Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I got a problem that needs expert help.

About 10 of my younger fish (4in) caught a dizzy sickness they seam to want to go in a strait line but cant, only in circles.

There has been no change in water chemistry.

Only other noticed changes are that the fish eat half as much and the older ones have something on them, It is white and has the scales seam more 'pronounced' it is more on the belly / gills of the fish.

Water readings? Sounds like your quality has dropped, and the fish are getting ich / fungus.

Me thinks its time to salt 3 ppt = 3 kg per 1000 litres

Could be 'white spot'
hard to tell, can you get a decent pic?
Treat with salt (AP Panacea) ASAP
Do a partial water change if you can.
Try to get a better description.
Google whitespot, and other 'fungal diseases' to see if a pic matches your symptoms.

I've had my tilapia start looking quite tattered before. Usually seemed to be from either handling or stress from being picked on. Salt did help for me when my tilapia showed signs of stress or illness. If the problem is ich you want to have a change in your salt level of 3 ppt so if you already have a small amount of salt in the system, you would need to take your final salt level a bit higher to produce that change. Tilapia can handle a lot of salt but some plants don't like high salt levels. 3ppt seems pretty safe for all but the most tender plants.

Those fish that are swimming funny, I've seen that happen when a fish was being pestered too much by a male that wanted to mate. It seemed as though he injured her pectoral fin and she was just too exhausted to swim right anymore. I've seen this happen when I had small fish in together. It seems that a 2-3" male fish can decide it is ready to try mating, he is now a very lonely fish as he killed both companions.

Quote TCL I've seen this happen when I had small fish in together. It seems that a 2-3" male fish can decide it is ready to try mating, he is now a very lonely fish as he killed both companions.

Bugger I guess he didn't like the mirror

The small fish are no longer swiming in circles however 7 of them are swiming to the side ( i got a video of the fish trying to swim).

The bigger fish still have the spots on the side but they are less. Concluesion, Salt is working. From the pictures i looked at it seams like ICH

i used a tottal of 7 pounds of salt to about 700 gall. of water
First day i used 3 pounds,
second i put in 2 more
and on the last day(yesterday) i put in 2 more.

My 7 foot Ockra tree leaves shrinked a bit and the corn stoped growing, More due to the fact that i stoped feeding the fish all together than the salt.

I use choped up coconut shells as medium. I was wondering what affect it would have on the salt? i think that this medium would absorb the salt and/or any medication rendering it useless and as for the parisite (ich) would the coco coir be a hideing place?

I am treating the whole system as one to rid my self of this ich. Do i need to use lots more salt because of the medium. Maby the medium is acting like a salt buffer?

How do i take the salt back out?

As of now the pH is 7.8 the kh is 3 drops( lost the instructions for dr.fish)
nitrite is 0

Plants will take the salt out. Celery is apparently very good at this, in a medical system with heaps of salt, celery has been known to be noticeably 'salty'
Some plants like strawberries hate salt, and you may lose them, but general consensus seems to be to keep your system salted to 3ppt... ('m still adding salt to my system, so am by no means an expert.

Only 1ppt kuda, unless you have a batch of fish that is not too flash. There is no real need to go to 3ppt full time.

Well at least you just proved me right there! :-)

so you guys keep your systems salted? is that a preventative mesure?

this is what I'm being told. Based on advice received on this forum, I'm keeping mine salted.
1ppm, is not much, it serves as a preventative for minor ailments.
However we use sea salt.
This is rich in many trace elements, and is therefore great for your plants, as AP can sometimes be devoid of anything but nitrates.
Not much can live on nitrates alone...

+1

In the aquarium hobby salt is added as a preventative.
Except for what has been mentioned regarding the reducing of nitrate toxisity the salt also irritates the fish. That is good because what it does is makes the fish increase the amount of slime it is coated in and this makes it more difficult for external parasites (ich or whitespot being one) to attach to the fish.
White spot can also be removed by increasing the tempratures. As I recall above 30 deg C whitespot cannot infect new hosts and therefore the cysts can go to the next stage of the live cycle.
Hope this helps and is not just a re-hash from what has been said!

PS: The problems described at the beginning of this thread sound like it may be some kind of swimbladder problem.