Question about aq salt

[tisburylane]

To help my fishie heal, I'm doing a large water change once a day as well as adding salt. My tank is somewhere between 2 and 2.5 gal. I currently only have 1 tsp in the tank right now, but when I do today's water change I'll add another.

My question is, though, at what point from here on can I add new salt? Do I have to wait until I do a 100% change, or is there a set standard where, say, after two days of changes enough of the old salt will have been removed to add new salt?

[Elsewhere]

Firstly, why are you putting it in? (Just for more information) And you put in the amount of salt that can go in after the amount of water you remove. Ex: remove half the water, put in half a TSP of AQ Salt. Only treat with AQ Salt for a maximum of ten days.

[tisburylane]

Originally Posted by Elsewhere

Firstly, why are you putting it in? (Just for more information)

Fin rot and some lost scales. It was suggested to me here in the forums that good water changes and a bit of salt (for said 10 days) should be helpful enough for healing rather than stressful meds, particularly since my small tank makes dosing difficult.

[Elsewhere]

Aw, fin rot is terrible. I just finished a bout of it with my boy. Keep treating him and you should hopefully see results soon!

[tisburylane]

Originally Posted by Elsewhere

Aw, fin rot is terrible. I just finished a bout of it with my boy. Keep treating him and you should hopefully see results soon!

I know. :( It's only on his dorsal right now, but his head is missing some scales too...

[Kanra Chan]

Salt is good for healing open wounds, killing bacteria and parasites like ich, and promoting slime coatings which protect scales and fins, and makes colours more vibrant.
For the solution, it's best to follow the directions on your salt packaging, but generally it's half a teaspoon per gallon. Two gallons would be a whole teaspoon. Do you have a designated container in which you make batches of water for your water changes? If so, measure how much liquid it holds, and add salt accordingly. For example:

I used a 2L (Half gallon) gingerale pop bottle to make batches of water for the water changes in my half gallon tank. When I mixed the water, I would put 1/4 tsp. of salt in the gingerale bottle, along with water softener and chlorine remover. This automatically made the proportions of salt that I add to my water safe.

Salt is best used inconsistently. If you put the same amount of salt in ever batch, then the fish and the parasites in the water will become immune.
You can vary the salt concentration any way you want. I personally only add salt every other batch (Not necessarily every other water change).
This way, there is always salt in the water, but the amount varies and it never becomes too concentrated.

[Oldfishlady]

IMO/E-it is best to QT for treatment and premix your treatment water so you will have more control-It is important to provide the therapeutic dosage of sodium chloride when making the partial water changes.

Aquarium salt (sodium chloride) is a great product to use for the right reason, dosage and duration with salt tolerant species.
IMO/E-Long term use is not needed or recommended with this species-Long term use can cause kidney damage and resistant issues.

The way I treat true fin rot-not fin damage-I QT in a small bare container that can be floated in the heated tank to maintain temp in the 76-77F range for treatment.
I premix my treatment water in a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water-Add salt 1-3 tsp/gal (depending on the degree of rot) Add a tannin source-either IAL (1lrg crushed/gal) or naturally dried and fallen from the tree Oak leaf (20 crushed/gal) I let it steep for at least 30min to allow the tannins to start to leach and salt to fully dissolve-Shake well before use.

Using this premixed treatment water-make 25% water changes every 15min for 1 hour. This will properly acclimate to the new chemistry and start the treatment

The next day or in 24h more or less-Using the premixed treatment water make 50% water change daily for the next 10-14 days to complete the duration.
The Betta needs to stay in the QT container in the treatment water for the duration of the treatment period.
If a tannin source was used-the 1gal jug of premixed treatment water should look darker each day.
The longer the tannins steep-the darker the water-the better.
Both IAL and Oak leaf tannins contain antibacterial/fungal properties, can help ease stress, toughen scales/fins and long term can lower pH

Nutrition play a big role in the healing process-Feed good quality varied diet in small frequent meals and if you have access to live mosquito larva offer several rinsed a couple of times a day to boost protein intake to promote healing.

Can you post a pic and give us husbandry info-It is important to find out the cause-otherwise it could be an on-going problem.

[tisburylane]

I had always heard that it was 1 tsp per gallon. The directions on the label say "Add 1 rounded tablespoon for every 5 gal or 1/2 rounded teaspoon for every gallon." He's about due for the day's water change, so I won't add any back. I do premix my salt before adding it to the tank.

Rather than overload this page with photos, I'll redirect you to the forum I made about his problems a day or two ago here. I don't find that he looks particularly worse today, I hope this means we are on the right track!

[Viva]

Originally Posted by tisburylane

I had always heard that it was 1 tsp per gallon. The directions on the label say "Add 1 rounded tablespoon for every 5 gal or 1/2 rounded teaspoon for every gallon." He's about due for the day's water change, so I won't add any back. I do premix my salt before adding it to the tank.

Rather than overload this page with photos, I'll redirect you to the forum I made about his problems a day or two ago here. I don't find that he looks particularly worse today, I hope this means we are on the right track!

Cinder, my HMDT, had fin rot a few months back and his fins are growing back wonderfully now...but still not completely. I predissolved 1tsp of aq salt per gallon of water, but like others have said the concentration of salt can vary. I treated him for 8 days and his fins started showing signs of growth within a week. The directions on the container aren't for treating diseases/conditions...more for creating brackish water for species that prefer it.

[Lunchbox148]

So what you guys are saying is: only use salt for treatment? I salted my 5 gallon tank because my betta had fin rot, that was 7 days ago and he is better now should I do a 100% water change or just keep doing 50 % and stop adding salt untill it is all gone?... I want to avoid doing 100% water changes Thanks!