Spent grain for food?

[Aloha Don]

Do you do this "salt" bath only to new fish you are introducing or is it part of a maintenance program....once every 6 months/once every year, etc. In other words, how often should you subject your fish to this?
Thanks for your information.
Don

[FloridaChris]

Don - he only does this to wild fish he puts in. I am going to catch a few indigenous minnows that are known to eat mosquito larvae and put them in my fish tank. To properly cleanse the fish of unwanted parasites you would clean them in this salt bath.

Do you know if I can just use ocean saltwater? I live on the Bay here in Tampa. It's like 85% salt, 10% fresh, and 5% "you don't want to know" water...

[bbikebbs]

... i'd especially recommend this if you are bringing fish in "from the wild" - a salt water dip (35ppt - sea water strength) will kill parasites

I would take this to mean you probably could. I'd be cautious as to what "stuff" would be in the salt water however.

[keith_r]

yes, this is just a treatment when introducing fish to the system.. salt is one of the few things i'll use if fish are showing signs of stress or infection..
i;ve seen systems that people only add salt when there appears to be trouble with the fish.. 1-3ppt for tonic/treatment.. if a fish shows signs of some kind of infection, i have a "hospital" system i can salt higher.. i only go to 6ppt for yellow perch, i've seen people with tilapia treat with 12ppt - these higher doses will kill plants, thats why i use a hospital tank
most plants will be ok up to 3ppt, but that's when strawberries and cuke's start to suffer/die
just investigate your fish first regarding salt..i've heard/read that catfish won't do very well with salt over 3ppt, so like i said.. do your research

[FloridaChris]

Thanks for the info Keith. I was thinking of starting a second fish tank of the side like your "hospital" tank.

As for food again, will goldfish eat banana peels? I have a bunch of lettuce, kale, and cilantro I was going to feed them once they start eating, but what about banana peels?

[keith_r]

regarding the saltwater..i use my tank water and add salt (pool salt) to it..
i don't think they'll eat banana peels..some people will bury a banana peel in their growbeds for potassium, i'd only do that if my growbeds had a healthy worm population
get a good fish food as your primary food, not only your fish, but your plants depend on it.. supplement with greens if your fish eat them