Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

G'day to all. I'm another newbie and looking forward to associating with all you guys in AP. I have just noticed tonight my silvers turning sideways and scraping the bottom of the tank. Im assuming its ich. I have a 2000 litre tank, 25 silvers doing well till i noticed this behaviour. How much salt should i put in the tank? any help greatly appreciated. cheers.

I would start with maybe 2 -3 ppm and see how that goes. 1 ppm = 1kg of salt pet 1000l of water.
You can always add some more if need be.

Good luck and keeps us up-dated!

Hi Sterfy,
that behaviour is what is known as flashing. Up to 3ppt is generally considered safe for plants (other than strawberries). I would put 6kg of pool salt dissolved in a bucket and slowly add to the fish tank.

Thanks Faye, Decal for the solutions. I am wondering however should i run the pump 24/7 for the time being or not? should i alter anything else since i have added the 6 kg of salt? Cheers

Well I think there is some benefit in running the pump constantly for a period of time. Filters the water more and provides more aeration. And don't stress the fish anymore (ie. catching them out for a look, popping your head to check them out...)

I have one of my silvers flashing. They have only just gone in the tank a week or so ago. Should I wait to see if he comes good or salt now?

Well generally when I add new fish to the tank, I salt to about 3ppt to prevent against opportunistic infection/disease for a few weeks.

Salt now i always salt when adding new fish

I will tonight then after removing the strawberries to the other system. Are any other plants affected by 3ppt salt??

Yes add the salt now before any more get infected richard.

Been doing a bit of searching and looks like I will have to move the cucumbers as well, and the peas may not make it

quachy published this site as a resource on Silver Perch on another thread - hope you find it helpful:
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets ... Manual.pdf

Make sure you raise the salt level quickly - it's the sudden change that kills the nasties. Don't put in 1kg one day and one kg the next, just do it all at once.

Thanks guys for all the helpful tips as I have sick fish too! Ive just added about 7 kgs of salt to my system and hope that i can save my 50+ fish! As the bottom of my pond is uneven it is hard to work out the volume but as you say you can always add more! Thanks again! Check out my setup if you like at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... cea&type=1