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Steve: You will read all sorts of things about salt.
Some people recommend keeping a low level of salt in a pond at all times, such as 0.1% or less. I would never do that because: 1) koi are truly freshwater fish. They do not encounter salt in nature, nor in the mudponds of Japan. 2) If water conditions are appropriate they do not need the assistance of salt to ease the osmotic burden on their systems. 3) Maintaining low levels of salt decreases the usefulness of salt when it is needed to assist a fish or as a medicinal treatment.
There are some good uses for salt. When fish are stressed by being moved or injury, adding salt to a concentration of 0.1% to 0.2% or thereabouts can ease the osmotic balance strain on the fish. If biofiltration is set back, a low salt level will protect the koi from nitrite poisoning for a week or so ... often enough time for the nitrifier community to recover.
Salt is my preferred treatment for Ich (and from what I see posted I think it usually works on Chilodonella and some strains of Costia, although a Pro-Form C treatment is more likely to be recommended.) But, the old recommendation of using a salt concentration of 0.3% was more geared to protecting water plants than saving the fish. Koi can handle 0.6% salt and at that concentration many parasites are set back, if not eliminated. (However, salt is deadly if used in combination with any of the formalin based medications, which are generally the more recommended treatment of choice for most parasites.)
You will get a debate over whether parasites have become salt resistant as a result of indiscriminate use of salt, or whether salt was only ever effective as a sudden shock to the system of the target parasites. The bottom line is that salt is not the cure-all it is said to be in some writings. But, I still keep enough on hand to treat my pond to 0.6%, just in case Ich pops up when a frost visits Florida in January.
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