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The Loach Forum Archives (1)
Re: Been thinking about this...
Posted By: BB <nettech@bellatlantic.net> In Response To: Re: Been thinking about this... (Alistair)
Date: Saturday, 27 March 1999, at 3:09 a.m.
On ich and salt. Salt is only half the cure. The salt promotes slime production through irritation and can be said to aid the fish by giving it's natural immunity system a chance to fight the paracites from reattaching themselves, and is used to help combat ich in the freeswimming stage. The high temperature very critical because it speeds up the life cycle of the paracite. The fish (the host) is fed on by the white spots (cysts) and then they fall off, multiply and then the free swimming ich looks for a host to start the process over again. ALL freshwater treatments are based on killing ich in the freeswimming stage, because the cysts can't be killed. If the free swimming ich does not find an exceptable host (fish) within a given time period it dies (screaming in pain). Raising the temperature speeds up the feeding paracites (white spots) and causes them to fall off, the salt induces oversliming and helps heal the previous attachment site of the encysted ich. When the paracite divides and begings its journey back to the fish the higher temperature decreases the lifespan significantly of this stage of the paracite and the salt can help to fight the paracite while it is volunerable. These are my thoughts:) I posted the results of research to support these claims in a post entitled "ichy situation". The one thing I never fully understood was the practice of keeping an infected tank dark. Is this because the darkness will cause the fish to rest, and in a restful state the fish can devote more energy to the immune system? This would put the fish at more risk I think, as fish tend to rest on the bottom of the aquarium (loaches anyway) and that reduces the time it takes new ich to reach the fish. Does light play some role in the development of the paracite? I have not found anything to support this. Help if you can please.
On Osmotic Pressure; Saltwater fish pee less. This is why... Osmotic pressure is recorded as the TOTAL disolved solids devided by 100, and the result can be expressed in pounds per square inch. (I'll get into how to get total disolved solids in a bit.. bear with me) The osmotic pressure inside fish cells is about the same, outside is a different story. Saltwater fish fight to avoid dehydration. They take water in and expel high concentrations of salt. Kidneys act like little RO units:) Freshwater fish fight to keep from becoming waterlogged. They take in much more water and extract the salt and expel water less the salt. So they pee more:) Adding salt would increase the external osmotic pressure and require a freshwater fish to take less water in, however it would increase the conductivity [ability of solution (water) to carry a current] of the water. So fish coming from waters lower in ph and total disolved solids (they tend to go hand in hand) whould also live in less conductive waters. Loaches for the most part are found in low ph, low total disolved solids, low conductivity so keeping them in a low ph with added salt is freaky. That water could be said to be soft but unnaturally conductive because of the salt. Better imho to omit salt or raise ph, at least then things would not be so out of wack. Could this be why some fish are starved and baged with mild salt prior to shipping? No pee, no poo, no problem.
Real quick on total disolved solids; you can get this measurement by multiplying the conductivity (measured in micro or milisiemens) by an imperial factor, and the result is in parts per million. The imperial factor will vary depending on what part of the country you live in. It can be obtained from your local water municipality. be be boo beep "Yes.. Hello I'd like to know what the imperial factor is for determinig total disolved solids from conductivity please." One source I have states, "This factor may vary from .64 to .9 depending on the soluable components of the water and temperature". You should also be able to get a temperature correction equation:) How do you get a conductivity measurement? You will need a conductivity monitor. Pinpoint makes a nice one for around 100$ that will give digital results in micro or millisiemens. It was a good investment imho, because I'm running over thirty aquariums at this point. For one aquarium it might not be worth the investment but who can have just one;)
If it helps anyone; total hardness is comprised of calcium hardness (CaCO3 calcium carbonate ppm) plus magnesium hardness (MgCO3 magnesium carbonate). If you want to raise ph and buffering capicity, dolamite ..lower ph and maintain good buffer peat and add crushed oyster shells as needed, but I don't like to mess too much:) Just some thoughts. BB
On stress; salt is used as a tonic for stressed fish because most freshwater fish loose chloride ions when they become stressed. So sodium chloride added helps combat the loss.
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