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Salt

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[edit] Salt (Sodium Chloride - NaCl)

Salt, a generic name refering to Sodium chloride is essential to life on Earth. Most biological tissues and body fluids contain a varying amount of salt. The concentration of sodium ions in the blood is directly related to the regulation of safe body-fluid levels. Propagation of nerve impulses by signal transduction is regulated by sodium ions. (Potassium, a metal closely related to Sodium, is also a major component in the same bodily systems).

Salt is used in the aquarium hobby for several reasons.

  • Adjusting the salinity of water for brackish water or sea water animals.
  • To lessen Ammonia or Nitrite toxicity (usually in transporting fish).

It should be noted that the use of domestic 'table salt' is not recommended as this product often has unspecified anti-caking agents and other chemicals in it. Raw sea rock salt is generally acceptable. Though always check the product's ingredients.

Most freshwater plants do not tolerate any level of salt in the water and will soon perish.

  • Pure freshwater with no salt has a specific gravity of 1.000
  • Brackish water is often quoted as being a specific gravity of around 1.005
  • Sea water has a specific gravity of around 1.020 to 1.024 (3.5% salt)
  • In chemistry there are many kinds of salt and they come in many different colours and chemicals. For more details see Salt chemistry on Wikipedia.

[edit] Using Salt

Using Salt in an Fresh Water Aquarium as an aid
Per Litre Per Imperial gallon Per US Gallon
Use Recommended strength grams Level teaspoons (tsp) Level teaspoons (tsp)Time
Mild Ammonia/nitrite protection
(often used for shipping fish)		 0.1% 1g1.7512-48 Hours or longer
General additive - nitrite protection
(Brown Blood Disease)		 0.3% 3g2.752.512-24 Hours
Medium term parasite killer or swimbladder treatment0.3 - 0.6%3-6g2.75-5.52.5-53-5 days
General heal, fungicide, repair of tissue 1% 10g97.512 Hours
Short-term salt dip to remove parasites
swiftly followed by a clean water dip		3%30g2722.530secs to 10 minutes (check species)
Levels of salt for different classifications of water types
Brackish water 0.5-30g---
Marine sea water 35g-28-

(1 teaspoon = 4.7 grams, 1 tablespoon=14.2 grams)

[edit] Marine Salt

Salt used for Marine or Coral aquariums is not plain Sodium chloride. But is in fact a complex recipe of many different types of salts. Various commercial mixtures of salt are available, all claiming to be the perfect salt for making up artificial sea water.

Typical commercial mixture for making ~1 litre of sea water:

ChemicalWeight in grams
NaCl Sodium chloride23.477g
MgCl2 Magnesium chloride4.981g
Na2SO4 Sodium sulphate3.917g
CaCl2 Calcium chloride1.102g
KCl Potassium chloride0.664g
NaHCO3 Sodium bicarbonate0.192g
KBr Potassium bromide0.096g
H3BO3 Boric acid0.026g
SrCl2 Strontium chloride0.024g
NaF Sodium fluoride0.003g

Then add pure water to make the final weight 1Kg.

This yields sea water of salinity 34.5‰, pH between 7.9 and 8.3.

(reference - Marine Aquaria book page 4 by L.A.J.Jackman, F.Z.S member of the Marine Biological Association U.K. Crediting Mr. F.A.J Armstrong and Dr. Wilson of the Plymouth Laboratory)

[edit] Salt as a treatment

Salt can be used to kill off Ich, Costiasis, Trichodina and other parasites. Though there are some studies indicating that the usual 1% solution of salt is becoming ineffective and people are resorting to using levels of up to 3% levels today. [1]

Salt can be used to render levels of nitrite non-toxic.

[edit] Animals that don't like salt

There are several species of freshwater fish that do not tolerate salt in the aquarium and these are listed here. It has been said some may tolerate up to 1ppt of salt for short periods but it will ultimately cause undue stress.

[edit] Animals that may prefer a level of salt in the water but can live without it

[edit] Fish that need a level of salt in the water and can not live without it

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Koi vet: Salt - For Parasites & Nitrites!
  2. ↑ Corydoras World article on the use of Salt

[edit] Aquarium Wiki Articles

[edit] Links

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