EPSOM SALT

[JimD]

Ive heard of using it to balance Magnesium,,, never heard of using it as a fish laxitive... lol... Gary???

[JimD]

I dunno man, Id wait and get verification on that one,,, You may unbalance your chemistery... Try doing a Google search and see what you come up with...

[Ed]

Yes, Magnesium can be used as a laxative for fish. Think Milk of Magnesia.

[Ed]

No, it won't hurt the fish if you use it as a dip. Here is an answer from Bob Fenner to a similar question taken from Wetwebmedia.

Hi Bob,
I am e-mailing you as a last resort, because I believe my black tang has an intestinal blockage. The tang is about 3" and has been in my reef tank about six months. The tang has always been a voracious eater of Nori, lettuce, live macro algae, Mysis shrimp, and formula one, so I believe it isn't linked to a bad diet. The tang looks perfect on the outside, except that in the bottom "stomach" are of the fish, the front section is swollen and the back section is emaciated. The tang is breathing a little bit harder then normal, but not super fast. I have read that Epsom salt can be used as a laxative for fish, but will it work for a marine fish?
<Yes... as a dip/bath (not in the main tank of course), about a tablespoon per gallon, just in pH adjusted, dechloraminated freshwater... for ten minutes or so>
Thank you for any input you may have on the situation, or if it is indeed a blockage. Thanks, Ethan Fisher
<Good luck to you and your tang my friend. Bob Fenner>

[JimD]

It depends, what makes you think your fish is "stopped up"? What kind of fish? Is it eating? How long has it been in your tank? What are your general perameters? Using it as a dip makes much better sense than adding it to the tank...

[CD]

I wish I could give a difinitive answer here, Exvisor13 - but if your puffer does not have blockage, this treatment you are considering could just add stress (blockage is not a super common ailment for puffers). IMO it is super hard to figure out what ails our fish sometimes, but jumping to conclusions may do more harm than good. Your puffer may even have intestinal parasites - hard to say, but it IS known fact that puffers are susceptible to parasites. Also (please correct me if I'm wrong here) if I'm not mistaken, you've only been feeding it krill? All fish including puffers need lots of variety in their diets to get all the nutrition they need to stay healthy...krill is OK as "part" of the puffer diet, but other things like "shell on" shrimp, crabs, crayfish, prawns, etc. should be tried also. Even soaking the food with Selcon will help a LOT - otherwise they can just waste away (attrition - dietary deficiency).

If your puffer DOES indeed have some kind of parasite (which is going to be my best guess), FW dips with something like Piperazine (check with your nearest LFS that you trust the most for a "like" medication if the Piperazine isn't availb.) is a good place to start. I have reserves about even recommending that, but I feel that if you don't start *some* kind of effort in treatment at this point, that the puffer will end up in a *really* weakened state from not eating, and it will get to the point where treating your puffer in an even more weakened state could push him over the edge.

Before you start any treatments though, go to WWM and read read read! This might help you zero in on exactly what you should be treating for:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pufferFAQs.htm

I wish you the best of luck with him, as I know you are very fond of Poofy.
Please keep us posted.

W.

[hammondegge]

it can be used in the same way to treat pop-eye.