Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Whats a good standard practice to gaurd against trouble when bringing in a fresh batch , maybe from a different supplier . Is it best to keep them at a medium salt level for a few days / weeks or do the high salt level bath for a short period each day and what salt levels are being used . Thinking about setting up a small system for this purpose
Rob

Hey Rob,

I can only speak for myself but I always salt bath new batches of fingerlings or yabbies/marron in 6ppt for 1 hour.

If its yabbies/marron from a dam, I use a large esky (I think its 80L), I fill it with water from my AP, salt to 6ppt, drop in an aerator and the yabs for one hour. A lot of dams/waterways are home to parasites etc that I dont want in my system. A 6ppt shock salt bath will eliminate all the nasties. I discard this water down the drain.

New fingerlings are done the same way but I incorporate the water from my AP with the water that the new fingerlings are in from the supplier slowly over a couple of hours so that temp and PH dont cause harm. If the PH is too different I will spend more time on this transfer. I then salt the same way etc

I think its good practice but some of the ol timers might have different views.

While I'm not one of the crusty "old timers" Charlie... and 6ppt is better than nothing, I think 10ppt is more suitable for a quarantine salt bath.

...but I'm sure one of the crusty old timers will chime in... Rupe, are you there?...

I might be an old timer Yabbies... but I'm not "Crusty"....

10ppt is more a salt bath disease treatment... usually for severe fungal, or bacterial infections...

New fish shouldn't exhibit any signs of either... if they do... refuse to accept them, or take them back....

You're more likely to perhaps have problems with parasites, like "Ich" when introducing new fish... or possibly, but unlikely... some fungal transfer...

In either case.... quarantining at 6ppt for a week ot two... should be more than enough to deal with either...

Yeh... but
I guess what Charlie's talking about isn't really a quarantine bath, as in you want to watch them for a week or so before adding them to your system, more a "shock" bath for an hour, just to shock any free loading parasites into dropping off... would 10 ppt not be better in that situation?

I thought you were a surfer... they're all crusty!

Probably... but I'm not sure that a hour would be sufficient to provoke all the parsites to "drop off"....

Just better... if you have the quarantine tank... to go to 6ppt... and leave for at least a week...

I don't file this sort of info away in my head in any organised fashion... and I always forget what I saved it as, or where I saved it on my puter (plus the Ag Dept and Fisheries have pulled the plug on a few pages, Farm Notes etc, that I saved in favourites)... but I recall reading about either the Ich parasite and/or the little greeblies that attach to the underside of Yabbies (Temnos I think they're called), dropping off if salted to 10ppt for an hour...

...am I getting my wires crossed?... can't be bothered trolling through Google to find out.

You can knock parasites and flatworms etc off within 30 mins..

Im only refering to yabbies now thou. Temnocephalid flatworms, epistylis and alike which are common with yabb's are relatively easy to control.

Flatworms are ectocommensal, living on the outside of the yabby and eating the scraps that the yabbies miss. You tend to have a lot of them if there is a lot of uneaten food in the water. They are not parasites, and only become a problem if there are so many of them that they impede the water flow over gills of the yabby.

Like Rupe said, disease is a different kettle of fish and a higher salinity is required for "shock" treatment.... and if you need to go down this road you may want to switch suppliers.

My reference was more so just a precausionary 6ppt bath for new fingerlings, this is prob not required... its just something I do. Habit maybe.

But the yabb's always cop the bath. 6ppt was just a number I grabbed, could be anywhere between 4 and 12. I wasnt being specific. I throw a couple of cups of pool salt in 80L of water.... 500g per 80L.

I confuse myself most days...

Ditto... and even if parasite might be knocked over with a quick salt bath...

They've still been chased, netted, bagged, transported... then salt shocked... and then further chased and netted... (if you remove them after an hour...)

Personally... I salt... don't feed for two days... and then leave them for another three to five days...

They are ecto what now?...

What does that mean in Engerrish!... I know it's got something to do with "on the outside"... but there's gotta be a simpler word!

You're doin my head in Charlie... it's Friday night and I've already killed one bottle of red watching the Pies... then you go throwin bigs words around... K.I.S.S.

Literally... an organism that lives on the outside of another Yabs...

The headache you have is either from the bottle of red... or the colliwobbles lose... or both...

I suggest another bottle...

Hahaha... sorry mate, dont worry I do my own head in sometimes. Im on the juice too watching ya pies go down in flames

But yea, as Rupe said.. A commensal organism that lives on the outer body surface of another organism.

Ive been writing a book on Australian freshwater crustaceans for the last few months and my head is sooooo banked up with crap that I dont even know half the words that come out of my mouth. Im a terrible speller and my grammer is not far from a pre-school.

*frack*!...

HEY!!!... who edited my venting!!!

Has this joint got an automatic rant editing thingo... that sux arse!

...don't no-one talk to me until tomorrow!...

naughty words are edited magically