Quote Originally Posted by foodchain
Epsom salt eleviates stress in Tilapia from this. Not sure if peas will tolerate it though. Sounds like your system isn't aged enough....allowing the bacteria to build up. Kind of like new tank syndrome. I actually have the MAX tolerances recommended for treatment somewhere. I have exceeded them, but only in isolated tests to check salination tolerances. If I can find it the dose, I will post it. Until then, google brown blood disease and nitrate toxicity. Oddly enough I just concluded an experiment on just this...while I did shut it down prematuraly due to mortality rates I did learn a lot. So those deaths were not in vane. Trust me on the salts. NOT iodized. Use kosher, sea salt, epsom salt....I even used some reef salt left over from my fraggin projects. Turn up your air pumps. Scrap the small air stones and buy the bubble wall type with the finer bubbles. Try turning your temp down a little if nothing else works. Cooler temps hold more DO than higher temps. As long as change is gradual your fish should be okay. They don't like sudden changes of any kind. Best of Luck.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

SODIUM CHLORIDE (better known as regular TABLE SALT) is the SALT you are looking for.

The dosage ratio is 6:1 of chloride : nitrite in whatever unit mass you want, but commonly PPM is used here. So, for 5 ppm nitrite you want to add 30 ppm chloride. The chloride compete for uptake through the same metabolic pathways. Remember, fish control these aspects of their body chemistry through osmoregulation. On a side note, Tilapia are very well suited for these kinds of abusive environments.

The University of Florida IFAS Extension has put together a very easy to read document for folks in your situation. Please HAVE A READ:

THE USE OF SALT TO PREVENT AND TREAT BROWN BLOOD DISEASE

Freshwater fish, particularly channel catfish, are susceptible to brown blood disease, which is caused by an accumulation of nitrite (N0 2 ) in the water. Although most studies conducted on brown blood disease have used channel catfish as a model, many other freshwater species are also susceptible to the condition. A detailed discussion of nitrite toxicity is provided in a separate IFAS publication. Following is a brief review of the use of salt to prevent and treat brown blood disease.

In freshwater systems, nitrite toxicity is directly related to chloride (Cl - ) concentration, since nitrite (N0 2 - ) and chloride (Cl - ) particles compete for space to cross the gills and enter the bloodstream (see Figure 1 ). As chloride concentration in the water increases, nitrite's ability to enter the bloodstream decreases.

Figure 1 .

The critical component in brown blood disease is the chloride (Cl - ) portion of the salt molecule (NaCl). For this reason, a test to measure chloride concentration (ppm) should be used rather than a test that uses a hydrometer or refractometer to measure salinity.

A minimum chloride concentration of 20 ppm is recommended to prevent nitrite toxicity among channel catfish in ponds. Most ponds are supplied with water containing at least 20 ppm Cl - ; however, salt should be added to ponds containing less than 20 ppm Cl - to increase the chloride concentration to the desired level (see Table 1 ). For each acre-foot of water in the pond (1 surface acre, 1 foot deep = 43,560 ft 3 ), 4.5 pounds of salt adds 1 ppm chloride.

Salt may be used to minimize mortality and facilitate recovery of fish that develop brown blood disease. For every ppm of nitrite present, 6 ppm chloride should be used to control the disease. As described earlier, the producer must determine the required chloride concentration, adding 4.5 pounds of salt per acre-foot of water for each ppm Cl - needed (see Table 2 ).
HOW TO MATH: CALCULATE SALT FOR NITRITE <-- click