# table salt vs aqurium salt



## dmackey

just bought some aqurium salt today , what the difference in this and table salt? couldnt really find any solid info on goolge to determine .


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## Plowboy

Aquarium is iodine free. Table salt is not.

I don't usually use table salt in my tanks for that reason. I use pickling salt. That is also iodine free and available at walmart, but i wouldn't worry about running table salt at all. Especially for low dosages used in the treatment of nitrite poisoning (one tablespoon per 200-300gallons, if i remember correctly). I have used table salt for ich treatment when i was in the middle of no where, back home, and that was a 3 teaspoons/gallon ratio.

The major points you have to know are iodine free salts are better, but don't be afraid to use table salt if that is all there is available ATM. Pickling salts are the same as aquarium salts as far as i know. They just have a smaller crystal size that's easier to dissolve. In my part of the world the price difference is negligible.

I hope i touched on everything there


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## chaddfc

Is it good to add a little bit of aquarium salt with every water change?? The last 2 water changes ive added the stress coat and a lil aquarium salt.


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## Plowboy

I would only use the salt when it's needed. I don't honestly know where the "Always run some salt in your aquarium" myth came from. The stuff isn't vitamin C, and it won't really help the fish ward off diseases at that low of a concentration.


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## Johnny_Zanni

I was told Table salt also has anti caking agents so it doesn't stick togeather when damp


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## dmackey

ight cool good info fellas


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## Blue Flame

I add a little aquarium salt to my tanks every water change, and have had very little problems with my fish, plants, ect. An old fella in a pet store like 35 years ago added it in his tanks, and showed me pictures of his collection of fancy goldfish. They were unbelievable! I adopted it for my tanks, and have done it ever since.

Here's some info on it:
http://www.aquariumfishwonders.com/aquariu...water-aquarium/


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## Winkyee

DonH wrote this some time ago..



DonH said:


> My views toward salt are very simple... Don't use it unless you need to. When you do need it, use it in the right amounts. And finally, don't believe that salt is a miracle cure for everything. It does have it's limitations and it's up to you to monitor the progress of your sick fish and decide if more potent meds are needed to help your fish recover.
> 
> These are the reasons why I like salt:
> 1) It does not hurt your filter (will not kill your nitrifiers)
> 2) Carbon does not take it out of the system
> 3) If you have a UV system... you don't have to turn it off.
> 4) It's VERY cheap... doesn't cost a fortune to treat a 100+ tank
> 5) Will not push very sick fishes "over the edge" like many meds
> 6) Can be used on most fish species that are sensitive to meds
> 7) Is not carcinogenic like a lot of meds out there.
> 8) Has a relatively wide margin for error in dosage
> 9) Found almost anywhere
> 10) Versatile... can be used as a long term bath (2 weeks) or a short term dip
> 
> What salt will do:
> 1) Relieve nitrite poisoning (Brown Blood disease) by displacing nitrite ions away from gills membrane.
> 2) Eradicates a large number of external parasites including ich, chilodonella, costia, trichodina, oodinium (velvet).
> 3) Combats bacterial, fungal infections and ammonia burn.
> 4) Kill all salt sensitive plants in your tank
> 5) Recharge ion exchange resins (ammo-chips, water softener "pillows")
> 6) Can be used to disinfect a used, empty tank by apply it as a "paste"
> 7) Ease osmoregulatory stress... but only happens when fish are dumped from water of one osmotic pressure into one which is very different. This problem is not a concern because we are dealing with FRESHWATER fishes. Exception is when the fish has a very serious open ulcer.
> 
> Salt is NOT effective in:
> 1) Treating fish lice (argulus), anchorworms (lernea), skin and gill flukes, internal parasites.
> 2) Replacing electrolytes and trace minerals (unless you are using a marine salt mix which also has buffers that will increase your pH).
> 3) Treating viral infections
> 4) Iodine from table salt will NOT kill your fish. The low levels present in table salt will not reach toxic level, even at treatment levels. Your fish will die of osmotic shock or high salinity way before iodine becomes toxic. If you are still not convinced, cheaper alternatives to aquarium salt are non-iodized table salt, kosher salt, water softener salt (Home Depot sells 40 lb. bags for under $5 that are 99.8% pure NaCl).
> 
> All that being said, I don't believe that salt should be constantly used in the aquarium as a general tonic. They are freshwater fish and should remain so.
> 
> How to administer:
> 
> There are many "Rule of Thumb" guidelines for how much salt to add. Either, 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons, 1 tbsp/10 gallons, etc... If this has worked for you in the past, fine. I have always dosed my tanks at 0.3% (3 tsp/gallon) when needed, which is considerably higher than many suggest. Only exception to this rule is for nitrite poisoning where a teaspoon of salt will treat over 300 gallons of water. Many believe that the constant use of salt in low dosages is the reason why we are having problems with salt resistant parasites. And as a result, some parasitic infestations need to double the dosage to 0.6% to see any significant improvement.
> 
> My recommended dosage, even for ich, is 0.3% (which is a TOTAL of 2.5 lbs/100 gallons or 3 tsp/US gallon). The amount of salt added should be done in 3 equal increments over 3 days and left in the system for 2 weeks (that's 1 tsp per gallon per day for 3 days), in which time, the salt should be taken out through water changes. *ALWAYS pre-dissolve the salt before introducing it to your tank!* Measure out the desired amount of salt, add aquarium water to a bucket or cup (I use a 44 oz plastic "Big Gulp" cup) and stir like crazy until the salt dissolves. Slowly pour the salt solution into the tank and make sure you are not pouring it on top of your fish. I prefer to pour the solution in the path of a powerhead to help distribute it throughout the tank. A "blast" of concentrated salt solution may cause severe burns to your fish. Therefore, NEVER add salt directly to your tank.
> 
> For salt dips, a 1% solution (9 tsp/gallon) can be used for around 10-15 minutes and then the fish is returned back to clean aquarium water. For extreme cases and as a last resort, a strong 3% salt solution can be used. The fish must be constantly monitored and is basically kept in the bath until they roll over and is transferred IMMEDIATELY back to the aquarium. Fish will try to adjust to the changing salinity and the longer you wait, the more adjustments the fish needs to make. I'm not a big fan of salt dips because they are very stressful on the fish.
> 
> One final note, livebearers and cichlids will tolerate much higher levels of salt than many other freshwater fishes such as characins (tetras), loaches, and catfishes. So this practice is not recommended for all species.
> 
> Hope this helps... Comments?


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## Blue Flame

I only add like 1.5 - 2 tablespoons per water change. Not enough to raise any flags with any fish.


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## dmackey

Winkyee said:


> My views toward salt are very simple... Don't use it unless you need to. When you do need it, use it in the right amounts. And finally, don't believe that salt is a miracle cure for everything. It does have it's limitations and it's up to you to monitor the progress of your sick fish and decide if more potent meds are needed to help your fish recover.
> 
> These are the reasons why I like salt:
> 1) It does not hurt your filter (will not kill your nitrifiers)
> 2) Carbon does not take it out of the system
> 3) If you have a UV system... you don't have to turn it off.
> 4) It's VERY cheap... doesn't cost a fortune to treat a 100+ tank
> 5) Will not push very sick fishes "over the edge" like many meds
> 6) Can be used on most fish species that are sensitive to meds
> 7) Is not carcinogenic like a lot of meds out there.
> 8) Has a relatively wide margin for error in dosage
> 9) Found almost anywhere
> 10) Versatile... can be used as a long term bath (2 weeks) or a short term dip
> 
> What salt will do:
> 1) Relieve nitrite poisoning (Brown Blood disease) by displacing nitrite ions away from gills membrane.
> 2) Eradicates a large number of external parasites including ich, chilodonella, costia, trichodina, oodinium (velvet).
> 3) Combats bacterial, fungal infections and ammonia burn.
> 4) Kill all salt sensitive plants in your tank
> 5) Recharge ion exchange resins (ammo-chips, water softener "pillows")
> 6) Can be used to disinfect a used, empty tank by apply it as a "paste"
> 7) Ease osmoregulatory stress... but only happens when fish are dumped from water of one osmotic pressure into one which is very different. This problem is not a concern because we are dealing with FRESHWATER fishes. Exception is when the fish has a very serious open ulcer.
> 
> Salt is NOT effective in:
> 1) Treating fish lice (argulus), anchorworms (lernea), skin and gill flukes, internal parasites.
> 2) Replacing electrolytes and trace minerals (unless you are using a marine salt mix which also has buffers that will increase your pH).
> 3) Treating viral infections
> 4) Iodine from table salt will NOT kill your fish. The low levels present in table salt will not reach toxic level, even at treatment levels. Your fish will die of osmotic shock or high salinity way before iodine becomes toxic. If you are still not convinced, cheaper alternatives to aquarium salt are non-iodized table salt, kosher salt, water softener salt (Home Depot sells 40 lb. bags for under $5 that are 99.8% pure NaCl).
> 
> All that being said, I don't believe that salt should be constantly used in the aquarium as a general tonic. They are freshwater fish and should remain so.
> 
> How to administer:
> 
> There are many "Rule of Thumb" guidelines for how much salt to add. Either, 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons, 1 tbsp/10 gallons, etc... If this has worked for you in the past, fine. I have always dosed my tanks at 0.3% (3 tsp/gallon) when needed, which is considerably higher than many suggest. Only exception to this rule is for nitrite poisoning where a teaspoon of salt will treat over 300 gallons of water. Many believe that the constant use of salt in low dosages is the reason why we are having problems with salt resistant parasites. And as a result, some parasitic infestations need to double the dosage to 0.6% to see any significant improvement.
> 
> My recommended dosage, even for ich, is 0.3% (which is a TOTAL of 2.5 lbs/100 gallons or 3 tsp/US gallon). The amount of salt added should be done in 3 equal increments over 3 days and left in the system for 2 weeks (that's 1 tsp per gallon per day for 3 days), in which time, the salt should be taken out through water changes. *ALWAYS pre-dissolve the salt before introducing it to your tank!* Measure out the desired amount of salt, add aquarium water to a bucket or cup (I use a 44 oz plastic "Big Gulp" cup) and stir like crazy until the salt dissolves. Slowly pour the salt solution into the tank and make sure you are not pouring it on top of your fish. I prefer to pour the solution in the path of a powerhead to help distribute it throughout the tank. A "blast" of concentrated salt solution may cause severe burns to your fish. Therefore, NEVER add salt directly to your tank.
> 
> For salt dips, a 1% solution (9 tsp/gallon) can be used for around 10-15 minutes and then the fish is returned back to clean aquarium water. For extreme cases and as a last resort, a strong 3% salt solution can be used. The fish must be constantly monitored and is basically kept in the bath until they roll over and is transferred IMMEDIATELY back to the aquarium. Fish will try to adjust to the changing salinity and the longer you wait, the more adjustments the fish needs to make. I'm not a big fan of salt dips because they are very stressful on the fish.
> 
> One final note, livebearers and cichlids will tolerate much higher levels of salt than many other freshwater fishes such as characins (tetras), loaches, and catfishes. So this practice is not recommended for all species.
> 
> Hope this helps... Comments?


[/quote]

good stuff thanks
!!


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## Blue Flame

My 8" loaches have been fine with it, and I've had them for years. I think it's one of those things, if you use it in moderation, It can be a benefit. If you go crazy with it, it will just cause more problems.


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## Soul Assassin

I dont use salt unless needed, but will not argue with BF...his fish are spectacular


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

i just don't see the point in adding salt unless it's needed... i know a lot of people that add salt after every water change, but nobody can really explain why, they just do it. adding salt can also be rough on live plants...

that was a good post you found winkyee... pretty much covers all the bases


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## Greez

I read somewhere that aquarium salt was a great way to speed up a healing fin from fin nipping, does anyone know if that was true or just something someone wrote without finding out backing?


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## [email protected]°

Kosher Salt is also non iodized and can be used as well...

It is smaller crystals and dissolves better.

I use it for cooking and always have a good stash of it in the pantry.


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## Piranha_man

i persunally dont undurstand evurybodys infactuashun with addeng salt to there tanks.

whats teh deel?
in a few rare casus i can undurstand addeng it beckaus of an injery or whatnot... but cmon peepole...
leeve the salt outta the pirhanas watur!


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## Grosse Gurke

Salt will not evaporate and can only be taken out with a water change. If you add salt with every water change...unless you are dong a 100% change....you will be continually increasing the salinity of the water. If you add 2 table spoons every time you do a water change....and you change 25% a week.....at the end of 1 year your tank will have the equivalent of 80 tablespoons of salt.


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## CLUSTER ONE

Plowboy said:


> Aquarium is iodine free. Table salt is not.
> 
> I don't usually use table salt in my tanks for that reason. I use pickling salt.


I would use either aquarium salt,, pickling salt, kocher salt or pure NaCl. Make sure its iodine free and theres no anti caking agents in it or anything. Pure NaCl can be bought in bulk for very cheap, but you have to be sure its 100% NaCl and there isnt anything else added.


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## glockner99

Piranha_man said:


> i persunally dont undurstand evurybodys infactuashun with addeng salt to there tanks.
> 
> whats teh deel?
> in a few rare casus i can undurstand addeng it beckaus of an injery or whatnot... but cmon peepole...
> leeve the salt outta the pirhanas watur!


Jesus.....are you drunk...


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## assclown

Blue Flame said:


> My 8" loaches have been fine with it, and I've had them for years. I think it's one of those things, if you use it in moderation, It can be a benefit. If you go crazy with it, it will just cause more problems.


dude those are some fat azz loaches.....nice!!!

a small amount of salt is good, it helps with constipation, breathing and adding
electrolites (like gatoraide) for your fish....do i use salt every water change,
nope....heres why

when you need salt for treating for say velvet, the fish get ammune (god my spelling sucks)
and you have to use bigger doses for it to take hold.....i use salt only for madisanal
uses only


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