How Does A Salt Bath Work?

[Zante]

I know about quantities, durations of the salt bath, and so on, but one thing I don't quite understand.

Do you acclimatise the fish to the salt bath and back to the aquarium? Or do you just plonk it in?

Wouldn't just plonking it in give it such a serious shock?
Wouldn't acclimatasion mess with the bath times?

As you can see I am quite confused on the matter...

 

[elmo666]

As I understand it the salt bath works by effecting the balance of fluids in the parasite, something to do with osmosis.
1.Fill a plastic container of choice with an appropriate source of freshwater, such as RO filtered water if you use it, if not use tap water, be sure to dechorlinate it first. Then add 10 to 30 grammes of salt per litre

2.To prevent unnecessary shock and stress, try to match the pH and temperature of the freshwater to that of the aquarium water the fish will be removed from.

3.Keep the water vigorously aerated during treatment. The simplest way to do this is to insert an air stone into the container.

4.Remove all the fish from the infected aquarium and place them into the freshwater. If you have a large number of fish to treat, do not overcrowd the container. You can do small groups at a time, changing the water after each group has been treated.

7.For the best results fish should remain in the saltwater for a duration of 3 to 4 minutes. If any fish is showing signs of undue stress after a minute or two, remove it.

Tips:
1.If when you initially put the fish in the freshwater they settle to the bottom on their sides and do not move about, don't worry, they usually upright themselves and start moving around within about the first minute. If concerned you can nudge them a little bit to stimulate movement, and if any fish looks to be overly stressed, remove it.

2.Sometimes during the dip/bath the water can become extremely fouled with waste. By making up and setting some extra treatment water aside it can be used to do water changes during the procedure if this occurs.

3.If you do not plan to quaratine new fish prior to placing them into the main aquarium, and as long as there are no real signs of stress from being in treated, it doesn't hurt to give them a quick freshwater dip or bath as a preventative measure.

 

[Zante]

This doesn't quite answer my questions. It just repeats stuff I already know.

I was asking about acclimatasation to the salt water and osmotic shock.

 

[deftuch]

just match the ph and temp the best you can acclimatise you fish bhy putting it in a sepate container witha third dose of salt before giving it its proper bath! hope this helps, may i ask what the problem with the fish/s is?

 

[Zante]

just match the ph and temp the best you can acclimatise you fish bhy putting it in a sepate container witha third dose of salt before giving it its proper bath! hope this helps, may i ask what the problem with the fish/s is?

No problem yet.

I have lost a gourami to dropsy despite salt baths, but mainly because I got to it too late.

Mine was (for the moment) a technical curiosity.

I play these scenarios in my mind in a "what if" kind of thing as a habit, and I started wondering about dipping fish in the salt solution.
I mean if we take care of aclimatising fish from the shop water to the tank water slowly, and they are fairly similar qualities of water, what about when we put them in the salt solution. That must be quite a shock! Wouldn't that shock harm the fish?

 

[deftuch]

to be honest mate im not an expert but i dont think it woukd have to much bearing on the outcome. the fish would have slight shock from being moved into that container to begin with so any research carried out would be hampered by that fact. i give all my fish a half dose salt water dip ( 5 mins ) before i place them in my tank. ive never had any problems neither have i lost more than 2 fish. i guess if the salt was harmfull and could cause severe shock if done wrong, there would be more intel on the subject. your call lol