Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Excellent article on using salt

for hauling and moving fish. It explains the bio mechanics very well and simply. Also tells you exactly how much to use.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/wkrec/SALTTRANS.pdf

Thanks Cecil! I added it to the Tilapia files!

One thing the study did not metion as to the table salt, IIRC, you do NOT want Iodized. Again IIRC, Iodine is perhaps toxic. Better safe than sorry!

I've been adding table salt (non-iodized) to my live well and shad tanks in the boat for years. Guess I can up the amounts, as I've always been leary of overdoing it...seems they can handle pretty high amounts.

BTW...I've kept CC and crappies in the livewell for 10-12 hours at 80F by adding just a big handful of salt, and a couple pounds of ice to the full well, then just aerating.

Shad live for nearly all day, in an aerated bucket with salt. If you've not messed with Gizzard Shad, they die when you even sit in the boat THINKING about tossing a trow net over them, so this makes a huge difference.

Baitfish will spring back to life if you drop a couple old school asprin tablets in the bait bucket as well...

Yes, but then they hunger for the flesh of the living.

Especially those cutlip minnows, eating other fish's eyeballs and then taking chunks out of my finger when I am baiting them on the hook!

Yes I've been told that too. I had one fish farmer say to also make sure you don't get salt that has sodium ferrocyanide (yellow prussate) added. However I've only seen that farm feed bags -- not table salt.

Good article. This is a big practice in the home aquarium. I never quite knew the scientific side of it, but knew that it worked. It was common practice for us to add 1 tblspn per 10 gallon of water in the tank.

Anybody know what the aspirin does? Might have to get a small bottle to keep in the boat...don't suppose the Tylenol gelcaps I currently have onboard would accomplish the same thing, eh? And they ain't gettin' my Aleve...8^)

Not sure why it works, just know it does... Bait fish that about to go belly up seem to come back to life for at least another couple hours when you crumble some aspirin into the bucket.

I've never heard about using the aspirin but I do know that salt is referred to as the "aspirin" of aquaculture.