Confused about salt in FW

[excuzzzeme]

To paraphrase an old lifelong aquarist named RTR; "For the iodide in table salt to reach a level in the aquarium that would be an issue, so much table salt would have to be added that the fish would have long since been pickled in brine." Table salt is fine to use in an aquarium for ich treatment.

Mark

MMMMMMMMMMM! Pickled fish! Wait isn't that what anchovies are?

 

[SubRosa]

I really should've taken some Chemistry in highschool. lol. So, basically "Aquarium Salt" is pretty much the same as table salt, and table salt is fine to use instead of buying aquarium salt.

However, since I have scaleless fish salt is out of the question anyhow, correct?

Thanks

Incorrect. Adding table salt will have no impact on hardness and alkalinity.Adding APiI Aquarium salt will raise both.

 

[SubRosa]

Correct.

Incorrect. Table salt will have no impact on GH or KH and API Aquarium salt will raise both.

 

[SubRosa]

http://cms.marsfishcare.com/files/msds/aquarium_salt_122309.pdf

100% sodium chloride?

Is it really going to take three separate posts to make you understand the red tape involved in labeling? Apparently so! You could look at the link I posted to the actual analysis I did which proves categorically that the two salts are not the same, or you could do it yourself it you don't trust my methodology or GLP.

 

[kiddevo]

I prefer pepper. But grind it yourself, so you know it's pure and doesnt have any anticaking agents or anything. A little bit of garlic is good for their hearts to. :lol2:

 

[the wizard]

Incorrect. Table salt will have no impact on GH or KH and API Aquarium salt will raise both.

The OP was about using salt in FW just because. It had nothing to do with raising GH or KH. Therefore, my answer was correct for his question and yours was incorrect.

 

[jpappy789]

Is it really going to take three separate posts to make you understand the red tape involved in labeling? Apparently so! You could look at the link I posted to the actual analysis I did which proves categorically that the two salts are not the same, or you could do it yourself it you don't trust my methodology or GLP.

I now remember the link you posted.

Even if API salt, as an example, isn't 100% NaCl then what measurable effect would it have on GH/KH...enough to even worry about? You said it has "considerable" amounts of other ions, but in reality not enough that the manufacturer is obliged to make known on the MSDS. Keep in mind that regardless it's still raising TDS which is pretty much all that matters to the fish anyways. Hence why I said it affects osmoregulation.

The overall point still stands, you do not NEED aquarium salt in a FW tank. That would even be confounded by the point that theoretically it COULD recreate brackish conditions. Besides chemical analysis there are loads of people who do not use it and are successful. I will admit I may have misspoke when saying "100% NaCl" but at some point if it doesn't warrant mentioning on a MSDS then why even worry about it at all? Bottom line is that anyone who has a FW tank should not need to add it on a regular basis to achieve the desired results.

 

[SubRosa]

The OP was about using salt in FW just because. It had nothing to do with raising GH or KH. Therefore, my answer was correct for his question and yours was incorrect.

In your dreams? Haven't you pulled any better tricks lately?

 

[SubRosa]

I now remember the link you posted.

Even if API salt, as an example, isn't 100% NaCl then what measurable effect would it have on GH/KH...enough to even worry about? You said it has "considerable" amounts of other ions, but in reality not enough that the manufacturer is obliged to make known on the MSDS. Keep in mind that regardless it's still raising TDS which is pretty much all that matters to the fish anyways. Hence why I said it affects osmoregulation.

The overall point still stands, you do not NEED aquarium salt in a FW tank. That would even be confounded by the point that theoretically it COULD recreate brackish conditions. Besides chemical analysis there are loads of people who do not use it and are successful. I will admit I may have misspoke when saying "100% NaCl" but at some point if it doesn't warrant mentioning on a MSDS then why even worry about it at all? Bottom line is that anyone who has a FW tank should not need to add it on a regular basis to achieve the desired results.

I never argued that it was necessary or good. I disputed incorrect info about the product itself. You should know better than to think I'll let any info that demonstrably wrong go unchallenged. If it derails a thread in the process the thread needed to be derailed.

 

[SubRosa]

I now remember the link you posted.

Even if API salt, as an example, isn't 100% NaCl then what measurable effect would it have on GH/KH...enough to even worry about? You said it has "considerable" amounts of other ions, but in reality not enough that the manufacturer is obliged to make known on the MSDS. Keep in mind that regardless it's still raising TDS which is pretty much all that matters to the fish anyways. Hence why I said it affects osmoregulation.

The overall point still stands, you do not NEED aquarium salt in a FW tank. That would even be confounded by the point that theoretically it COULD recreate brackish conditions. Besides chemical analysis there are loads of people who do not use it and are successful. I will admit I may have misspoke when saying "100% NaCl" but at some point if it doesn't warrant mentioning on a MSDS then why even worry about it at all? Bottom line is that anyone who has a FW tank should not need to add it on a regular basis to achieve the desired results.

To give you a comparison, mixing API salt to 1.023 produced Ca+ readings of 350 ppm and a dKH of 6.0. Anyone who knows a bit of simple reef tank chemistry can extrapolate that it also includes at least 1050 ppm of Mg+, due to the interrelation of the Ca+,Mg+ and CO3- ions in aqueous solution. Mixing Instant Ocean to the same salinity would give a Ca+ reading slightly but not significantly lower, and a dKH reading of 9.0. That level of salinity very roughly translates to about 20 or 22 tsp per gal. 5% of the 350 ppm of Ca+ is 17.5 ppm and 5% of the Mg+ is 72 ppm. By adding 1 tsp per gal of water you are adding almost 90 ppm of GH to your baseline. It would be for each to consider whether that was a significant impact on hardness. But even if you start out at 200ppm, it's still a pretty significant jump.