How many of you do a salt dip?

[Ricochet]

I was reading a thread where anonapersona posted about doing a salt dip and was curious about it.

How many people on this forum do it?

What is the proper way of doing it (salt concentration, length of time, etc.)?

How much more does it stress the fish out (after getting netted, bagged, and taking a ride in the car)? Do most of you who do the salt dip do it as soon as you get home with the fish, then put them into a quarantine tank for several weeks?

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

i find a salt dip streeses the fish alot more then the catching process at the LFS i add salt to my tank for treatment buts thats is not when introducing fish etc

[anonapersona]

These are the resources I've used to get the details about how to salt dip. I was very familiar with the process with pond fish, details on the Puregold site, and the solutions stated at the Skeptical Aquarist site for tropical fish are almost identical.

The Skeptical Aquarist (http://skepticalaquarist.com/)

Puregold (http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/puregold/home.html)

Meanwhile, I'm also very curious as to how common this is! This is the first time I did it for tropical fish -- the tiny tetras did just fine, FWIW.

[RTR]

Nope, not me.

[anonapersona]

Originally posted by RTR
Nope, not me.

Well, I was hoping that there might be more discussion on this, but no one else seems interested. :(

RTR, why is it that you do not salt dip?
Do you think that fish in general do not need it, or are they harmed by it?
Do you treat fish some other way for parasites, or do you just wait to see if they actually show any symptoms?
Do you buy from sources where they have done treatments of some sort on the fish?

I am trying to learn good procedures in aquaria and I would like to know why you do what you do, or don't do!

[ChilDawg]

Are we talking about a prophylactic salt dip? I choose not to treat prophylactically for fear of exacerbating other illnesses but...

... Stephen Meyer from AFM does that with any new Koi that he buys to rid the slime coat of any external parasites...and that has worked well for him...so I wouldn't completely rule that out as an option, but I would probably try to discern if there are external parasites prior to a salt bath anyway.

[wetmanNY]

That Puregold site is full of good material. I hadn't seen it before. But half a cup of salt in a gallon, which cleans koi of skin parasites, is just too strong for small tropicals I think. My own salt baths aren't really dips. i add salted water to the travelling bag, as part of water changes/ transfer into quarantine, and I net out the fish when they look stressed.

I can't say I've been so successful in not introducing pests into my tanks over the years, either. :rolleyes:

The Shedd Aquarium passes all their freshwater fish through a full-strength seawater bath before moving them on to quarantine, according to an interview that was published a while ago.

What do y'all think about cleaning new arrivals with potassium permanganate baths?

[ChilDawg]

Dang...does Shedd find that there are certain species of fish that "just won't thrive" in their tanks? (Could that be related to their seawater baths?)

[wetmanNY]

It was in TFH, ChilDawg. You're thinking "What? Cardinal Tetras? Corydoras? Knife Fishes? Mormyrids?" eh.

[ChilDawg]

Yep, I was...

That sounds interesting...a little perplexing from the persepctive of what I had read, but if it works for them, then I guess it works...and I need to read a more diverse set of literature on these topics.

[RTR]

anonapersona - I do not use salt dips because I see little benefit from it (talking tropicals here, not Koi) as all my introductions are going into absolute and rigid QT for a minimum of 4 weeks (to potentially the rest of their life), during which they will be watched for problems.

I do not buy obviously parasitized* fish, and see no reason for any additional manipulation (beyond adjustment to my water) until or if I have good cause and a diagnosis and treatment, or return to the LFS, or euthanasia, as appropriate.

*Edit: exception - I will buy BW puffers with Ich being kept in FW if otherwise OK - that is easy to handle.

[tricksterpup]

I rarely do any salt dips, I havent found any need to this. I am with the status quo on doing QT tanks. Plus, I keep atleast 6 separate species of Livebearers and I only have 2 tanks with salt, they are both my brackish tanks a 29 and a 55.
But we had this conversation last week in the newbie forum. Check it out.

jim


http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=14987

[anonapersona]

Originally posted by tricksterpup
But we had this conversation last week in the newbie forum. Check it out.

jim


http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=14987

I followed that thread, but it seemed to be talking about salting a tank for a long time, not just a few minutes in a salt dip.

The goldfish site is pretty strong on salt dipping pond raised fish, as they have a big load (presumably) of parasites that they tolerate well in all that open water with a varied diet and sun and exercise, but those same parasites take advantage upon moving the fish indoors to the restricted aquarium, or so the theory goes.

It seemed reasonable to do the same for (likely) wild caught fish. I don't see very many who do anything other than a quarantine, and I am certainly still a novice, so maybe this is not a standard thing to do.

FWIW, the little ember tetras that I dipped are just fine, getting more color in their fins and ready and willing to eat what drops in the tank. They have spaced themselves out as evenly as possible in the tank and act like tetras, picking on each other for no apparent reason. They seem to recognize the food bringer, and gather to watch me when I come near. Some eat a lot, others don't so I'll wait a bit longer before I try to use the metronidazole.

[RTR]

There is a large grain of truth hiding under that pond suggestion, but IMHO & IME it is due to the poor water quality of so many goldfish tanks. If folk really used 30 or more gallons of water per goldfish, and fed a varied and appropriate diet, and kept the water parameters where they should be, the tank-maintained fish should be just a healthy as their outdoor cousins, and potentially more so.

I question the need/desirability of pre-treating fish so that they can withstand the abuse they are to be subject to in future less-than-suitable conditions. I would think that it would be better to make sure the indoor conditions, food and space are superior to the outdoor ones.

Neither fish should be subject to parasite loads, but it is harder to keep stocks patogen-free outdoors where there may be transmission by other vectors from infested waters.

[ChilDawg]

FWIW, we bought three Comet Goldies a few years ago, did not do the salt dip. Here's the tally now:

1 is still kickin'
1 was eaten
1 died from dropsy/bloat

Neither death could have been prevented by dips...and the one left is healthy as all get-out. He was a feeder, but he's doing fine now...I think the key is to select well and know the signs of disease in a feeder tank!