Does salt water help resisitate gold fish?

**rebelagent** · 12-12-2005, 05:57 PM

Does salt water help my dying or sick gold fish ? I am just curious about this. I always wondered if this was a myth. I have been told to put dying fish (meaning freshwater fish) in salt water. I would say that it failed most of the time. Sometimes one or two lived a few more months. If this isn't a myth than why would salt water help dying or sick fish become healthy again? I am just curious about this thats all. And I wonder if anyone has answers to this question

**William** · 12-12-2005, 06:34 PM

This is not a myth!
Salt can help cure a number of diseases since the bacteria/ parasites that cause them can't survive the salt. However you should only add a small amount of salt to the water. You should not keep them in salt water(that would kill them) only in water with salt in it.

The salt can be removed once the fish are healthy again but you can also keep a small amount of salt in the water to prevent new diseases. Observe that some species don't tolerate salt and will die oif you add salt. Among such species youf find the freshwater rays.

**lpstong** · 12-18-2005, 07:00 PM

Yeah it's true it does work. My daughter has saved quite a few fresh water fish by doing this. Especially her goldfish. And like william said you shouldnt keep them in there very long or else they're die.

**Jess** · 12-29-2005, 02:15 PM

My Black Moor Goldfish has something white on his nose, and I don't know if it's because he's sick or what... Should I add a little salt to his bowl? I'm really new at this...

**William** · 12-29-2005, 10:23 PM

Well, to be perfectly honest. A bowl isn't really suitable to keep fish in and a small aquarium would be better. This is due to that the form of a goldfish bowl leads to low oxygen levels in the water.

Regarding the white spots. It can be a number of things and I wouldn't be to worried yet as long as the spot isn't looking like fungus and doesn't become more dots. In fact male goldfish gets white dots on their face when they are in spawning conditions so white spots on the head alone is usually not a problem whit goldfish.

You can add salt as it will help prevent some diseases. Make sure that you use salt that is free of iodide (not regular kitchen salt) and add about 1 tablespoon for every 5 gallons of water.

You might also want to consider getting an air pump and air stone for your goldfish to increase the oxygen levels in your bowl to help keep your black moor in peak condition.