Re: [GSAS-Member] Was Bulk chemicals - now Salts...and fin rot in guppies...

["Connie Carlson" <nwconniec@hotmail.com>]

8.2 tap water??  where do you live???

SO, lots of fish seem to GET salt in their tanks by their keepers, but I still 
don't understand why.  Does it mimic some specific condition in the wild?  Is 
it just a disease preventative??  If so, what is a therapeutic level/dosage, 
and how do you know when you have it?

I am having a terrible time controlling fin rot in my guppy tank.  In the last 
month I have tried adding anywhere from 2 to 6 tablespoons of aquarium salt for 
the 29 gallon tank, added post water changes; it does not seem to help a bit.  
So then the medications got tried.  I have treated with a fungal cure; that 
seemed to get rid of the jagged edged cases, only to have the melting tailfin 
type show up.  Treated that with a round of Maracyn; that seemed to help the 
juvenille and adult guppies, but the fry that were fine before, now they have 
tail rot even after the treatments!  They look fine, and suddenly they don't; 
wasting away from the tail forward.  Moved the fry to a new tank....  a ten 
gallon one with coral substrate; latest thing the guy at The Fish Store said to 
try, and I added two tablespoons of salt but that was a blind guess.   Am now 
treating individual fry with a dose of methylene blue to each fish that looks 
sick.  Some survive that treatment some don't; too soon to tell if it is curing 
the overall problem.  Very frustrating....  and time consuming...  and 
disheartening to lose fish, even if they are small.  And for the record I do 
think it started after I fed the whole group of them frozen bloodworms a few 
times; have long since stopped.  I don't know where else all these diseases 
could have come from.

To borrow one of the pet phrases of Tom Myers (an instructor of mine): The more 
I learn about all of this, the more I think I am just reaching a higher state 
of confusion!
Connie
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Trish<mailto:snips36@yahoo.com> 
  To: Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member 
chat<mailto:gsas-member@thekrib.com> 
  Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 6:58 PM
  Subject: Re: [GSAS-Member] Bulk chemicals - help!


  I used epsom salt on all my tanks.....I used to us "aquarium salt" before, 
then, went through a faze and used cichlid salt for my cichlids, then found 
epsom salt, and found it to be much cheaper. So now I used it on all tanks, and 
all my fish. I use it on my 2 goldfish tanks, which have goldies, dojos, and 
corys. Also on my Trophues tank, with bristle nose pleco, and also on my Mbuna 
tank, with clown loaches, and bristle nose plecos, without any problems on any 
of them. I have used salt with guppies, mollies, angels, gouramies....and 
anything else I have had in the past..just cant think of them right now....

  I dont have to worry about ph, for its 8.2 out of the tap, so thats good for 
the cichlids =}, the only fish which have had somewhat of a problem it seems is 
the mollies....I never could keep them....not sure why...

  Trish


  --- On Sun, 7/27/08, Connie Carlson 
<nwconniec@hotmail.com<mailto:nwconniec@hotmail.com>> wrote:

  > From: Connie Carlson <nwconniec@hotmail.com<mailto:nwconniec@hotmail.com>>
  > Subject: Re: [GSAS-Member] Bulk chemicals - help!
  > To: "Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member chat" 
<gsas-member@thekrib.com<mailto:gsas-member@thekrib.com>>
  > Date: Sunday, July 27, 2008, 11:02 AM
  > Steev (or anyone else that has an opinion about this),
  > 
  > Can you say more??  Why is it good for the other fish? 
  > What does it do, and in what quantities if we are adding it
  > to tanks/fry containers?   Different for each species, i.e.
  > koi vs. guppies??  I have heard/read in several places it
  > is good to add salts to the livebearer tanks, but to date
  > have only used the commercial marine salt mixes, and always
  > feel like I am throwing the Hail-Mary pass when guessing how
  > much to add.  I would love an alternative to that...
  > 
  > And any reason why didn't you list the
  > ancistrus/plecos?  Salts NOT good for them?
  > 
  > Connie
  >   ----- Original Message ----- 
  >   From: Steev Ward<mailto:steevward@yahoo.com<mailto:steevward@yahoo.com>> 
  >   To: Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member
  > chat<mailto:gsas-member@thekrib.com<mailto:gsas-member@thekrib.com>> 
  >   Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 9:24 AM
  >   Subject: Re: [GSAS-Member] Bulk chemicals - help!
  > 
  > 
  >   It's mostly because carbonates raise the pH and
  > sulfates don't. So sulfates aren't
  >   really buffers. But people might have other reasons for
  > avoiding sulfates. In marine
  >   tanks I think people avoid adding any sulfates. Otherwise
  > Magnesium sulfate, epsom
  >   salts, is great stuff. I think it is good to add for LOTS
  > of fish, not just cichlids.
  >   Especially livebearers, goldfish, koi, rainbowfish,
  > "sharks", corys, and barbs.
  > 
  > 
  >   --- Clifford Miller
  > 
<clifford@clevergeek.com<mailto:clifford@clevergeek.com<mailto:clifford@clevergeek.com%3Cmailto:clifford@clevergeek.com>>>
  > wrote:
  > 
  >   > 
  >   > While the topic was up I thought I'd get some
  > opinions on the buffering
  >   > agents I'm using.  Better to use Magnesium
  > Carbonate than sulfate?
  >   > 
  >   > I currently use a mix of epsom salts, baking soda
  > and marine salt in my
  >   > cichlid tanks.  Nice and cheap, and easy to get at
  > any drug store if not
  >   > already on hand. The fish all seem to be doing well
  > (I haven't lost any
  >   > fish yet, including the 13 daffodils that I think
  > were from Erik.)
  >   > 
  >   > Thanks,
  >   > 
  >   > Cliff
  >   > 
  > 
  > 
  > 
  >         
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