On Sat, 7 Feb 2004 23:02:04 -0600, "Tom La Bron"
wrote:

Hal,

First point, the USDA said nothing of recommending anything in this article.
Chemicals and meds used in Aquaculture are regulated by the EPA and FDA, and
the reason for this is because the article that you are citing deals with
food fish.

I understand they are talking about raising food fish. They are also
talking about the best environment for raising more pounds of food fish
for the investment, but that strikes me as a good environment for my
pets too.

Second point. 200 to 500ppm is equal to .02 to 05% salt in the water. This
is next to nothing and there is not a device on the market that can read
that low accurately with out spending a big chuck of money.

The Pond Care Salt Level Test Kit (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals) cost me
about $10 and seems to work well for those measurements. I'm sure
there are more expensive methods, but this isn't rocket science, just
enough salt to stimulate the slime coat and I never go over .1%. I
understand some people use .3% routinely and I've heard of even higher
concentrations of salt being used, but I believe the higher doses should
only be used to medicate, but others have opinions too.

Also the remark you made about nitrite is incorrect somewhat, because it is
not the salt that helps protect against nitrite poisoning it is the chloride
in the salt that does this because it competes for the absorption position
at the gills of the fish as they are taking up oxygen from the water, plus
the chloride in the has to be 20:1 higher to the nitrite and must be
adjusted continually as the nitrite increases in concentration. Also,
Calcium chloride could be used instead of Sodium Chloride to achieve this
concentration. One level of Chloride in the water is not going to protect
as the level of nitrite increases. The chloride level must be adjust all
the time.

I didn't know that, but wouldn't the sodium chloride work as well as the
calcium chloride? I had a bag of calcium chloride once but I spread
it on the walk to melt the ice. It never occurred to me to use it in a
pond.

Also I would like to point out that in the place that suggests an indefinite
concentration of salt at the level of 1,000-2,000ppm (0.1 - 0.2%) is for
"hauling tanks." This is when the supplier is transporting 450 fish in a
500gallong tank. The indefinite time they are talking about deals with the
duration of time the fish are in the transport tank going from point A to
point B. During the hauling period a very high level of air is being pumped
into the tank to supply all the oxygen the high stocking level and to help
off set the amount of toxic waste that is building up in the tank during
transport.

I don't see a relationship between the oxygen level and salt
concentration. I guessed the increased salt was to stimulate the slime
coat and help prevent swapping of parasites during the trip in such a
confined puddle. Is there another reason?

The third point is that this article is for aquaculture facilities that are
dealing with pounds of fish per gallon of water not one Goldfish per 10
gallons of water. There is no correlation between this article and your
garden pond where you are keeping one KOI per 100 gallons of water.

It has nothing to do with back yard ponds.

I don't see it that way. I know koi farmers raise their fish in clay
bottom ponds allowing them to root in the mud like true bottom feeders
do and I have a liner and feed them on top of the water so I can see
them, but I feel some similarities exist simply because they are fish
and in water. Just because you raise show quality koi they don't change
into something other than a fish.

Oh, and by the BV remark is supported by research now, for now there are
parasites and bacteria that live better in salter environments requiring
higher levels to kill them because of the prophylactic use of salt in fish
environments.

Yes, I read a couple things about that too and it sounds reasonable to
me. I hope my adding a bit of salt (.1%) every winter doesn't cause
such a condition in my pond, but I'm still learning and if it does I'll
have to deal with it when and if it happens. I believe it was someone
in the San Diego Koi Club that said they have a natural concentration of
about .04% salt in the water. I feel sure the parasites and bacteria
have adjusted to that level, and the same has happened in my pond, but
I'm hoping by adding enough salt to bring the concentration to .1% I
give the fish a stimulated slime coat that helps them ward off
parasites.

Regards,

Hal