The guy at my LFS said to put table salt in my tank.

Hes right, Aquarium salt is usually just very coarse salt, crush it up and its table salt Good way to make a buck.
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Sumthin Fishy,

Is the "Aquarium Salt" sold at the LFS different than "Salt water mix"?
 
Yes, very different. Aquarium salt is also sold as Freshwater aquarium salt. far dirrerent from Marine salt. There is another thread in GFW where OG concurs on this, as well as RTR. I do Appreciate you pointing that our watcher, as it will make others aware that there are two separate items, and not to confuse the two.

I do not recall what exactly is in Marine mix, Im sure a google will turn it up if you are curious. But I do know it is far more than NaCl.
 
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There is no definition for "Aquarium salt". Each company defines its own. From some analyses that have been done, in some cases it is raw salt (unpurified) aka road salt, in others it is somewhat purified (but without any analysis available), in others it is sea salt (which is not marine mix at all), and in others it was apparently regular table salt (repackaged). A crap shoot in other words, unless the comapny puts an analysis on the package - which I have never seen done.
 
:eek: dont do it!
Mrs. Burns said:
He said he was supposed to sell me that special salt, but table salt does the same thing. He sells alot of fish and has been in business for many years, but some people say not to use regular table salt. Can anyone tell me if I should trust him and put regular table salt???
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I think talble salt for freshwater is perfectly alright and a huge misconception
is that "table salt contains iodine which is 'bad' for the fish". Iodine is one of the nutrtional requirement for the fish. I have a list of nutritional reqirements of fish and iodie is included. The only thing thats "bad" about table salt is that (as someone here said...) it contains caking agents that is slightly toxic. But they are present in negligible amounts and many have adviced me to use table salt .

Its also true that marine tanks require other salts of silicate and carbonates which
are present in some so called aquarium salts available .
 
nursie said:
Just curious..where did you hear that?? I've got a neighbor who tried to tell me how horrible salt was for fish...well guess who's fish got salt treatment for ich and lived (mine) and who's got meds and all died (hers). I'd love some other positive salt info.
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Says right on my box of Aquarium Salt from Aquarium Pharm., Inc. :)
 
:mad: Roan, you know what? ....nevermind. Here.

Fish actively maintain a natural balance of electrolytes in their body fluids. Electrolytes such as potassium, sodium, chloride, calcium and magnesium are removed from the water by chloride cells located in the gills. These electrolytes are essential for the uptake of oxygen and release of carbon dioxide and ammonium across gill membranes. The lack of electrolytes can cause health problems in all fish, but especially those kept in aquariums.

During periods of disease and stress, healthy gill function is disturbed. This can lead to the loss of electrolytes through the gills, called osmotic shock. Osmotic shock reduces the intake of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide and ammonium from the gills. Aquarium Salt reduces the risk of osmotic shock by replenishing natural electrolytes fish need.

*The above was taken from some study i found through a simple Google search*
 
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