 1.
3. After another 12 hours, repeat step 1 again.

For bottom dwellers such as plecos and loaches, you may need to maintain the saline solution at 0.1-0.2% so it will not be detrimental to them although there have been few instances where some catfishes can tolerate as much as 0.3%.

Do make sure your fish can tolerate the elevated saline solution. If in doubt, be prepared to do a water change to relieve the fish of the osmotic stress caused by the salt. Try not to lose focus on the actual saline solution you already administered or you might end up overdosing the salt more than it was necessary. Should a water change be necessary, make sure you redose the salt solution per the water volume replaced.

For example, a 10 gallon needs 30 teaspoons at 3 teaspoons per gallon of water measurement. If you wish to change at least 50% of the water, then another 15 teaspoons of salt should be redosed to keep the saline solution effective against the parasites.

For praziquantel...
Day 1 -- remove carbon, perform water change with vacuuming, and add PrazI to tank
Day 2 -- add Prazi
Day 3 -- do nothing
Day 4 -- do nothing
Day 5 -- do nothing
Day 6 -- add Prazi
Day 7 -- add Prazi
Day 8 -- normal partial water change with vacuuming
Day 14 - normal partial water change, then add prazi
Day 21 - normal partial water change, then add prazi
Day 28 - normal partial water change, then add prazi
Day 35 - normal partial water change, add carbon, treatment is complete

Recommended dosage: 2.5mg per liter. Considering this is a rather mild treatment, it is not very difficult to overdose.

 

you will have a ton of opinions on this and there are a ton of threads with more...salt is used and was used allot 7-10 years ago..and some still use it to this day....

IMO, it can be averted with other more fish friendly products....salt is an irritant that just makes fish produce more slime coat...it irritates them (as it does humans) and makes them produce things to heal up issues they are having (just like in humans) but having more fish friendly products like stress coat+, fish protector, vita chem, proper stocking, proper cycling, and adding fresh garlic to their foods, is a much friendlier way to handle MOST fish issues now a days...

but its a decision that needs to be made on each individuals perception ...

 

I'm not familar with Prazi, but I have 5 fan-tailed goldfish in one of my tanks and I don't use salt in any of my tanks. Niether did the woman who raised them from eggs who had them for the two years before I got them from her.

Whether or not you use salt is personal preference, but most of us don't recommend it.

I'm sure you'll get more responses soon.

by Shawnie;D

 

I vote no on salt personally. They don't need it. It works by irritating them so they overproduce slime coat. Other things, like Stress coat water conditioner, can help it in a healthier way.

edit:

 

Oh thank god lol.. I was so nervous about this I can't tell you!!...great then I decide no salt...thanx for helping!! going to start one more thread lol..have one more tiny question..

 

I fully endorse prazipro though! (or other types of Praziquantel)

You can look up information, but it basically is the best method to treat fish (especially goldfish) for internal worms and gill flukes.

Not that I endorse overdosing and you should never do it with any medicine, PrazI is extermely safe and I've heard that even if you don't manage to dissolve all the crystals and a fish eats it, it is no harm to them.
PrazI was made to treat goldfish for flukes because goldfish respond badly to the alternative treatment (I can't remember what it is).

Lots of people with outdoor ponds treat their fish yearly with Prazi, it can be used not only as a treatment but a preventative!

Since flukes is one of the most common ailments to fish (or so I have read) it is a good thing to use. It also becomes inactive after about 3 days in the tank, so you don't have to remove it.

Especially if your fish are being shipped from China, they are going to be in quite a bit of stress and will be more susceptible to illness. Treating with PrazI will get one common illness out of the way.

I just thought to let you know that the treatment cycle you have listed is for the product Prazipro. It is the pre-mixed liquid form of it, and is in a lesser concentration.
If you get other types of PrazI most often the packaging says to add the amount to 5% one time onlu as opposed to the 2.5% of Prazipro and add it a few times, because Prazipro does not come in that strong of a percent you need to use the dosage mechanism you posted in your first post.


Check out this site and do more research of your own, but I would recommend it for all new fish going into your tank.



One downside.... its quite pricey.

 

Hello Hendryx.

I came across this link yesterday about adding salt to fresh water aquariums. In case you haven't seen it. Be sure to read the last paragraph In Summary.

Ken

 

Thanx Ken! That info helped put my mind at ease..I'm worried enough about my kids already, I don't need the added stress lol..they ship out in the morning, I so hope they travel okay..

 

Keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully they will arrive safe and sound. The only fish I've ever had shipped to me was my Betta Wriggley. He arrived in 26 hours from the moment he was shipped. I bought him from MartinsMommy. He was packed so nicely! He was nice an warm.

Hopefully you'll have the same good experience!
I'll be looking forward to your updates. I'm excited too!
Ken

 

My sister uses pond salt in her pond, I do not. Her water source is different from mine so that may make a difference also. If your fish seem to do fine without the salt, then don't worry about it. I only use salt in a salt dip if I happen to have (or rescue) a goldie that has parasites since the fish can tolerate the salt dip but the parasite cannot.