How to effectively treat your fish in case of illness?

How to effectively treat your fish in case of illness? There are several treatments we can use in the event that our fish catch a disease in the pond. We are going to look at the salt treatment, which is one of the most effective yet also one of the cheapest treatments that exist.

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Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of this treatment. It is a proven method that has been used for decades. In this article, we will look at the benefits of using this treatment, what osmoregulation is, and some tips for taking good care of our pond.

What are the benefits of a salt treatment and how does it work?

It may seem unusual, but we can derive three benefits from a salt treatment:

1. Firstly, salt allows freshwater fish to be treated according to their species. Fish are indeed capable of tolerating salt in varying concentrations. It should be known that seawater is about 35 grams per liter. Therefore, by applying a much lower dose, we can enjoy the benefits without killing our fish.
2. Secondly, be aware that when you apply a salt bath to fish, it helps, among other things, to minimize the effects of poor water quality. For example, in the case of slightly too high nitrite levels.
3. And finally, the salt treatment will also help to treat our fish's health problems and, in certain situations, reduce fish stress.

Osmoregulation

To answer the questions: how and why does the salt treatment work, one must understand what osmoregulation is.

Osmoregulation is a fish's physiological mechanism for controlling the salt and water levels in its body.

Therefore, osmoregulation is linked to osmosis, which is the movement of a substance at a high concentration through a semi-permeable membrane. Overall, there will be a transfer of water that occurs between a solution that is diluted toward a solution that is concentrated through a semi-permeable membrane.

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The semi-permeable membrane is the skin of the fish. In freshwater, there is no salt, but in the fish's body, there is salt. There will therefore be an osmotic pressure applied to the fish because the water will try to enter the fish. Naturally, fish know how to manage this, so they will fight not to lose their salt, and this will require energy. In the event that our fish are sick or stressed, this will cause the osmoregulation to malfunction. The fish will have trouble regulating this osmotic pressure and they will suffer. We have thus understood what the fish are fighting against.

Why the salt treatment could help them.

• In fact, we will perform a salt treatment with a low concentration of 3 grams per liter when our fish are stressed.

So, when are they stressed? They can be stressed during transport, whether it's from a pet store or if you receive them by mail. And the corollary is that you will also avoid stressing them, for example, during the winter period when the water is very cold, because they will draw on their reserves and be much more prone to fungi.

• We will perform a salt treatment when the water quality is poor. We say that water is of poor quality when there is too much ammonia in it. And the ammonia level depends on the water temperature, water salinity, and pH. Salt does not lower the ammonia level, but it reduces the toxicity of nitrites, another nitrogenous waste product that is dangerous for fish.
• And finally, we will treat our fish with salt when they have diseases, namely: parasites, fungi, skin flukes, excess mucus in the gills, ulceration, etc.

Thus, we can generally apply the treatment in our system, whether it is our aquarium or our aquaponics fish tank. Or we can take the fish out into a nursery tank and apply a higher concentration of 10 grams per liter.

But in that case, these will be short baths of less than an hour in which we will put an aerator and ensure we keep constant attention on the fish. As soon as there is any sign of distress, they must be returned to their initial system. And finally, you should know that we will use an even lower concentration, specifically one gram per liter, for small fish or fry.

Here are some tips to keep your fish healthy.

• It is important to monitor the fish to detect problems. Before applying a treatment, you must make a diagnosis. If you never monitor your fish, you will not see that they have problems. When you detect abnormal behavior, there are two things to do: stop feeding them and perform a salt treatment.
• Also, make sure to always have a clean pond. For example, remember to clean your pond pump regularly.

Generally speaking, veterinarians recommend using natural bulk salt for this salt treatment and verifying that no chemical treatment has been applied to it.

If you do not want to impact your entire ecosystem with this addition of salt, you obviously have the option of having a quarantine tank, a nursery where you will add the appropriate salt concentration, where you will take only the affected fish and treat them inside.