[dski13]

I believe my tank is infected with a skin parasite that is attaching my guppies. I have done a round of treatment with PraziPro which seemed to help for a while but I think it might be back. I was thinking about treating with salt but it is a planted tank. What concentration of salt is safe with plants and what are signs of salt stress in plants.

Flora: water sprite, water wisteria, riccia, crypt wendtii, annubias, cobomba, e. vesuvius, rotala, vals, marsilea minuta, sword, java fern, and red tiger lotus.

Fauna: Guppies and snails (which I want to keep)

 

[CatSoup]

I don't think they will take the salt needed to kill it. Is it ick? You should probably take out all the fish and put them in a hospital tank. If it is ick, raise heat to 82 and add salt to the hospital tank. What does it look like?

 

[Diana]

Most plants are OK with a trace of salt, about enough to ease the stress of the fish (1 teaspoon per 10 gallons). This is not enough to kill any external parasite or disease of the fish.

A few plants can take double that, if the level is raised really slowly. That is still not enough to help the fish by killing parasites or diseases.

Guppies are very tolerant of salt. The best ones I ever had were in my brackish tank. Salt is a good treatment for them. But I would move them out of the planted tank to do so.

Ditto Cat Soup: What is the actual diagnosis? Many parasites will die without a host, so this is another reason to move the fish to a hospital tank to treat.

 

[dski13]

It is definitely not ick. There are no white spots. I think it may be Gyrodactylus. The early deaths in the tank had the fish just kind of hovering towards the top and doing what I think is shimmying and breathing heavy. The tank was fully cycled so not ammonia or nitrite poisioning. I had one fish that did some flashing which lead me to think parasite. I treated with PraziPro and it seamed to help he stopped flashing and all my baby guppies developed nice tails instead of pin tail which many were dying from. Then yesterday I saw my last adult shimmying again. I treated again with PraziPro but I am worried it will keep coming back and am looking to treat it with something else. I was hoping salt would do the trick but I guess I would need to remove all the fish and treat them elsewhere because of the plants.

 

[BBradbury]

Salt in Freshwater Tanks

I believe my tank is infected with a skin parasite that is attaching my guppies. I have done a round of treatment with PraziPro which seemed to help for a while but I think it might be back. I was thinking about treating with salt but it is a planted tank. What concentration of salt is safe with plants and what are signs of salt stress in plants.

Flora: water sprite, water wisteria, riccia, crypt wendtii, annubias, cobomba, e. vesuvius, rotala, vals, marsilea minuta, sword, java fern, and red tiger lotus.

Fauna: Guppies and snails (which I want to keep)

Hello ds...

Aquarium plants are fine with salt doses up to a level tablespoon for every 5 gallons of replacement water. You can use standard aquarium salt, commercial canning salt or Kosher salt, but no table salt.

It would be smart to begin the dosage at a teaspoon (one third of a tablespoon) for every 5 gallons of water, just to see how your plants react. This amount should still be enough to treat your fish and you can increase the dose later if needed.

B

 

[somewhatshocked]

Not all aquatic plants are fine with salt dosing at that strength. In fact, many of Cryptocoryne will melt with far less salt than that. And depending upon the environment they've been kept in, Bacopa australis can be killed, as it tends to be a bit delicate.

As others like Diana have mentioned, treat your fish outside your tank if you're using salt.

 

[dski13]

Just to double check then. If I am treating them in a hospital tank I should slowing increase the salt to an effective treatment level. What concentration would be appropriate for treating parasites? Or, since i am taking them out of the main tank anyway, would it be more effective to to a concentrated salt dip?

 

[CatSoup]

Please post a picture so that we can make a better diagnosis for you. I don't feel good giving treatment advice without knowing what you are treating.