# HELP! AQ Salt Burns? Did I Do Something wrong?



## Loralyn94 (Jul 22, 2011)

My fish seems to have gotten burned by aquarium salt. I've been using it to treat fin rot and as well as help heal his fins from were he's been biting them. I had been treating him using 1/2 tsp for every 1g, but saw that using 1tsp for every 1g can sometimes work better so i decided to bump the dosage up. 

Today, I went and changed the water in his tank, filled it back up, added water dechlorinator, and then went to work prepping the salt. I got a small cup, pulled out some water from the tank and stirred in the salt so that it would mix better. After making sure all of it was dissolved i went and pored it in the tank away from where he was, but as i did he swam into the water i just pored it in. Within a few seconds he started darting quickly and surfacing over and over for air and then i noticed a reddish/brown patch on the bottom of his body and top of anal fin. I pulled him out right then and put him in a small .5 gallon emergency tank i have on hand.

Now, i'm freaking out and worrying about him. At the moment he's still in the small tank with fresh water. Is there anything I can do for the burn? And will it be safe to put him back in the 10 gallon tank with the AQ? And is there anything that i did wrong when adding the AQ, so i can avoid it in the future?

It was a complete accident, but i feel so bad and am so worried about him, i've really gotten attached to this guy and just want the best for him.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

I think he just had a bad reaction. My betta Ratchet has done that several times when I've added aq salt to his portion of the tank. I think it's just the sudden experience to salt that they get surprised to, and it might sting a little bit at first. I think it would be ok to add him back to his 10 gallon since the salt has had time to disperse.

Maybe next time let the salt disperse in his tank before adding him to see if that stops his reaction.


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

I usually add everything to the water before I put my Betta in, you might want to do that from now on. Poor dude, poor you! We all make a mistake here and there, best thing is to learn from it.

Personally, I wouldn't be switching him from fresh to salt to fresh etc etc. You should mix up his water with salt and conditioner, add him. When you take him out, take him out with a little of the tank water. Do your water change, add everything and then put him back. Going to and from different types of water cannot be good!

I don't know what to tell you about the burns, I have never experienced that except for ammonia burn, and the treatment was........... AQ salt! lol I hope someone can come along and tell you what to do from here.


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## Loralyn94 (Jul 22, 2011)

Pitluvs said:


> I usually add everything to the water before I put my Betta in, you might want to do that from now on. Poor dude, poor you! We all make a mistake here and there, best thing is to learn from it.
> 
> Personally, I wouldn't be switching him from fresh to salt to fresh etc etc. You should mix up his water with salt and conditioner, add him. When you take him out, take him out with a little of the tank water. Do your water change, add everything and then put him back. Going to and from different types of water cannot be good!
> 
> I don't know what to tell you about the burns, I have never experienced that except for ammonia burn, and the treatment was........... AQ salt! lol I hope someone can come along and tell you what to do from here.


He was never out of the salt until right now, after the burn happened, sorry if that was confusing in my original post. 

Like you said though, next time i will be taking him out of the tank, adding everything, letting it disperse, and then putting him back in. Maybe that was my mistake, he was in the tank when i added the salt, i assumed that it would be fine as i'd done it before without this happening, NEVER again will i be making that mistake. 

I'm not sure what i'll be doing with him for tonight, I'm a little nervous to put him back in the AQ, but i keep thinking how beneficial it normally is and how nicely he had been healing.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

It is really better that you QT him in a small container for the salt treatment...that half gallon you have him in will be perfect for treatment......

Your goal temp for treatment is 75-76F......

For short term treatments for fin issues-one part of the treatment is water changes....100% daily...by using a small QT and premixing the treatment water will make the water changes and correct dosage much easier and by premixing the treatment water you can add a tannin source that has added benefits for healing, stress and comfort.....

QT and premixing-gives you more control....

Premixed treatment water for fin rot-Use a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water-Add aquarium salt 1tsp/gal and tannins-either IAL or dried Oak leaf-let this sit for 30min-1hr so the salt can dissolve and the tannins steep to release tannins...shake well before use and use this premixed treatment water for the 100% daily water changes for 10 days.....

Don't forget nutrition-good/proper nutrition is important to help build a strong immune response and healing/regrowth of fins

Feed a good quality varied diet in small frequent meals-one of the meals need to be high protein and if you have access to mosquito larva-offer a rinsed larva a couple of times a day.....

Salt burns are a lot like ammonia burns...it takes time to heal and depending on how badly burned...you may or may not have scar tissues....

I would start making 50% water changes on the 10gal for a couple of days to get the salt out.....

Good luck and keep us posted.....


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## Loralyn94 (Jul 22, 2011)

Sorry for the delayed response, school just started back for me and its been crazy these last few days. 
Thanks though OFL, he seems to be doing better, his fin rot is continuing to heal and the burns don't look too bad (thankfully). I'm hoping that this will be the last of any problems with him for a while, I'm looking forward to a healthy happy fish.


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