Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Salt will slightly decrease the amount of O2 that water can hold.

I don't really know all that much about hardness but I kinda doubt it would have the same effect as salt. You want your hardness to be appropriate to your fish and the buffering capacity to protect you from pH swings and your pH to be as close to neutral as is reasonable for your system and water situation. Stability being more important than any particular number I believe. Drastic sudden swings are usually harder on fish when it comes to pH. A really low pH will stop one part of the nitrogen cycle while really high pH may stall another part of the cycle. If stability can be achieved, you will likely eventually find a batch of bacteria that can work in your system.

I suppose in a quarantine or hospital system, you might want to have the ability to adjust the pH, temp and salinity but it might be easier and more appropriate to acclimatise new fish to your normal system conditions rather than trying to adjust your system if it is stable. pH bouncing and sudden temp changes are really bad for fish.

Yeh, I'm kind of worried that although my hospital tank is going to have good conditions, the fact that they are different to the main tank is going to shock the fish and do more harm than good.

The trick would be to have to ability to bring the hospital tank conditions into accordance with your main system slowly so that it would be a good thing rather than a bad one. Otherwise it would be best to have the hospital system as similar in conditions to the main system as possible.

For me I think that will mean using a similar mix of grow bed media to give the same buffering and hardness that the main system has. (The shells in my media seem to keep the system quite solidly at a pH of 7.6.)

I should have really read this before i got my new fish. I have killed 1 silver and 1 of my current trout .

I have salted to 3pp and im thinking about salting to 6pp. I put the new fish in its own tank but it still is connected to the sump where the trout are

I posted something about this in another thread. Probably not the right thread. Pimafix is an aquarium use antifungal thats made from 1% bay leaf oil. I have access to bay leaves fresh off the tree. I also have access to turmeric. Turmeric is an antimicrobial. Im not sure if turmeric will kill the biological filtration in the bed. I regularly eat turmeric and bay leaves so I dont think thered be any danger in it.

Has anyone had any less chemical cures for their fish? Perhaps a dip in turmeric or bay leaves boiled down to make a tea?

Anyone have any other thoughts on natural remedies for anti fungal or bacerial?

Ich can be combated by raising the water temperature to the mid 80s I believe ((( DOUBLE CHECK THE TEMP IF YOU ARE GOIN GT USE THAT METHOD)))). Im my fishroom I would adjust the temp up in the QT tank as a preventative with new fish.

Ich can't be combated by raising the water temperaturwe alone.... you need to salt to 3-6ppt to kill the parasite...

Raising the temperature just hastens the remaining life cycle of the parasite... so that it can be eradicated...

In my ornamental tanks this method worked for me. I'm still learning about AP so I'm not certain.

This is from http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

The second approach is to actually destroy the organism with heat, and can be combined with the salt treatment below, but not with meds. The data I studied (including a report by the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center, which is currently archived here) suggests that most strains of Ich cannot reproduce at temperatures above 85�F. To use this treatment approach, slowly (no more than 1 or 2 degrees per hour) raise the temperature to 86�F, while maintaining strong continuous surface agitation to oxygenate the water. This is extremely important because water holds less O2 at higher temperatures. (This is why meds should not be used in conjunction with high temp � most Ich treatment products also reduce oxygen levels. Less available oxygen, combined with the respiration difficulties an infected fish is already faced with, could be fatal.) You can angle powerheads up toward the surface, or lower your water level to get a little extra splash from your filter return. As with any treatment, observe your fish closely for signs of stress (labored breathing, erratic behavior) and reduce the temperature slowly if necessary. (A note to the wary; my Malawi haps and clown loaches endured a temperature of 88�F for 10 days with apparent ease � I never detected the slightest hint of distress � and the Ich was completely wiped out. One article that I read suggests the temperature be raised to 90�F!)

The article is correct in what it says.... raising the temperature will prevent the parasite from reproducing....

So over time it will eradicate... but during the period of time it takes to stay through the reproductive cycle... at least 3-4 weeks.....

The parasite is still actively living on the host fish.... salting to 6ppt will effectively kill off the parasite on the fish.... but won't necessarily deal with any remaining within the water....

That's why a combination of salt... and raising the temp is recommended.... as otherwise, either treatment on it's own.... has to run the duration of at least 1-2 reproductive cycles.... or re-infestation may occur...

With heat I'm curious about the flow through the beds. It would appear that it would oil several degrees. A hospital tank would almost be a necessity?

Hospital tanks are the best idea for any disease treatments...

You don't have to heat to get rid of Ich.... it helps if you do.... but salting and time will work just fine...

I have a question - what kind of salt do you use for treating fish? Regular iodized salt? Not iodized? Sea salt? Real salt with all 60 trace minerals in it? Does it matter?

The cheapest pool or water softener salt is what I've always used. You don't want table salt or iodized salt since iodine has antibacterial properties and the anti caking agents in some table salt are also not really good. So it's kinda handy that the best salt for the job is the cheap solar dehydrated pool or water softener salt.

well not much of a recovery..... but went out side tonight and found a koi laying outside the fish tank....

second suicide in two days.. guess I need to put some sort of netting to keep them in

jT

Bummer, hate it when they do that. Tanks either need a cover or a high enough free board to keep jumpers in.

Are you into sailing TC?