marine salt/ aquarium salt

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amf17

AC Members
Feb 4, 2007
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What is the difference between aquarium salt to be used as a treatment method in freshwater aquariums and the marine salt used for saltwater tanks.

Can marine salt be used for the same purpose as freshwater aquarium salt and vice versa??
 

amf17

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Feb 4, 2007
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Also, would adding the same amounts of marine salt and aquarium salt measure the same on a hydrometer
 

TropicalNorth

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Jun 9, 2006
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I think aquarium salt is just NaCl that is safe to use with fish (no harmful impurities), where as marine salt has things added to it such as calcium, buffers that increase the pH etc. I don't think marine salt should be used in a freshwater aquarium because it might interfere with the chemistry (pH, alkalinity) of the water. Not 100% sure about this, if used in small amounts it might not make any difference at all. Someone else might know more.
 

TKOS

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Feb 6, 2003
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Aquarium salt is said to be Sea Salt, probably exactly wahat you wouldget with Sea Salt from the super market. Mostly NaCl with other trace elements as well. But once sea salt is dried out in a commercial process it is altered and never goes back to the same as it was.

Marine Mixes with include buffers and other things that will mimick ocean water. They affect the pH and kh and gh of water, much more so than Aquarium Salt.

They both add TDS to water but the end resulting chemistry will be radically different.
 

liv2padl

cichlidophile
Oct 30, 2005
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north carolina
once sea salt is dried out in a commercial process it is altered and never goes back to the same as it was.
actually you can "dry" any salt and what you get is what you had to start with, minus the water. thus, when you add it to your tank water it goes right back to being what it was before it was dried ... sea salt.

marine mix is simply "synthetic" sea salt. if the folks are using it for marine tanks it obviously must mimic that of ocean water pretty well or those expensive fish would be mighty unhappy.

Marine Mixes with include buffers and other things that will mimick ocean water. They affect the pH and kh and gh of water, much more so than Aquarium Salt.
if "aquarium salt" is indeed "dried sea salt", then the effect on your tank water with respect to KH, GH, pH etc., will be identical.

the only question is whether aquarium salt is plain 'ol sodium chloride (NaCl), or whether it is in fact, dried sea salt. if the latter, then the following is wrong
they both add TDS to water but the end resulting chemistry will be radically different
.
 

TKOS

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Therefore you can use supermarket sea salt to make brackish or maine tanks? Not being argumentative, just asking.
 

liv2padl

cichlidophile
Oct 30, 2005
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Therefore you can use supermarket sea salt to make brackish or maine tanks
if it indeed is sea salt, then sure. sea salt, is sea salt, is sea salt. like plain 'ol table salt, you can call it anything ... pickling salt, table salt, kosher salt, rock salt, gourmet cooking salt .. it's all just sodium chloride.
 

mooman

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Mar 8, 2005
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I would guess that aquarium salt is simply an unpurified version of table salt which is (I think) taken from underground (or stripmined) salt deposites that formed millions of years ago when inland seas lost thier conection to the ocean and dried up. Who knows what happened to it's trace element content during that time (due to leaching and other processes).

Anyway, I think it's safe to say that aquarium salt will not have as much of an effect on ph and hardess as synthetic marine salt, but at the dosage the we use (ich treatment) it really wouldn't matter. Aquarium salt is way cheaper anyway.
 
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