Salt ratio in ppt

[alien07]

Hi all.

I read that the salt content should be 0.3%. But in PPT? Should it be 3PPT?

Please reply. Thanks.

[CarolinaGirl]

first....why do you want to add salt to the pond? Are the fish sick?

[alien07]

Quote: Originally Posted by CarolinaGirl first....why do you want to add salt to the pond? Are the fish sick?

Hi,

Yah, my previous 4, 10yr old kois all were wiped out within 3 days. Found out the all filter medium were removed..... Furthermore, i just added 3 new kois which till today, (10 days later), do not exhibit any sickness/weird behavior. Hence, to play safe, i want to add salt to kill off any other lingering parasites in the water.

I have changed 30% of the pond water, bought Glass Rings, Coral chips, Japanese Mats, Filter wool and those black filter Mats to replace those media that were thrown away.

The symptoms that my 4 old koi's exhibit prior to their death were, Two were becoming very skinny even though they had good appetite. Flashing, after which it was gasping on the surface for air. I took one out to a quarantine tank in which i notice a fungus/fluffy white stuff on the anal fin, their scales and skin turn pink and have like pink spots. To date, i am still not sure why 4 of them perished within 3 days. First 3 within 1 day, the last one, on the third day. I can only suspect the lack of filtration as the medias were all removed from the filters. Therefore, now i'm building a good filtration system with the above medias.

Therefore, in order to prevent the disease/parasite/fungus/virus from spreading to the new additions, hence, i was thinking of adding salt to kill those bacteria.

So, is 3ppt/ppm the same as 0.3% salt? Because i'm not very sure of the Pond's volume. But i do have a Refractometer (Measures the salt content in the water) which reads wither in SG levels or PPT.

Thanks for all help.

[CarolinaGirl]

Here's some salt calculations for you:

.1% salt in 100 gallons is .8333 pounds.
.3% salt in 100 gallons is 2.5 pounds.
.6% salt in 100 gallons is 5.0 pounds.

.15% salt in one US ton(264) gallons is 3.313 pounds.

how did your filter media get removed? how big is your pond?

Please keep in mind that salt does not even begin to touch most parasites. Salt will not cure any bacterial or fungal problems you have in the pond or on the fish. To kill off parasites you first need to know what you are dealing with, and treat that parasite appropriatly. Flukes require one thing, costia another, and lice yet another. Some parasite chemicals are not compatable with salt so by adding salt prematurly, you may not be able to add the correct cure. And it's possible you don't have parasites at all!! It is very possible that ammonia killed the fish. Do you have a water test kit? You need to check ammonia and nitrite levels right away, along with pH.

What area are you in? Can you call your local koi club and see if someone can assist?

[l113892]

"how did your filter media get removed? "

Maybe Alien(s) took it.

[alien07]

Quote: Originally Posted by CarolinaGirl Here's some salt calculations for you: .1% salt in 100 gallons is .8333 pounds. .3% salt in 100 gallons is 2.5 pounds. .6% salt in 100 gallons is 5.0 pounds. .15% salt in one US ton(264) gallons is 3.313 pounds. how did your filter media get removed? how big is your pond? Please keep in mind that salt does not even begin to touch most parasites. Salt will not cure any bacterial or fungal problems you have in the pond or on the fish. To kill off parasites you first need to know what you are dealing with, and treat that parasite appropriatly. Flukes require one thing, costia another, and lice yet another. Some parasite chemicals are not compatable with salt so by adding salt prematurly, you may not be able to add the correct cure. And it's possible you don't have parasites at all!! It is very possible that ammonia killed the fish. Do you have a water test kit? You need to check ammonia and nitrite levels right away, along with pH. What area are you in? Can you call your local koi club and see if someone can assist?

Hi,

I've got Ammonia Test Kit and PH, going to purchase No2 later today.

So far (Tested 8 days after putting in the new media):
Ammonia: 0
PH: 7

I've also guessed it may be due to ammonia spike cos there was a strange fishy smell. However, it killed my older koi's but not the newest additions. Also, there were reddish marks on the scales of the older koi's, hence, i guessed it was parasites.

[RookieKoiGuy]

Quote: Originally Posted by l113892 "how did your filter media get removed? " Maybe Alien(s) took it.

I was thinking maybe a Genie

[CarolinaGirl]

Quote: Originally Posted by alien07 Hi, I've got Ammonia Test Kit and PH, going to purchase No2 later today. So far (Tested 8 days after putting in the new media): Ammonia: 0 PH: 7 I've also guessed it may be due to ammonia spike cos there was a strange fishy smell. However, it killed my older koi's but not the newest additions. Also, there were reddish marks on the scales of the older koi's, hence, i guessed it was parasites.

something is not adding up. If you water had an off smell and no filter media, then it was 100% an ammonia spike. So why did you add new fish when you were already having troubles, and how old is that test kit? No way ammonia disappears on it's own, and if youa re running an uncycled pond with fish in it, you will not have an ammonia reading of 0. What aren't you telling us? too many things do not add up here. And when it comes to treating health problems of koi, you NEVER guess. Multiple unneeded treatments will kill faster than parasites will.

you also still have not told us how big the pond is, or where the filter media went.

[alien07]

Quote: Originally Posted by CarolinaGirl something is not adding up. If you water had an off smell and no filter media, then it was 100% an ammonia spike. So why did you add new fish when you were already having troubles, and how old is that test kit? No way ammonia disappears on it's own, and if youa re running an uncycled pond with fish in it, you will not have an ammonia reading of 0. What aren't you telling us? too many things do not add up here. And when it comes to treating health problems of koi, you NEVER guess. Multiple unneeded treatments will kill faster than parasites will. you also still have not told us how big the pond is, or where the filter media went.

Everything adds up, its plain simple:

1) Koi's were fine, and eating well, so i bought 3 new Koi's
2) All were eating happily for about 2 days.
3) One koi started to flash and dart around
4) Within 2 days, 3 old Koi's died.
5) Treated the last Sick koi which exhibits the above symptoms as mentioned in my top posts
6) Opened up the filter to find that all media had been removed. (I don't own the pond so i wound not know who removed the media.)
7) Went to buy NEW test kits (PH, NH3/4, NO2), Jap mat, Black sponge filter, normal filter wool, glass rings and bacteria house.
8) Tested the water a few days later after adding the filter media into the filter.
9) Ammonia = 0 - 0.25, NO2 = 0 - 0.25

Its not amazing or things does not add up. Its plain simple.
This is not a new pond, hence, its not uncycled. The old water has Beneficial Bacteria's in it. Hence, the BB's will grow quicker than usual as this is NOT a new pond.

Since there was no trace of Ammonia, maybe it is not an Ammonia spike since my 3 new Koi's did not die? I thought if its ammonia spike, all fishes will die?

I am not a vet so i don;t really know what is 100% wrong with my Koi's, Hence i can only speculate. Since the main cause of Flashing is due to parasites, and raising the salt level will kill 7 out of the 9 different types of parasites, why can't i use salt? I do not multi treat my Koi's i just want to use salt...

P.S. I didn't know that there was no media in the filters and that the Koi's were unhealthy since they were eating healthily and had survived under their owner's care for 10 years. Therefore, i bought another 3 Koi's to accompany them.

[CarolinaGirl]

OK...see you didn't explain all these details to begin with. You say you don't own the pond, but yet you are calling these fish yours...hence it's easy to see how confusing this is to all of us. So these 3 new fish were added without Quarantine? then the problem is they probably carried parasites (or a virus) to the pond that they were already used to (or immune to), and that the old fish were not used to. Sort of like if you visit a forien country and drink the water you get sick....yet the natives who are used to that water do not get sick. Anyway....new fish should never be added without QT. Part of QT is scrape and scope to diagnost and treat parasites, and adding an old fish from the existing population into the QT with the new fish to make sure there are no incompatabilities. Whoever told you salt will kill 7 of the 9 parasites is sadly mistaken. That statement may have been true 15 years ago, but parasites are salt resistant now, mainly because many uninformed people keep salt in their ponds all the time now. So salt is not going to solve this problem. Do not add salt to kill the mystery parasites....figure out exactly what they are first and treat accordingly. And flashing is not just caused by parasites...it is also caused by water quality problems.

And no....this pond is NOT cycled. Just because it has beneficial bacteria in the water and the walls, there is no cycled filter to handle a full bio-load. Do not feed these fish much for at least a month and keep a close eye on ammonia.