How to effectively treat your fish in case of illness?

How to effectively treat your fish in case of illness? There are several treatments that we can use in the event that our fish were to catch a disease in the pond. We are going to see the treatment with salt which is one of the most effective but also the least expensive treatments that exist.

> Discover the list of koi carp diseases here (click here).

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

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

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

1. First, salt helps to treat freshwater fish depending on the species. Fish are indeed able to tolerate more or less high salt concentration. You should know that seawater is about 35 grams per litre. So, by applying a much lower dose, we will be able to enjoy the benefits without killing our fish.
2. Second, be aware that when applying a salt bath to fish, this helps, among other things, to minimize the effects of poor water quality. For example, the case of a slightly too high ammonia level.
3. And finally, the treatment with salt will also help to treat the health problems of our fish and, in certain situations, to reduce the stress of the fish.

Osmoregulation

To answer the questions: how and why salt therapy works, one must understand what osmoregulation is.

Osmoregulation is a physiological mechanism of fish to control the level of salt and water in its body.

So osmoregulation is related to osmosis which is the movement of a high concentration product through a semi permeable membrane. Overall, there will be a transfer of water which will take place between a solution which is diluted towards a solution which is concentrated through a semi-permeable membrane.

> Discover here the list of koi carp diseases (click here).

The semi-permeable membrane is the skin of fish. In fresh water there is no salt but in the body of fish there is salt. There will therefore be an osmotic pressure which will be applied to the fish because the water will try to enter the fish. Naturally, the fish know how to manage this, so they will struggle not to lose their salt and it will take energy from them. In the event that our fish are sick or stressed, this will cause osmoregulation to malfunction. The fish will find it difficult to regulate this osmotic pressure and they will suffer. So we understood what the fish are fighting against.

Why salt therapy might help them.

• In fact, we will practice 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 to a pet store or you receive them in the mail. And the corollary is that you will also avoid stressing them, for example, in winter, when the water is very cold, because they will draw on their reserves and they will be much more prone to fungi.

• We will practice salt treatment when the water is of poor quality. Water is said to be of poor quality when there is too much ammonia in it. And, the rate of ammonia depends on the temperature of the water, the salinity of the water and the Ph. So, by adding salt to the water, we will reduce the rate of ammonia “NH3” which will turn into ammonium which is much less toxic to fish.
• And finally, we will treat our fish with salt when they have diseases, namely: parasites, fungi, skin worms, excess mucus in the gills, ulceration, etc.

So we can globally apply the treatment in our system, be it our aquarium or our fish tank in aquaponics. Or we can take the fish out to a nursery and apply a stronger concentration of 10 grams per litre.

But in this case, it will be short baths of less than an hour in which we will put a burner and make sure to have constant attention on the fish. As soon as there is a sign of suffering, they must be repatriated to their initial system. And finally, you should know that we will use an even lower concentration, so one gram per liter for small fish or for fry.

Here are some tips to keep your fish healthy.

• It is important to monitor fish for problems. Before applying any treatment, a diagnosis must be made. If you never watch your fish, you won't see that they are in trouble. When you detect abnormal behavior, there are two things to do: stop feeding them and do a salt treatment.
• Also make sure you always have a clean pool. For example, remember to clean your pond pump regularly .

In general, veterinarians advise for this salt treatment to take natural salt in bulk and then to check that there has not been any chemical treatment applied to it.

If you don't want to impact your whole ecosystem with this addition of salt, you obviously have the possibility of having a quarantine tank, a nursery in which you will add the appropriate concentration of salt, where you will only take the fish that are affected and you process them internally.