Name this stuff in my tank

[Twistycricket]

I put 2 pounds of pickling salt in a 10 g aquarium to salt dip a fish that had columarius. Everything that I have read says that's enough: super strains of Columarius can not survive in salt solutions above 1%. Surely 2 pounds of salt in a 10 g tank would produce a solution of 1%. It was strong enough to make the fish pass out in 20 seconds. So I am left with a dilemma. What the heck is this stuff?
Please note the salt encrusted air pump in picture 2. That pump was clean 4 days ago. It got encrusted in salt from the splashing of the bubbles breaking the surface blowing out 2 air stones with a tetra whisper 100 air pump.

 

[SnakeIce]

Hmm, "10" gallon tanks hold about 9.1 gallons if full to the rim flange. That tank appears to be about 10% below full, so I'll guess that your tank as pictured has 8.2 gallons (31 liters) in it.

11 ounces of your salt would make a 1% solution with a small rounding up for margin of measurement error. So you have almost 3% solution, which is .5% short of where saltwater is in strength. Dumping a freshwater fish into very high brackish is the cause for their going into shock.

Even if you assumed a 10 gallon tank holds that much 13.5 ounces would put you at 1% in 10 gallons.

Beyond that I'm not sure what is the question. "This stuff" could be what the fish has, or any number of things in the picture. Clarify what "this stuff" is for me please.

 

[Twistycricket]

The fluffy white stuff growing in the tank. The fish is dead. The tank was full when the salt was added. I'm trying to figure out what could grow in a tank with so much salt in it. The plant grew the white stuff over night.

 

[Twistycricket]

I'm know why the fish passed out. It was a salt dip tank to treat that fish's disease.

 

[SnakeIce]

I don't know about that, seems there is something that grows in whatever conditions you find on earth as long as they are not too extreme, as long as the water isn't boiling it will grow something in it.

There is a good chance it isn't whatever affected your fish, and won't be a problem in freshwater. Now I know java fern is tough, but that might be beyond the brine strength they can handle. The stress they are under might be enough to give something opportunistic a chance to have a go at them and what you see is the growth around where they are sopping up whatever is leaking out of the plants.

 

[Twistycricket]

I don't know about that, seems there is something that grows in whatever conditions you find on earth as long as they are not too extreme, as long as the water isn't boiling it will grow something in it.


There is a good chance it isn't whatever affected your fish, and won't be a problem in freshwater. Now I know java fern is tough, but that might be beyond the brine strength they can handle. The stress they are under might be enough to give something opportunistic a chance to have a go at them and what you see is the growth around where they are sopping up whatever is leaking out of the plants.

Ok thank you. I was going to rip all my hair out if I had the only strain on columarius on earth that could live in that salinity of water.

 

[SnakeIce]

Plants may be a vector to carry a disease into your system, but generally something that attacks a fish will not be an issue for the plants. In other words what makes plants sick isn't the same as what makes an animal sick. It may be the same type of thing: a fungus, a bacteria, but the species will not be the same. Same goes for differing conditions like freshwater and saltwater, each has it's own similar behaving disease organism, but they don't cross from one to the other.