Page 45 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 17
P. 45
WHEN AND HOW I don’t believe in salt dips as I believe that they are
hugely stressful to the fish and can strip the mucus
TO USE SALT layer. Whilst dipping can kill any parasite on the fish,
by stripping the mucus layer, it can leave the fish
defenceless against re-infestation once returned to
Mark Davis, Cuttlebrook Koi Farm. the pond.
SALT, WHEN Salt, when added to the pond must be dissolved first as
any piles of salt not dissolved can cause chemical burns
ADDED TO on fish that lay in or near it. If used in a quarantine pond
At Cuttlebrook Koi Farm we use salt only when we THE POND or a pond of sick, sulking fish, care must be taken to
have to but there can be a number of reasons for doing ensure the salt is properly dissolved.
so. When Koi are being grown in the mud ponds they MUST BE *We have recently found that some Costia can only be
live in a soup of natural salts – this is their natural
SALT IS A environment where they flourish and have evolved to DISSOLVED eradicated with salt at 0.9%, held at that level for 3 days.
live. When we harvest them from the mud ponds and Laws of using salt
NATURAL transfer them to the concrete or re-circulation ponds we FIRST
PRODUCT KOI must add salt to the indoor systems. If we don’t do this ■ Don’t use it unless you have to.
the sudden change in salt levels causes the Koi to suffer ■ Only use it as a medication.
NEED A an osmoregulatory imbalance that causes a kind of
‘sleeping’ sickness. The dose rate at this point is 0.6% ■ Always dissolve it first when you add it to your pond.
LEVEL OF TO (6 kg per cubic metre (220 gallons)) although with most ■ Try to bring the salt levels down again as quickly as
SURVIVE fish we take it up to 0.75% (7.5 kg per metre cubed). At possible (to 0.02% - 0.05%) once the fish have
0.75% the salt does two jobs, it helps with the osmotic recovered.
imbalance caused by moving from a mud pond to clear
water, and it clears the fish of any ecto parasites* (apart ■ If you are using salt, you must have a salt meter.
from flukes which it suppresses but doesn’t eradicate). You can’t dose properly without one. If not a salt
So, salt at this level can also act as a medication. meter, then a hydrometer.
The Koi’s own natural body salt content is 0.9% and ■ If you don’t have a meter, calculate the pond volume
whilst they are designed to cope with a natural ingress in metres cubed at 1 kg per metre cubed to 0.1% salt
of water, higher salt levels than this should be avoided. concentration. Therefore, 30 kg of salt is added to
(Interestingly, some Koi farms in Europe and Israel have 10 metres cubed (2,200 gallons) for 0.3% salt.
been known to grow Koi in brackish water, so it has
been shown that Koi can tolerate quite high ■ Don’t use any other medication with salt apart from
concentrations of salt.) 0.3% is what I would call tonic those recommended by the manufacturer as being
level. If a Koi has gone through a period of high stress, safe to do so. (Especially DO NOT use with
then salt at this level can calm the fish down. It also Formaldehyde (Formalin).)
stimulates the production of mucus – the Koi’s external ■ Only use cooking salt or PDV (Pure Dried Vacuum).
immune system. Unlike other chemicals, salt is not Other types of salt can contain iodine or anti-caking
removed through biodegradation, evaporation or agents which could be harmful to the fish.
oxidisation and can only be removed with water
changes. Salt is a natural product Koi need a level of
to survive and, at slightly higher doses, have evolved
to tolerate.
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