Oh, I hear yah. It's one of my pet peeves as wellstar_rider said:actually sodium chloride is only one salt
there are other salts that naturally occur like ammonimum salt, potassium salt, and lots of other minerals that exist as salts.
so when the term salt is thrown out..I think of many of the others that exist as trace but essential minerals.
having spent too many years studying biology and chemistry..it is a misconception when the term salt is used. I learned long ago to make sure the prof was clear when I mentioned salt as to which salt I was referring to.
I think here, many refer to it as table salt or NaCl but I think of the minerals in general.
What people don't realize is that, not too long time ago, the word "salts" referred to crystalized minerals -- period. Hence: Epsom salts, mineral salts, bath salts.
If you say "salt" or "salts" today, it's automatically taken as meaning salt as in "table salt" and that's not necessarily what is meant.
Then you compound the problem with companies who use the term in the true sense, ie: SeaChem's Cichlid Lake Salt and people automatically think, "oh, that stuff has salt in it". And it does have Na in it. A SMALL amount. Freshwater "salt" contains mostly magnesium, potassium and calcium, not necessarily in that order. The presence of those minerals and the quantity therein are what make water "soft" or "hard". The salt in that particular salts mix is a trace amount because there *is* more than usual in the Rift Lakes. However, the amount isn't near what people throw in their tanks thinking they are doing the fish some good.
So what do you do? Redefine the word to the manufacturers or educate the mass public? We can try to educate the mass public, but most of them just do not want to listen.
I just don't get why people continually throw stuff in the tanks when they have no idea what it really does, why they are doing it, or what the long-term benefits/disadvantages are. They do it because they either heard that it was beneficial, or they've been doing it for a long time and they haven't seen any problems yet, or they read somewhere that it should be done.
When you look at osmoregulation in fish and get an idea of how it works and how it relates to hard water mineral content, fish longevity and so forth, then there is no way you would be throwing salt in your tanks.
Anyhow, that mini-rant isn't directed at you, star_rider. It's just a mini-rant.
Roan
