# Aquarium Salt



## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

What is aquarium salt is it sea salt or table salt or something else


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## Kerohime (Jan 10, 2011)

Table salt is iodized for human nutrient consumption. 
Do not put table salt into your aquarium. 

Aquarium salt has other minerals in it... its specificly used for aquariums. There is aquarium salt for freshwater as well as aquarium salt used for saltwater setups which are enriched and have alot more minerals and salt composition. 
You can buy different kinds at an aquarium salt, but dont confuse it with table salt!


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Ok so if someone says to add aquarium salt that is sea salt that I use in my brackish water tank.


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## Kerohime (Jan 10, 2011)

Just make sure its aquarium salt... not sea salt you put for food. 

Whatever salt you put in your brackish tank it should be labeled "aquarium salt". 
For brackish fish tanks you can use the same salt people put into their saltwater tanks, or you can get the cheaper freshwater aquarium salt.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

You can use salts available for human consumption, just ensure they don't include an anti-caking agent - IE kosher salts work well.


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Most companies use sodum prussate ( sodium ferrocyanide/Na4Fe(CN)6 ) as the anti caking agent.

In acidic environments, longterm, and under bright light (photodecomposition), the cyanide (CN) is "released" from the iron (Fe) bond...then we got trouble.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Thanks for the info.


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## vinjo (Dec 8, 2010)

So is Aquarium salt ok for consumption?


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

I wouldn't as there are significantly stricter guidelines when processing for human consumption. If you're "jonesing" for a bit of salt, totally your call but I take no responsibility


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I've seen Wilson take a few mouthfuls of it with no ill-effects...er, wait maybe some gagging and a disgusted face


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Kerohime said:


> Aquarium salt has other minerals in it... its specificly used for aquariums. There is aquarium salt for freshwater as well as aquarium salt used for saltwater setups which are enriched and have alot more minerals and salt composition.
> You can buy different kinds at an aquarium salt, but dont confuse it with table salt!


"Aquarium Salt" is just plain sodium chloride with nothing added it to it, just like table salt. It looks pretty much like Kosher salt from the grocery store. Not all table salt is iodized. I bought a couple of 40 lb bags of Sifto that wasn't iodized, from Costco. Marine salt for saltwater tanks is a mixture of ingredients to simulate a marine environment. 
However, aquarium salt and table salt are exactly the same ingredient. Sea salt is also the same ingredient, sodium chloride.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

wtac said:


> Most companies use sodum prussate ( sodium ferrocyanide/Na4Fe(CN)6 ) as the anti caking agent.
> 
> In acidic environments, longterm, and under bright light (photodecomposition), the cyanide (CN) is "released" from the iron (Fe) bond...then we got trouble.


I've never seen anything but sodium silicoaluminate and starch as anti-caking agents on a table salt label. Why use something expensive and potentially toxic (legal liability -- the salt would kill you long before you got enough cyanide) when you can use something cheap and harmless?

I've used both table salt and sea salt (sold for human consumption) in aquaria and in making pickles, where they warn you to use pure salt lest your pickling liquid darken or become cloudy. No problem. The iodine may actually be beneficial. The Great Lakes are a goiter region, and the salmon introduced to Lake Ontario often have goiter. While aquarium fish should get enough iodine from the marine origin food they eat, I've seen probable goiters on Julidochromis spp a few times. So I doubt the iodine in iodized salt could do any harm. Starch and sodium silicoaluminate could cause a little transient cloudiness, but I've never seen it when using salt in small quantities.

That said, if I were setting up a real brackish tank, I'd probably use salt intended for marine aquaria, since true brackish water fish might benefit from some of the other components in that mix.


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## Bwhiskered (Oct 2, 2008)

All aquarium salt is is coarse pickling salt. Any non idonized salt will do. Kosher salt is good and I have been using water softener salt for over 30 years for treating fish and hatching brine shrimp without a problem. Years ago some stores bought a 100 pound bag of pickling salt and packaged it themselves. There are many products you buy from the fish stores that you can buy much cheaper if you know what they are.

Sea salt is ok as well. The only difference is that it contains trace elements that can be benificial.


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

You're correct bea..."back in the day" it should have been stated...too much going on in the ol mellon, not enough sleep and inhaling too much curing silicone...LOL!


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