Salt has been scientifically proven to have a number of benefits for freshwater fish.
Adding salt properly in holding and transportation tanks will help treat health problems and water quality problems. Salt reduces the effects of stress in shad, especially during transport and in conserving energy for physiological emergency purposes, and in countering the electrolytes disturbances associated with stress-elevated adrenaline and cortisol levels.
When freshwater Shad are transported and handled, they are forced to expend extra energy for osmoregulation (water balance) unless salt is added to the transport water. Shad tend to over-hydrate when held in fresh water during transporting, due to the influx of water across the gills and into the bloodstream. To compensate for this water imbalance, fish pump excess water back across their gills.
Increasing the salt concentration of the
transport water inhibits this process, making depletion of energy reserves
less likely. Salt may be added to the transport water to increase salinity
from 0.1 to 0.3 percent (1,000 to 3,000 ppm, or 3.8 to 11.4 g/gal) (
0.134041oz to 0.402123 oz per gal),
minimizing the osmoregulatory stress on fish during shipment.
If fish are being transported from one site to another -- for example, from
a pond to smaller tanks or vats within a building -salt may be added to
the receiving water. An easy way to accomplish this is to add a small amount
of water to the receiving tank, then add salt to create a 3 percent solution
(30 ppt or 30,000 ppm); when fish are added to the tank, it should be filled
with water. Short-term exposure to a high concentration of salt produces an
anti-parasitic effect; longer exposure to a lower concentration of salt
helps to stabilize osmoregulation and increase production of the mucus
covering the skin, which may have become damaged during handling.
The presence of salt does not repress stress hormones, it softens the
side effects. By adding salt you are increase the salinity of the water to
somewhere between fresh water and sea water (which on average is 3.5%) which
is called brackish.
After the stress of being caught and handled it is best to let shad recover
in brackish water for 1 - 2 days.
Salt helps shad maintain their proper blood chemistry while under stress. Sodium chloride (NaCl) is approved for aquaculture use as an "osmoregulatory enhancer." Salt can change the osmoregulatory balance (water balance) of aquatic organisms. It can sometimes be used effectively to control external parasitic protozoans by placing them in a condition of severe osmoregulatory shock.
Salt is used as a 0.5% to 1.0% concentration in water as an indefinite (long-term) treatment or as a 3% concentration in water for 1-10 minutes. Care must be exercised to avoid overtreatment which will place the fish in the same condition of osmoregulatory shock.
SALT CONCENTRATION
The effects of salt on fish are determined both by salt concentration and duration of exposure. Seawater contains 3 percent salt by weight; this is equivalent to 30 parts per thousand (ppt) or 30,000 parts per million (ppm). Some parasitic infestations of freshwater fish may be effectively eliminated by dipping fish in a seawater solution for 30 seconds to 10 minutes, depending on the species. Weaker solutions containing 0.5 to 1.0 percent salt may be used as a bath for several hours to eliminate some freshwater parasites. Concentrations of 0.1 to 0.3 percent may be used to enhance mucus production and osmoregulation in freshwater fish during handling and transport. Very weak salt treatments, measured in ppm, may be used to control methemoglobinemia in some freshwater fish species.
Freshwater fish use cells in their gills to take in the salts that they lose to the water, which helps keep their bodies salty. Adding salt to the water when fish are stressed means that they don't lose as much salt from their bodies. The principle is much the same as a saline drip for hospital patients.
Some fish keepers and salt manufacturers recommend adding salt as a routine permanent treatment. Also using sea salt which is "(98% NaCl ) + 80 other elements (2%) is my choice vs pure salt (sodium chloride 99.9% or refined salt which contain only 0.1 - 0.5% other elements
Shad stress out when caught, handled or being chased or
transported. Stress is adrenaline released into the bloodstream. Adrenaline
is followed closely by other steroids such as cortisol, which prepare the
fish for its reaction. The result is raised blood glucose levels, red blood
cell counts, heart and ventilation rates. The digestive processes may
cease temporarily.
e.g., escape (Mazeaud and Mazeaud, 1981).
Adrenaline disturbs ion transport at the gill membrane, and both adrenaline
and cortisol cause temporary changes in gill permeability which, in fresh
water, results in dilution of the blood by excessive gain of water, and vice
versa in normal seawater.
(Mazeaud et al., 1977; Folmar and Dickhoff, 1980).
Blood levels of calcium, magnesium, sodium, and other vital
electrolytes are pushed out of normal operating ranges for as much as 24
hours after stress such as being caught in a casting net.
(Wedemeyer, 1972).
Trying to restore physiological and metabolic order diverts precious energy,
which leaves the shad less capable of fighting pathogens. Cortisol elevation
itself suppresses immune system function.
(Barton et al., 1987; Maule et al., 1987).
A general recipe may be found in Spotte,
(1970).
Alternately, concentrations of single ions or salts reflecting their
occurrence in natural seawater may serve (for sodium chloride, this will be
of the order 0.5 to one percent in aqueous solution, to achieve a final
salinity of about half that of normal seawater).
The Bulk density of salt approximate (dry, ASTM D 632
gradation) 1.154 (72 lb/ft3)
Since 1 ft3 = 7.48 gallons, the Bulk density of salt converts to 72 lb /
7.48 gal = 9.6 lb/gal.
And 1 gallon = 16 cups, so salt weighs 9.6 lb/gal X gal/16 cup = 0.6 lb/cup
gallon of fresh water is about 8.36 lb
1.0 percent of a gallon of fresh water is 0.0836 lb.
For 50 gal: 50 X 0.139 cups = 6.95 cups
For 30 gal: 30 X 0.139 cups = 4.17
The Use of Salt in Aquaculture UF/IFAS
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