Salt for the sick loach???

Discussion in 'Freshwater Fish' started by tara, May 12, 2012.

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  1. tara

    tara Astrea Snail

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    Ok so i have a sick golden dojo loach. Im thinking eather swim bladder or constipation.
    Ive been told to salt the tank, but ive read VERY mixed reviews on if he can have salt or not. Scaless fish cant handle salt is what i see most.
    Ive also been told to do a water change.... But ive come to find out that ive completely prolonged the " cycle" doing water changes so im trying to have patience to not water change. Ill try peas... But i dont even understand that one... Are sweet peas ok? Raw right? Ive also heard green beans are some kind of miracle food for gas but i cant seem to find any that look good in produce besides that there are many different kinds of peas and beans. I geuss im a person thats lost without very specific directions.
    So any suggestions or info i may be lacking in would be great.
    To salt or not to salt the loach?
     
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  3. NanaReefer

    NanaReefer Fu Manchu Lion Fish

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    Not raw peas. Get some frozen...cook til soft and then cut one or two in half and put it in the tank..spinach works well also. 35years of FW keeping and I've never heard about using beans~lol.
    No on the salt. It is an old wives tale. It will irritate the fish more then anything. Especially the gills.
     
  4. tara

    tara Astrea Snail

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    Ok thank you so much! :)
     
  5. NanaReefer

    NanaReefer Fu Manchu Lion Fish

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    You may wanna throw an algae wafer in every now and then. Loaches love em! Could you post your parameters and include the temp. Also what substrate are you using?
     
  6. vawdka

    vawdka Coral Banded Shrimp

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    Tara, glad to see you and the loach are hanging in there. Good luck!

    I am also interested in what you have in the bottom of the tank and parameters of your water. I used to have creek rock in the bottom of an oscar tank... drove me nuts when I realized how much junk gets down in there... lol
     
  7. tara

    tara Astrea Snail

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    They all died last week, actually cant believe they lived so long. Starting over now, hopefully ill get it right this time! ;)
    Any advice always appreciated ;)
     
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  9. oldfishkeeper

    oldfishkeeper Giant Squid

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    Tara, given your current situation (I read your other thread), it may be good to just start over with fresh water and such....I couldn't tell by your other thread what happened with your son, did he put candy in the tank from the little bottle? You may just have to deal with another cycle.....
     
  10. tara

    tara Astrea Snail

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    I know there wasnt any candy left, just some unknown, non fish approved kid water.
    I was thinking that if I really have to re-cycle, maybe I could just use a little feeder fish to do it... Its just gonna get eaten alive anyway right? I know, im an awful person, but looking into fishless cycle, sounds a bit more complicated than my current knowledge/abilities are capable of.
     
  11. tara

    tara Astrea Snail

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    I did see something somewhere along the lines about just using a shrimp, like ya know, a dead coctail shrimp I might have in my freezer. Maybe???
     
  12. sailorguy

    sailorguy Torch Coral

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    You could just "ghost feed" the tank for a couple weeks,as in adding a small amount of food every other day or so while leaving the tank fishless.This should get your bacteria population up.