Ok to use salt with Plecos in tank?

[TygGer]

A couple gold fish in my tank look like they're developing ick. I have 2 rubber lipped plecs in there that look ok. Is it ok to add salt to the tank with plecs in there?

Just wondering if they were extra sensative to it?

Thanks

 

[PsiPro]

Catfish are sensitive to salt... well i'm prety sure they are.

 

[rich311k]

No need for salt just raise temp to 86 for several weeks.

 

[TankGirl]

I might think twice about a heat treatment when it comes to goldfish - they really do not do well in tropical temps.

In this case I'd go ahead and use Rid-Ich. I have used this for many years in all kinds of setups and I have never had a problem with it, though for me nowadays heat is simplest. I have used it in tanks with scaleless fish, plants and tetras, which are sensitive to ich medications, and have had good luck. Follow the directions carefully and I think you will be in good shape. Do gravel vacs frequently during treatment to get any eggs that are lying on the substrate.

 

[rich311k]

Thank you tankgirl I missed the goldfish.

 

[TygGer]

So Rid-ich would be ok to use with gold fish and plecos? If so, I need to go get some today!

Thx

 

[TankGirl]

Yes, you can use Rid-Ich. The recommended dose is already diluted for use with sensitive fish. The only thing about it is that it may stain your silicone seals. It never stained mine but I have heard this complaint about it.

 

[crazycat]

just fyi--i've used salt (and heat) to cure ich in a tank with plecos and loaches. they all did fine. i removed the plants first. the snails, on the other hand, did not do so well--and if you have shrimp, salt is no good.

 

[Menagerie]

To continue on the salt topic....the amount of salt needed to treat ich only raises the osmolarity a tiny bit. I have treated a planted tank with plecos and loaches and everyone was fine. Also, many snails will be fine with a touch of salt, if the salt is added premixed in water and does not land right on the snails.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I have added salt w/my apple snails. They wouldn't come out of their shells to eat, until the salt was gone.

 

[TygGer]

This is what I found online:

" Salt can be used in freshwater systems by adding one teaspoon of salt to each gallon of water every twelve hours for three treatments. You are gradually increasing the salinity to a level of 0.3% or three teaspoons per gallon total. The dose goes in gradually over 36 hours to avoid shocking the filter (especially Nitrobacter, which results in a short Nitrite surge). Some sensitive fishes will also do better when salted if it's added so gradually. Salt should be of the non-iodized table salt variety, or an Aquarium salt recommended by the Pet Shop. Live plants can be killed or yellowed by this, so be careful to remove these before treatment. As a general rule, plants with a defined root system will usually survive salting, while floating varieties like Anachris, Cabomba and Wisteria are flatly killed. My Apons died back 50%, Cryptocoryne couldn't care less, Pennywort hated it but did not die, Anubias yellowed and recovered, in the ponds, Lilies yellow marginally but do not even stop flowering. Iris is impervious, and Hyacinths hate it but they only yellow in the older leaves, and bounce right back."


I was also trying to figure out what 3% salt volume equated to using a hydrometer or refractometer.


From the same place:

" Is there a way to measure the salt once added?

There actually IS a method for the manufacture of a hydrometer that can measure the low salinity of the water when treated to 0.3%.
This idea was invented by the ingenious Randy LFever at Blue Ridge Fish Hatchery.
Simply make a stock solution of 0.3% salinated water by adding 2.4 teaspoons (1 tablespoon is a rough equivalent) of non iodized salt to a single gallon of water. This solution is very close to exactly 0.3% and should be used to calibrate your hydrometer.
A SeaTest brand hydrometer can be purchased from your local pet shop for about 10$, and is INTENDED for the measurement of marine solutions of salt. The hydrometer can be identified by its appearance, which is an acrylic box, about the size of a pack of cards. Inside the box is a free arm that floats on the scale marked on the outside of the box. The box is usually filled to the line with marine water, and the arm indicates the specific gravity of the marine system.
It will not rise for our 0.3% solutions.
The trick is to pop out the lever arm by sliding up the retaining piece, and then drill a small, one-eighth inch hole in the counter weight in the arm.
Replace the arm into the box, and measure a sample of your stock solution. In all probability, the arm will not rise. So you remove it again, and bore out a VERY SMALL amount more of the counter-weight. Do not remove too much or the arm will shoot to the top of the scale, and the box becomes useless. As the hole approaches 3/16ths of an inch, you will see that the arm starts to float at about the 1.022 mark. If there are ANY (even one!) bubbles on the arm, it will shoot up off the scale. .
Once the arm floats mid level in your stock solution, you can disregard the other markings, and scratch '0.3%' on the box where the arm floats, and from that moment forward, you've got a reliable measure of the salinity of treated water. At least, even if you are not getting a number-figure, you can tell if you have too much or too little salt after say, a water-change."


Anyone disagree that 3% salt volume equals 1.022 specific gravity? I think 1.022 SG is approximately 28ppm.