Question: Salt in water?

I have been calling around for advice on my sick axolotl who has fungus of the mouth and gills. I have started bathing it twice daily in salt bats again as I did for a day and it looked as tho it was clearing up until a LFS owner told me it was a big NO and to use melafix, Which is not working.

Anyone my question. The guy I spoke to then that said the salt baths was the way to go also told me to put 1 teaspoon of salt per 10 litres of water in my axo tank and that will reduce the chances of fungus to all of them, can somebody please clarify that for me?

Regards
Jess

The guy you spoke to gave you bad advice.

External fungal infections can be treated with salt baths very effectively. However fungal infections in the mouth do not usually respond as well. Fungal infections in the mouth are almost always secondary to bacterial stomatitis, an inflammation and infection in the oral mucosa of the axie. These will require an additional antibiotic therapy on top of the salt baths to fully treat the condition.

Under very experienced hands, melafix does have its applications. However, it is not suitable as a routine treatment of choice. It is not recommended as a treatment for fungal infections. Incorrect use can result in toxicity, ineffective treatment and development of resistant microbial strains.

Salt baths are rather straightforward. Basically just prepare a tub of fresh dechlorinated water and dissolve 2 to 3 flat teaspoonfuls of non-iodized salt per litre of water. You can use salt such as kosher salt, freshwater aquarium salt or sea salt. Do not use table salt. You can then place your axie in the salt solution for about 10 minutes but no longer than 15 minutes per session. Excessive salt solution soaking can cause damage to the axie's gills and skin. Have a look through this article as well.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml

Aquarium salt can be added to tank water to increase its hardness. However, using salt as a fungal prophylaxis is not effective when at a safe concentration. At higher concentrations where the salt solution can kill off fungus, the axie shouldn't be soaking in there longer than 10 min anyway. That would result in skin and gill damage otherwise.