Sick tank was told to use salt

[bob112233]

I have had 3 fish die from dropsy in the lst 2 weeks. they were losing scales and swelling before death. MY local fish store told me to turn up my heat to 82 deg and salt the tank with 1 tbs per gal ( 120 gal tank) every day for 3 days. I just wanted to confirm this on the forums before i did it

 

[Zagz]

If your fish have dropsy, turning up the heat will not help. Epsom salts can help but not aquarium salt. Epsom salts help draw out fluids. QT'ing the fish is the best thing you can do. What kind of fish are afflicted? What are the tank inhabitants and what are your water parameters?

 

[bob112233]

so far i have had 2 of my 3 flying foxes die and one of my small fish. i have 1 fox left 10 harlican rosetta fish i think they are called, a pleco, 6 pepper corys, 3 autocats ,and 6 little fish with white tipped fins forget there names. my water conditions are fine except for my ph which is a little high 8.5

 

[Zagz]

When you say your parameters are fine what are the exact values of your ammonia, nitrite and nitrates? Do the fish that are affected have their scales sticking out from their bodies like pinecones? Unfortunately if it is dropsy, it is extremely difficult to cure.

 

[bob112233]

I retested and here is my results ph=8, no2= <0.3 mg/l, gh= 9, kh=7, nh3 nh4=0mg/l

none of the fish had pinecone scales, just a raged look with missing scales. the last firefox had no missing scales but was bloated with red marks around its scales it dies very quickly with in one day

 

[itafx]

Ph=8 is extremely high for most fish. It's almost like having them in lye. That could be enough to kill them by itself. Liveaquaria.com is a quick way to see tank conditions for different species. They list Ph of 5.8 to 7 for corys.

 

[bob112233]

im using a tetratest kit it told me 6.5 to 8.5 is fine with 7 being nuetral. My corys are not the problem they have lived in my tank for several years and i have never had a problem with them. I have had no problems with the ones i have purchased or bred in my tank. i also have had Harlequin Rasbora for over a year and have not lost a single fish. my problems have only started in the last few weeks.

 

[farmgirl]

I don't think ph is the issue, I have exremely hard water and the ph ranges 8.2 to 8.5 . I have very few problems. The main thing is that it is stable and not jumping all over the place. If it is dropsy, it is almost impossible to cure it. When one of my outside pond goldfish had it, I only prolonged his suffering by trying to prolong his life with a cure.
Seems to me the more info you post, the more the moderators might be able to help you.
hth

 

[DepotFish]

PH is not the issue, itafx is new to aquariums I believe and should be careful giving advice. 8 is great for half the species you have, but your fish really aren't compatable because of the differing tank conditions they need. You never did say your tank size.
Dropsy is possibly caused by bacteria, internal infection, virus, or poor water quality. Fish actually can recover from dropsy just fine as long as the kidneys aren't affected. Antibiotics can help with dropsy, maybe antibacterial food as well. Your fish are small unfortunately, if they were goldfish I'd recommend an antibiotic injection. Nonetheless, aggressive antibiotic treatment is going to be you best bet, but heat and salt won't hurt much, raise it slowly so your white clouds (i'd assume) aren't stresses.

 

[itafx]

I've done a lot of research on the web about recommended Ph. Very few are recommended above 7.5, and most appear to like it on the acid side. Here are my findings. When I see limits on ranges, it means to me that the fish won't thrive and may die outside the range. If the numbers quoted by the major suppliers like F&S are that wrong, why would they list them?

Species Variety Ph
Angel Gold Veil 5.8-7.0
Angel Silver 5.8-7.0
Barb Cherry 6.0-7.0
Barb Gold 6.0-8.0
Barb Rosy 6.0-7.0
Barb Tinfoil 6.5-7
Bitterling Bitterling 7.0-8.0
Cat Chinese Algae Eater 6.8-7.4
Cat Corydoris, Sterba's 6.2-7.8
Cat Siamese Algae Eater 5.5-8
Cichlid Electric Blue 7.8-8.5
Cichlid Yellowfin Borleyi 8.0-9.0
Danio Giant 6.0-7.0
Danio Glowlight 6.5-7
Danio Turquoise 6.5-7
Danio Zebra 6.5-7.0
Discus Neon Blue 6.1-7.5
Gambusia Gambusia 6.5-7.5
Gorami Blue 6-8.8
Gorami Sparkling (or pygmy) 6.0-7.0
Guppy Black Phantom 5.5-8
Guppy Green Cobra 5.5-8
Guppy Red Cobra 5.5-8
Loach Black Kuhlii 6.0-6.5
Minnow Golden White Cloud 6.5-7.5
Minnow Rosy Red 7.0-8.0
Rainbow Axelrodi 6.5-7.2
Rainbow Bosemani 6.5-7.2
Rainbow Praecox 5.8-6.5
Rainbow Turquoise 6.5-7.2
Slv Dollar Silver Dollar 5.0-7.0
Slv Dollar Silver Dollar 5.0-7.0
Swordtail Assorted or specific 7-8.3
Tetra Black Skirt 6.0-7.5
Tetra Cardinal 5.5-7.5
Tetra Glass Bloodfin 6.0-8.0
Tetra Glowlight 5.5-7.0
Tetra Head&Tail Light 5.8-8.5
Tetra Lemon 6.0-7.5
Tetra Neon 5.0-7.0
Tetra Neon, jumbo 5.0-7.0
Tetra Penguin 5.8-8.5
Tetra Red Minor Serpae 6.0-7.5
Tetra Silvertip 5.8-8.5
Tetra Xray 6.0-7.0

 

[DepotFish]

Boy, my fish should all be dead, and any fish sold in my area stores, and any fish sold by the very nice APET inc supplier. All our tanks are 8-9. Ph doesn't mean much. Its only important in fragile species and when breeding, and even then its not dire to have perfect ph.

 

[jsoong]

pH is NOT the issue with bob's fish.

I am not sure where the "recommended pH range" came from, perhaps that is the fish's native range. However, most fish can adapt well to different pH. It is fluctuating pH that kills them. A lot of people look at the "recommended pH" and try to doctor their water to be 7 or whatever, ending up with wildly fluctuating pH which is far worse.

Back to dropsy .... it is a symptom of many different conditions, ranging from poor water to infections to old age. It is difficult to treat & recovery is rare. The best you can do is to have perfect water condition. You can try antibiotics on the off chance that the cause is bacterial .... although if a bacterial infection is at the stage of dropsy (kidney failure) it is usually fatal.