Does anyone know about Aquasalt? Trying to find the right salt for my Koi.

[Amber Pickle]

If you read throughout these forums, you will find a lot of people never do water changes.
You imply you have poor water quality due to the rain. How is it poor? Rain water is somehow bad? Isn't rain nature's way of doing water changes for you?
I would think the rain is probably better for my fish than my central water supply with all the treatment that my town does.
Do you have a well or central water? Not that all wells are good. They can have many problems of their own.

Our rain is very acidic, not sure why, but after a heavy rain when I test the water it is very acidic and the PH is way off. We have well water, and I only do a partial water change when needed, draining 3 inches or so, then filling with fresh. I'm sure everyone has different ways to keep their ponds and Koi happy and healthy, just as every pond will probably have its own situations and needs.

 

[poconojoe]

Our rain is very acidic, not sure why, but after a heavy rain when I test the water it is very acidic and the PH is way off. We have well water, and I only do a partial water change when needed, draining 3 inches or so, then filling with fresh. I'm sure everyone has different ways to keep their ponds and Koi happy and healthy, just as every pond will probably have its own situations and needs.

Ah! From what I've read on this site, quick fluctuations in Ph are not so good. So I see the concern.

 

[Lisak1]

I agree with you - if it works for you, then great. However, too often it's stated as a fact that ponds need salt, when in fact that's not true. Too many people are keeping healthy, happy fish (not sure how you determine fish happiness, but we'll assume healthy=happy) without ever adding salt to their ponds for that to be an accepted fact. Again, I won't argue with your desire to keep doing what you've always done; I just think it makes for a more balanced conversation when others who read this can see that there's more than one way to keep a pond.

A little food for thought - some more current pond think has suggested that constant salt in the pond can be like over-use of antibiotics in humans or animals. When you really need it, it won't work, and in fact may make you more susceptible, not less.

Here's one example of that thought process:

Salt definitely has it's time and place in koi keeping. It can be very useful in treating stressed, sick and new koi and it can also be great at controlling parasites. However it is NOT a good idea to leave salt in your koi pond all year long. There are no real health concerns from long term salt use in a koi pond, but the problem occurs with parasites. If salt is used year round, parasites can build up a resistance to salt and you end up with these super bugs. Then you will have a much harder time later trying to kill off parasites and even more drastic measures have to be taken. Such drastic measures can often times be dangerous to the koi. So use salt sparingly and remove the salt with water changes once you are done.

I lifted that from a koi suppliers webpage, but I've seen it repeated lots of places.

Ah! From what I've read on this site, quick fluctuations in Ph are not so good. So I see the concern.

But to be clear, adding salt will not do anything to correct that, if in fact it happens. We've had some conversation about that topic here, too. Let me see if I can find that thread. @Amber Pickle is saying the parasites flourish in the higher pH - I'm still wondering why a pond that is constantly salted would even have parasites in the first place.

Again - just a conversation. Nothing personal toward anyone's style of pond keeping.

 

[poconojoe]

I think what Amber is saying is that she wants to do water changes due to the heavy acid rain affecting the Ph. Then, since the water change dilutes the salt content, she wishes to add more salt. I personally dont add salt, but as stated, everyone has their own methods.

 

[Lisak1]

I remember Meyer Jordan (a frequent contributor here who sadly passed away a few years ago) commenting frequently about the affects of rain on the pH of a pond. Here's one comment he posted in response to me that made a lot of sense at the time:

"Entirely too much is made of how rainfall affects the pH of a pond. For any dangerous pH swing to take place, a goodly portion of the existing pond water would have to be completely replaced with rain water and this just does not happen. For example- an 8' x 10' x 2' pond holds about 1200 gallons. 1" of rain falling on this pond (surface area of 80 sq.ft.) equals about 50 gallons. 50 gallons is 4% of the pond's total volume and this is assuming no overflow. This is not enough to impart a major pH swing."

 

[Lisak1]

I meant to add that Meyer posted that response after I commented that we experienced pH swings in our pond from heavy rains. I was observing something but attributing it to the wrong thing - the old correlation and causation rule.