Northeast Philadelphia Aquarium Society

The ollowing is a letter from Dr. Brian Palmeiro, who spoke about fish health at our meetings, I hope everyone finds it helpful.

Dear NEPAS,

Thanks for having me out to talk at the meeting this past Thursday. It is great
to talk to a group of people as interested in fish as I am! For those of you
there at the talk, I told you I would get back to you with salt doses.

1 level teaspoon of salt per gallon will give you roughly 0.1% Salinity
In cases of Ich I will usually go up to 0.2-0.3% (obviously not with plants or
salt sensitive fish such as tetras). You should do 1 teaspoon per gallon once
a day for 2-3 doses until you reach the desired 0.2-0.3% concentration. One of
the reasons to gradually increase the salt concentration over 2-3 days is to be
sure that the fish will tolerate it. Once you reach the 0.3%, you should keep
it at that level for 14 days. I usually do this in addition to the other
things I spoke about (increase temperature, formalin) while closely monitoring
the fish! Remember, both formalin and increasing temperature/salinity will
decrease the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water. In a routine
fresh water tank (with non salt sensitive fish), I usually recommend keeping
the concentration of salt at around .05 - 0.1%. This is about a half teaspoon
per gallon. Beneficial things that salt does for your fish - promotes the
"slime/mucus coat" and the immune response, decreases the osmotic stress on
fish, and prevents parasites.