Raw salt and Biofloc fish farming: a weird relation
You may have read posts somewhere on the internet or watched videos on YouTube about Biofloc fish farming, and you may have wondered why is salt, specifically raw salt, used for freshwater fishes. Right? I mean, we're mainly cultivating freshwater fishes or crustaceans and not marine fishes, so why add salt in the water? When I was starting this business, this was one of the first questions to pop up in my head and I had to find the reason behind this. I will try my best to explain why is salt used and why is it one of the most important parameters in Biofloc fish farming.
Understanding TDS
TDS stand for Total dissolved solids. TDS is a measure of all the dissolved inorganic and organic substances present in a liquid in molecular, ionized, suspended form. TDS of any liquid (here water) is measured as parts per million (ppm).
Why is salt needed in a freshwater fish tank?
Raw salt and not the ordinary processed salt is used in aquaculture. Raw salt is the salt extracted from sea water, unprocessed and without any added chemicals like Iodine. Hence, raw salt is totally unprocessed and free of chemicals like Iodine which is beneficial to us, but harmful to the bacterial floc in the biofloc fish tank.
Benefits of using raw salt in aquaculture :
Addition of raw salt when monitored carefully has a plethora of benefits. I cannot list all of them, but I'll try:
- Biofloc is a high density fish farming, and fishes develop stress when they're overstocked. Stress is accompanied by the release of the hormone cortisol, which is responsible for having a negative effect on growth, reproduction, and digestion. Chronic stress will also lower the ability of the immune system to respond effectively which allows parasites, bacteria, and fungi to infect a stressed fish, causing disease and death. Salt acts as a very good stress reliever of fishes.
- Clean freshwater if stored for a few weeks in a clean container deteriorates in quality. It may be because of bacterial or algal growth or leaching of chemicals from the container that causes the previously clean water to "go bad". Salt acts as a preservative of water.
- Salt effectively controls some parasites of fishes. Salt protects the freshwater fishes from entry of certain pathogens like fish lice, anchor worm, etc.
- The bacteria in a biofloc fish tank is bound together by a loose matrix of mucus. Salt helps in the formation of floc, acting as a flocculating agent.
- Salt helps in the secretion of mucus of fishes. Mucus protects a thin protective layer over the fishes' body, protecting it from entry of parasites and diseases.
- Increased chloride concentration in water through salt application is an effective way to prevent nitrite toxicity. Common salt is 60 percent chloride, and chloride ions bind to nitrite cell receptors on the gills, preventing nitrite ions from being absorbed by the fish. Therefore, salt helps protecting fishes from Nitrite poisoning.
TIPS:
➢TDS of your tank can easily be measured by using a TDS meter. In a biofloc tank, there is no need for costly salinity meters or refractometers. A simple TDS meter will do the job easily.
➢There's no need for your TDS to be 1800 ppm or more or less. You first need to check the TDS of the water in your locality. Then you have to keep on adding raw salt until the TDS increases by 800-900 ppm.
Let's say, the TDS of the water in your locality is 600, then your resulting TDS has to be between 1400-1500 ppm.
Similarly, if the TDS in your locality is 300, then your resulting TDS have to be between 1100-1200 ppm.
Recommended products :
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| Maxbell Mi Digital Pen TDS Meter |
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| Generic Digital TDS Meter with Thermometer |
Please note: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. It would be highly appreciated if you please consider buying from the links provided. It won't cost you anything extra, but it may help us with a little bit of commission from Amazon.
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