Salt in pond water?

[waynefrcan]

What are your thoughts on salt added to ponds??

My last pond I did .02%. Not 2%, but 2 tenths of 1%. It kills the plants, but supposed to be good for the fish. Then I went to .01% which I was told the plants can tolorate. Have not tried it with plants yet. .01% is aprox 1 cup of salt for every 200 US gal.

Told benifits are:

Helps kill off some parasites in the water:
Reduces fish stress, as they don't have to use energy to make salt for themselves.

Then I heard salt is no good for over wintering fish??

 

[sissy]

I have heard no salt and then some salt and then lots of salt and it is a mystery to me to this day .I here it helps there slime coat and I add only a cup to my filters once a year .I just go by the looks of the fish .Over wintering I don't know .I have read good and bad so not sure .I have looked up info on koi and checked out koi forums but they seem to be undecided also .All i get is some saying yes it is good and others saying no it is bad or to much or to little .

 

[koiguy1969]

.15% is an acceptable level for plants . i use1&1/4 cup per 100 gals of water. 2&1/2 cups per 100gals on the basement pond. because it has no plants. salt helps fish to develope a strong stress coat. kills some parasites, blocks the absorbtion of nitrites into the fishes bloodstream, and adds trace minerals to the water.
***when you use salt you must remember that water evaporates, the salt doesnt. so water top offs arent the time to add. but adding at water changes is o.k

 

[waynefrcan]

Thanks, should it be cut down in last water change for over wintering?

Right, .1 or .2 not .01 or .02 as I mentioned above.

Pond salt or sea salt is also very expensive considering I have a large pond. So I started using water softener salt since 2003. Now that company has added chemicals that could harm fish. Wonder if another source could be used?

 

[koiguy1969]

mortons solar salt is the same thing...for use in water softeners...anything with pond on the label is expensive...$4.50 for a 40 pound bag. its what i use!

 

[waynefrcan]

SAlt level for over wintering? No big deal?

 

[Fishylove]

I did it last year, no problems. Idk if it's right or not lol

 

[crsublette]

Salt irritates fish and this irritant is why the slime coat gets thicker. So, the fish is spending energy, be it small or not, to react to the irritation. I was seriously thinking of doing it, but persuaded my self to not do it, after doing some reading, for my entire water garden. Wish I kept some of the material.

I would only do salt if you are comfortable with your dosages and measurements. Back in the old days, many years ago, frequent low salt doses and frequent low potassium permanganate doses was commonly used as a prevention program, but now there are much safer medications out there. I most often read salt used higher concentrations in a quarantine tank situaution and only a for short duration. Also, if ya ever need to medicate your entire pond, then pay attention to medications whether they react well with a higher salinity. Using salt is still quite common and there is even special expensive ponds salts you can buy that has more minerals and electrolyets in them. The cheaper salts to use should be non-clumping, non-iodized, near 100% pure salt and should be commonly found in a major retail hardware store.

I think Quarantine tank salt, short duration, dip situations are anywhere between .6~.8%. So, .2% might be ok. /shrug

I would google independent material that don't have a bone in the fight at trying to sell ya something.

 

[JohnHuff]

Salt irritates fish and this irritant is why the slime coat gets thicker. So, the fish is spending energy, be it small or not, to react to the irritation.

This is what I've read, so I don't do it, also because the pond is so big and you're just pouring away salt when you do water changes. Seems a waste.

 

[koiguy1969]

i cant say anything about overwintering in an outdoor pond with salt. my fish come inside for the winter to the basement pond. and the saltr lost in a water change is minimal unless you do very large water changes...do a 100 gal water change replace 1&1/4 cup of salt. a single $4.50 bag lasts me all year.

 

[JohnHuff]

Ya, if you have a small pond, salt lost will be minimal.

But also, if you do partial water changes in a small pond and keep adding salt, salinity will be increased over time because when you do partial water changes only part of the salt is discharged, so you have to decrease the amount of salt added. Eg. if you add 1kg of salt and do a 25% water change later, 750g of salt will be left in the pond, so you only need to add 250g of salt the next time.

 

[Craig58]

This is just my personal feeling. If you are doing it to try and keep your fish healthier, than wouldn't you want to mimic the natural environment for the fish as much as possible? Koi and goldfish are freshwater fish and are not typically found in brackish water, saltwater or even the saltwater/freshwater interfaces. Koi are carp, a freshwater fish. Sure, they can tolerate salt. And salt can be used to treat parasites. But why introduce something to the pond that is not natural for the fish?

I believe that the less you fool around with the pond chemistry the better luck you'll have. This is especially true if you are just keeping an enjoyable backyard pond. If you want to raise champion Koi, maybe you want to fool with this stuff. Otherwise, worry less, spend less, enjoy more. Keep it as natural as possible.

Personally I think it's just another item for pond stores to sell and make huge markups on. Natural salt is an extremely cheap resource!

Craig

 

[waynefrcan]

Makes sense to me. I was all for salt until you guys mentioned that it is actually an irritant. If that's true, forget salt. Last year I did .1% salt and no problems, this year no salt and no problems. I'll keep it that way.

 

[predracer]

I live in wisconsin and fish in the lakes the carp are one of the hardest fish in a lake, which they do damage the lake system, so i really dont think they need salt.

 

[crsublette]

More than several times I have heard salt being used to help fish tolerate higher ammonia and higher nitrites. Aaahh, still other options are much easier than messing with salt such as an ammonia binder chemical for the ammonia and water changes to release the high nitrites. Salt is definitely cheaper, but cheap solutions also come with more consequences than you would have when compared to a better solution.