Though goldfish are freshwater fish, a salt bath can be great for your fish’s overall health and help him recover from a lack of oxygen. However, if your fish is already on other medications or if you are using other treatments to revive him, you should only do a salt bath before giving him other medications or after you have completed other medications or treatments.  Sea salt, kosher salt, aquarium salt and pure Morton’s rock salt are all recommended for use. If possible, use natural sea salt with no additives, as it is high in minerals. Use a container that is clean and free of any contaminants. Add tank water to the container, as long as the tank water is safe to use, or add fresh water that has been de-chlorinated. Ensure the water temperature in the container is the same as the temperature of the water in the tank, or within three degrees of the same temperature. Add one teaspoon of salt per gallon of water. Mix the salt into the water to ensure all the granules have dissolved and then place your fish in the container of salt water. Keep your fish in the salt water for one to three minutes, and observe your fish during the salt bath. If your fish displays any signs of stress, like rapid swimming or jerky movements, move your fish back into his main tank. Garlic is a natural detoxifier, and can help to purify your fish. Make your own garlic water by peeling a medium size garlic bulb and mincing it up. Then, place the minced garlic in hot water and let it sit at room temperature for up to 12 hours. You can then mash up the cloves and strain it to create garlic water. The garlic water can be kept in the fridge and is good for up to two weeks.  Use the garlic water the same way you would use salt in a salt bath. Use about 1 teaspoon garlic water per 10 gallons (37.9 L) of tank water. Then, give your fish a purifying garlic bath for one to three minutes. You can also give your fish garlic water to help prevent infection. Apply it to your fish’s mouth using a syringe or an eye dropper, two drops a day for 7-10 days. Chlorophyll is considered medicine for goldfish and can help boost your fish’s immune system and health. Look for pure liquid chlorophyll at your local pet store. It usually comes in drops. Give your goldfish a chlorophyll bath in his tank, following the instructions on the bottle. You can also give your goldfish chlorophyll by adding it to his gel food. You can purchase this product at your local pet store. Most stress coat water conditioners are made with aloe, which helps to sooth stressed out fish and heal any damaged tissue on your fish. Using a stress coat water treatment can help your fish recover after being revived.
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One-sentence summary -- Give your fish a salt bath. Try a garlic bath. Add chlorophyll to the tank. Use a stress coat water conditioner.


If you've been playing guitar for any period of time, you'll likely start to notice that you naturally fall into the same strumming patterns each time you play or write a song. The best way to avoid this is to try and duplicate strumming patterns from your favorite artists, pushing yourself to widen your rhythmic tool belt.  Can you mix some single notes into your strumming? For example, a very country-western technique is to pick the root note, then strum the chord separately right afterwards. Remember to strum both up and down when playing. How can you use muted strings (by lifting your fingers lightly off the frets) to get a percussive sound in your strumming? Check the Violent Femmes for good examples. A rhythm guitarist, it goes without saying, needs to be able to stay in rhythm. The problem is that a guitarist's primary training is in melody, as drummers generally provide the rhythm for you to follow along to. However -- the ability to stay perfectly and precisely in time separates the amateurs from the pros, as perfect rhythm has an indescribable ability to make people dance.  Spend at least 5-10 minutes a day on a metronome, if not the entire practice session. Always start at a pace where you can play the notes perfectly instead of rushing through. Gradually up the tempo as you get faster. Many metronomes can be set to click off for a few beats, forcing you to stay in time on your own before they come back in. This is a great way to test yourself. Many times, especially with electric guitars and distortion, playing too many notes at once can sound muddled or messy. Many jazz chords require skipping strings in the middle of the chord to sound correct. Great guitarists pull this off but using the pads of their fingers to dampen the strings below the strings they're fretting. For example, the following jazz chord is formed by using the bottom of your middle finger to mute the A string, allowing you to freely strum all six strings without the A sounding out:  |e|----7----| |B|----7----| |G|----7----| |D|----6----| |A|----x----| |E|----7----| Ideally, you want chords that you can play with chords you already know, which helps you practice transitioning from one to the other. Dig deep into every chord you can find, from simple power chords to complex jazz shapes. To effectively learn a chord:  Practice forming the shape from nothing. Take your hand off the guitar, then place it down in the chord shape. Repeat until it feels automatic. Practice getting to the chord from other chord shapes. Play or learn a song with the chord in it. Review your new chords each day until memorized. A capo simply shortens the neck of the guitar, allowing you to play open chords starting at any point. This means you can change the key of a song without actually changing the shape or order of any of your chords, allowing you to play the song in any key you can sing it. Effective capo use is essential for a rhythm guitarist or singer/songwriter. As part of the rhythm section, you are responsible for keeping the song grooving both melodically and rhythmically. If you're in a band, you need to be locked into these other musicians so that you're always in time, hitting each note in unison to give the song power. If you're playing all alone, it's twice as important to get this groove down:  Learn the basics of bass guitar and/or drums to get more in touch with the tempo and timing aspects of rhythm guitar.  Focus on playing every note together as a rhythm section. This perfect synchronicity is the essence of a good groove. When playing alone you have a lot more freedom with rhythm. The best way to "groove" is to know the song so well it's automatic, letting you feel the energy of the song and audience instead of thinking about the next chord. Work on a smooth transition from dead silence to powerful strumming, or picking individual notes in between fuller chords. Your ability to modulate tone and volume is a great way to create tension and release in a song, building drama and energy.  When playing with a band, try to sync up with the drummer. When he takes some volume off, you should too. If playing alone, use volume control to manipulate the energy of the song. Try starting slow, then building up to a triumphant or climactic song. See John Butler's "Oceans" for a good example. New tunings open up new sounds, new chords, and can make certain chords or progressions far easier to play. A good way to start is by learning some famous songs in other tunings -- the Led Zeppelin ("Hey Hey What Can I Do") & Rolling Stones ("You Can't Always Get What You Want") catalogs particularly good places to start. Guitarists Jimmy Page and Kieth Richards both lean heavily on alternate tunings.  Start with open tunings, which are when the guitar hits a chord without holding down any frets. This allows you to play more open notes, giving the whole song a brand new texture. Even dropping your low-E string a half step will give you a slightly richer, deeper tone overall, as seen in Led Zeppelin's "Hey Hey What Can I Do."
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One-sentence summary --
Push yourself past your most common strumming patterns. Practice daily with a metronome, percussionist, or both. Learn to dampen bum notes to clean up your chords. Teach yourself 1-2 new chords a week. Use capos to place difficult-to-sing songs into your vocal range. Learn the value of groove by paying close attention to bass and drum techniques. Use dynamics, or volume control, to create unique and captivating rhythm parts. Experiment with alternate tunings.