Salt at .1% Solution
I use this treatment primarily as a stress reducer or as the initial dosage when staging dosages to get to the higher percentage solution. Salt at this level will have a calming affect on the fish, as well as not kill most plants to quickly. As a stress reducer, it is used in situations such as after major emergency water changes, or when you have relocated the fish to a new body of water. (As in such cases when I take fish from the mud ponds and relocate them to the Qt tanks.) At the first sign of any illness or stress, this is always the first treatment I do, especially when treating a pond that houses plants. It will also slow down any attacking pathogens, as well as promote the fish to create more slime coat, and as motioned earlier, this slime coat is vital to the fish?s immune system integrity.
This is also the treatment of choice if you have any nitrite in your water. Salt at this level will keep the fish safe from nitrite poisoning, until you can get the nitrite out of the system.
As mentioned above, it should also be used as the base amount when trying to achieve higher, final salt solutions. In other words, if I wanted to take the fish to a .3% solution, I would start them off at .1% the first day, and repeat this daily until I get to the percentage I am trying to achieve. So, unless it is an emergency, start the fish at this level, and gradually (every eight hours) add more until you get to the desired percentage. Please refer to the notes and chart above for other important details.
Salt at .2% Solution
This treatment is also utilized as a stress reducer and slime coat enhancer. In addition, it will do a slightly better job at slowing certain protozoan parasites, such as Trichodina, Ich, and Chilodonella. However, I would not use it as the sole means of eradicating these bugs. This salt level may harm certain plants in the pond, so you may consider removing them.
Salt at .3% Solution
When used alone, this is the number one salt treatment that will usually slow the reproduction rates of most protozoan parasites as well as some Flukes. If you suspect Flukes to be the primary culprit however, I would use one of the two Fluke treatments listed below, in addition to the salt. Salt at this level would be the treatment of choice when attempting a safe, inexpensive treatment, but it will kill most plants when left in a pond for any period of time. So, if treating a pond with plants, be prepared to remove them or sacrifice them.
If you are a novice, and for whatever reason you can't or won't use other medications such as ProForm-C, then this is the best starting treatment. Also, be aware that there are some salt resistant parasites out there that may not respond to this treatment, and today that is increasingly becoming the case. This is not as uncommon as some people state, though. If you are using this treatment, give the fish up to one week to show signs of improvement. If they do not, or they worsen, you should consider one of the other medications . Some of the experts might disagree with this thinking, but these treatments are specifically designed for the novice, and salt is always a safe choice for beginners.
Please refer to the notes and chart above for other important details regarding the use of salt.