Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello everyone

Some of the dorsal fins on my trout seem to have a thick white growth on them. It doesn't seem to be furry like a fungus although I'm not 100% on that one.

I'm thinking it's most likely white spot/Ich.

Will get some pics up soon.

In the mean time here's some specs for ya.

Fish: Rainbow Trout
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate:20 was 40 before I topped the tank up.
PH:7.6
Sodium Chloride:Water was 2ppt when fish were first introduced, then 4ppt when fins were first noticed for 2 weeks, now 6ppt for 3 days.
O2: Heaps
Temp: Anywhere between 10 - 18c has been 23c.
Feed: 2% Body weight, 2 feeds a day.


Now the only thing i can think of causing this is:

1. The rise in temp stressing the fish making them vulnerable to disease/parasite. I think it's worth pointing out that fish did not seem stressed at 23c.

2. I don't know.

3. No idea.

If anyone has an advice or ideas it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Fil

Oops I posted it twice.

You're absolutely right about "stress" making fish vunerable to disease/parasites....

Even though they might not have "seemed" stressed at 23c... I'm sure they were... and are probably reflecting this...

6ppt of salt will help, particularly if it's "Ich" or parasitic... or even if it's a fungal infection..

Because they're trout, they can actually tolerate much higher salinity... and you could even go to 10-12ppt..... a "salt bath" for a couple of hours....

Would mean either moving them into another tank... or eventually dumping out the water from the fish tank.... and above 6ppt will be detremental to the plants...

The alternative is to move them to an "isolation" tank.... and salt dip them... literally roll them in salt and place them in a 6ppt tank.... or probably better.... put them in a seperate tank at 10-12ppt for a day... well aerated though....

Well I tried netting some today to get some pics and then was too worried about stressing them out more so I decided to leave them alone.

So I would much rather leave them where they are.

I wonder how long it will take to get rid of ICH in a cold water system seeing the life cycle is slowed down.

My plants have been isolated from the system so I don't have to worry about the salt bothering them.

I guess I just have to make a decision whether to increase the salinity or not. It means I will eventually have to dilute the water.

So if I have 1000lts of water at 6ppt I will have to take out around nearly 700lts to bring it back down to 2ppt.

Is that correct I'm too tired for maths

Dont know about the maths, but get some clove oil, dose the tank lightly (puts the fish to sleep) - makes them easy to catch, unstressed.

Roll in salt, place in very very well aerated bath at over 10ppt for a few hours, place back into main system.

I recall someone saying the 20ppt is acceptable for Trout.

Another option would be to drain out 2/3 of the water (into a handy container, please!), add 1.2kg of salt to bring it to 6ppt, leave the pump splashing the heck out of it for aeration for a day, then add the water back in to bring your salinity down to 2ppt.

Or do the same, but with 2.4 Kg of salt, then drain out half again after 24 hrs and add your reserved liquid back in, along with 100 liters of fresh water. 12ppt ought to help.

Umm....the first option is for 6ppt, the second is 12ppt.

I already have 6ppt in my tank at the moment hydrophilia.

12ppt is an option although dropping the tank level down would mean quite a large load on my bio.

Dammit why can't anything just run smoothly.

It sucks that I can't get any good advice from trout farmers when it comes to salt baths all they say Blah Blah Blah Formalin Blah Bla Blah Formalin.

Thanks for all the help guys it looks like pickling them might be the best option for me. I want to get them cured so I can start getting the feed back into them before it really gets hot.

If you ask anyone in aquaculture, then the answer will probably always be "formalin"....

And it's a great treatment option... but nasty stuff to work with... and you need to with-hold your stock for at least a week before eating them....

Remember, the people you talk to are treating large volumes of water... salting, other than in isolation tanks... just isn't an answer for "large" volumes, particularly ponds...