I have a question about a salt bath?

Question

How much salt do i need to put in a salt bath.

My fish has velvet(I'm pretty sure)

And I'm not going to be able to make it to a pet store for a day or so.

I'd like to see if a salt bath helps.

To kill the bacteria and hopefully get rid of the fungus on her head.

(Female guppy)

Answer 1

Velvet is a parasite, not a bacteria, and salt really won't have much affect.  What you need is to first ensure that it is velvet, or columnaris, or fungus-- without a proper diagnosis, you won't be able to effectively cure it.  Any of the commercially available Ich medications, especially those containing copper sulfate or malachite green + formalin, would be much better, more effective choices for velvet and fungus, while antibacterials like Triple Sulfa, Trisulfa, Furan 2, Maracyn 2, Maracyn TC, TC Capsules, Kanaplex, and similar medications would be best for columnaris.

If salt is your only choice, roughly 4.5 teaspoons of salt per gallon for about 20-30 minutes would be your best bet.  If you see the fish losing balance or showing other obvious signs of distress, move it back to freshwater immediately.

Velvet: http://www.petfish.net/articles/pix/arts...

Columnaris: http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_ne...

http://network.bestfriends.org/data/news...

Fungus: http://www.fish-medonline.com/images/tru...

Answer 2

Depends on how many gallons