How much salt is too much salt

[desley]

Hi,

I have been having a few problems with my platties .. and guppies.... danios remain fine.

I have been adding salt slowing over an hour (say a tablespoon) each day to see if it helps. As a busy mum i didn't keep a record of how much I actually have put in there now.

I lost a few fish that looked like they were going to die anyway over the last week .. and now I want to know if I have put too much salt in the water will it hurt.

The fish are all looking good apart from a platty with a red/orange patch which I have posted in emergencies before and got no help (please someone if you can help).

I have a very good photo of him for anyone who can help. I want to know if I should treat him. Someone suggested Melafix but when I went to buy it the pet shop said no wont help and sold me Easy Life (not sure)....

I cannot test the water for anything other than PH as I cannot find a test kit from any shops near me. I tried another today and they didn't have anything.

I do heaps of water changes (some small ones from the top a couple of times a week) and a fortnightly gravel clean of about 25%.... but we have lost power due to storms and had heatwave conditions .. which is when all my previously happy fish started to look unwell.

I am scared of fish TB as some guppies in the past have died slumped over ... and 1 is slumped over now. Other 2 are fine.

If I did have TB in the water will all my fish eventually die. ie... can I just keep looking after them and if they all do fine I don't have TB in the water ... or can they live with it ?

Please help
Desley

 

[thecichlidaddict]

I highly recommend not adding any more salt into the water. Salt is not a mirical cure for anything, and while some find it does help certain things it should not be used so lightly. It's easy to use too much.

Keep doing regular water changes, and don't add anything to the water unless you know why you are adding it and how to use it. If you are still determined to use salt then read up on its usage as much as you can, and do several consecutive water changes on your tank using unaltered water to dilute what you have used so far - this way you can pretty much start over and keep track of how much you are using.

If you lose power that often I'd suggest looking for a battery operated air pump to keep water circulating, especially during a heat wave when the fish can quickly run out of oxygen.

If your tank has, in fact, become infected with TB then it is in the aqarium - any susceptable fish that you add will get it too. The only guaranteed method of controling it is to euthenize the fish, sterilize the tank, and start over.

 

[brianriv]

As for test kits you can order them online from pet stores and probably get a better price for them than in the stores.