Aquarium Salt vs Marine Salt

[Arny]

Hey Guys

How come you can add Aquarium Salt to a FW tank/Filter and it doesn't kill the bacteriea, but if you add Marine Salt to your FW tank to make it brakish/marine it kills the bacteriea in your FW filter? I know with Marine Salt you raise it by around 0.002 per week but Aquarium Salt can be added all in one go.

Why is this?

[scpion]

As far as I know, thats not true.. in huge amount, u still kill the bacterial and any of your livestock . While adding aquarium salt, u just make an brine solution. Adding marine salt u make true brackish/sea water. Even if I am wrong, it makes no sense to add so much aquarium salt..

[RTR]

There is no such thing as "Aquarium Salt". It is whatever any given manufacturer packages and labels as such. It may be routine iodized table salt, it may be unpurified and supplemented mined salt (but usually not as unsupplemented salt (NaCl) tends to fuse into a bock from humidity, nobody buys such twice), or any grade of purified salt. Some is sea salt from evaporation ponds. In other words it is a pig in a poke. There is no legal definition of or for aquarium salt.

Any salt added at and above specific gravity 1.010 -1.012 will kill FW nitrification bacteria. Smaller additions may do a partial wipe-out but not likely total unless done fast enough to osmotic shock the bacteria - which will osmotic shock the fish even quicker. If such additions are by table salt or pure NaCl, it will not support marine life of fish, inverts, and bacteria. Only marine mix (a very complex mixture of a large number of different chemicals) will do that. "Aquarium salt" will not support marine life, nor will table salt, rock salt, or sea salt.

"Aquarium salt", whatever it is, is normally used at doses far below those sufficient to kill or even inhibit FW nitrification bacteria.

[Arny]

There is no such thing as "Aquarium Salt". It is whatever any given manufacturer packages and labels as such. It may be routine iodized table salt, it may be unpurified and supplemented mined salt (but usually not as unsupplemented salt (NaCl) tends to fuse into a bock from humidity, nobody buys such twice), or any grade of purified salt. Some is sea salt from evaporation ponds. In other words it is a pig in a poke. There is no legal definition of or for aquarium salt.

Any salt added at and above specific gravity 1.010 -1.012 will kill FW nitrification bacteria. Smaller additions may do a partial wipe-out but not likely total unless done fast enough to osmotic shock the bacteria - which will osmotic shock the fish even quicker. If such additions are by table salt or pure NaCl, it will not support marine life of fish, inverts, and bacteria. Only marine mix (a very complex mixture of a large number of different chemicals) will do that. "Aquarium salt" will not support marine life, nor will table salt, rock salt, or sea salt.

"Aquarium salt", whatever it is, is normally used at doses far below those sufficient to kill or even inhibit FW nitrification bacteria.

Thx for taking the time to type that RTR

[bertie 83]

I used to use aquarium salt as a tonic to keep my fish well. I since learnt I was wasting money as perfect water quality is all you need in a f/w tank. This erroneous substance should not be used in a s/w tank