Proper Salt Dosage for Freshwater

[plumwd]

I have a red flame dwarf gourami that is currently very stressed and not acting right. I believe he may have been attacked by my other male, but am not positive. I removed him from the main tank and put him in quarantine. He's been swimming vertically near the surface of the tank or resting in the plants, not at all active like he normally is.

Also wanted to add that that I've had him about a month. I moved him and his tank mates last week to my 80 gallon tank that I had been cycling for about 3 weeks. The tank was properly cycled prior to their insertion with a fishless cycle. I used media from another tank and ensured that my parameters were stable prior to adding any fish for several days after the cycle. They've been in the new tank about a week.

Tank parameters are perfect:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10ppm
PH: 7.4
Temp: 78

I'd like to add aquarium salt to help him out but I'm not sure what the proper dosage is. Can someone kindly help me out?

Thanks!

 

[BBradbury]

Hello plum...

I add a teaspoon plus a bit more to every 5 gallons of my replacement water. This is enough to ease the stress on the fish and to boost the immune system, but the amount won't damage sensitive aquarium plants. Salt has many benefits. It lessens the toxic affects of ammonia and nitrite, stimulates gill function and provides minerals that fish and plants need for good health. The added benefit is that most pathogens that can infect fish aren't very tolerant of even a trace of standard aquarium salt in the tank water.

B

 

[plumwd]

Thanks for the info, I've added a dosage to my main tank. Unfortunately my male died this afternoon

 

[plumwd]

I had 2 more flame dwarf females who died overnight. One of them I knew was probably going to pass. She had the same symptoms as my male. I found her hanging out by the heater, although earlier in the day she was hanging out on the bottom (not crashed) but didn't want to leave the area and it was not normally where she hung out.

The one that was hanging out by the heater had clamped fins and was obviously distressed.

The second female did not have clamped fins, but I noticed she appeared to have some lesions on her side and a white spot on her lip. They looked like she was missing some scales. Any thoughts? Is Indirovirus still an issue with DG?

Water Parameters this morning:

Ammonia: .25 - assuming this is because I did a water change yesterday and have chloramine in the water.

Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5ppm
PH: 7.4
Temp: 76

 

[BBradbury]

Your Tank

I had 2 more flame dwarf females who died overnight. One of them I knew was probably going to pass. She had the same symptoms as my male. I found her hanging out by the heater, although earlier in the day she was hanging out on the bottom (not crashed) but didn't want to leave the area and it was not normally where she hung out.

The one that was hanging out by the heater had clamped fins and was obviously distressed.

The second female did not have clamped fins, but I noticed she appeared to have some lesions on her side and a white spot on her lip. They looked like she was missing some scales. Any thoughts? Is Indirovirus still an issue with DG?

Water Parameters this morning:

Ammonia: .25 - assuming this is because I did a water change yesterday and have chloramine in the water.

Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5ppm
PH: 7.4
Temp: 76

Hello plum...

Even a trace of ammonia is enough to kill most aquarium fish pretty quickly. Hardy fish like female Guppies, Rasboras, Danios (Zebras), White Clouds and Platys are much more tolerant of marginal water conditions that are normal during the nitrogen cycle.

If you're cycling your tank, these are the species to use and make sure you're treating your tap water to remove chlorine and chloramine. I use Seachem's "Safe".

B

 

[plumwd]

The tank is done cycling. I used Prime to dechlorinate and it will show a touch of ammonia because it locks the free ammonia. So far everyone else is fine I have four more Gouramis.

 

[Matt68005]

2.5 Cups of sea salt per ten gallons of water will yield "brackish" water. Make sure to dissolve it first for at least 30 minutes.