Table Salt OK For Marine Aquarium?

[ScatMan]

1st off, i know almost nothing about keeping saltwater fish and never have had a saltwater aquarium... i only know what i pick up in conversation with my sister, who knows just about everything about salt. so, please excuse my ignorance.

that said, i've heard that table salt (PURE SALT free of additives, no iodine or caking agents) can NOT be used in a saltwater aquarium because it lacks the essential minerals that corals and such need to survive in a reef-type setup... ok, that i understand, but here's the question: can regular salt be used for a FISH ONLY saltwater aquarium, and if not, why not?

 

[Oddball]

If table salt was a viable alternative, no one would pay for the more expensive marine mixes. Marine mix is required for saltwater systems. The mixes contain sea salts (not mined salt), pH buffers, minerals, and trace elements as found on tropical reefs.

 

[ScatMan]

what exactly are those other minerals required for in a fish only setup? excluding buffering.

 

[Oddball]

Most marine mixes contain over 70 trace elements. I'm not going to list them all. Time for you to google your own answer.

 

[ScatMan]

i know what's in them, that's not the question i'm having trouble answering...... i'm curious as to WHY they are necessary. if you don't know, that's ok.

 

[docturtle91b]

Think of it as having a balanced diet. If you (your fish) were to eat spinach(table salt) and only spinach you're body wouldn't have all the nutrients it needed. However, since you eat a varied diet (marine salt mix) you get a good portion if not all of the essential nutrients you need. Water is known as a universal solvent. Think about all the different materials that water comes into contact with on its journey to the ocean and the myriad of trace elements it picks up on its way. By using the marine mix we can better mimic the conditions found in nature. I hope this helps.

 

[ScatMan]

the water chemistry isn't about nutrition though. the fish can get their essential vitamins and minerals from their food. a better analogy might be to look at the water like we look at our atmosphere: it's made up of many different gasses (co2, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.), but the only gas we really need to breathe is oxygen.

i'm aware that ocean water has many, many different things in it; i just don't see why they're all necessary for the fish. thanks!

 

[Oddball]

All bodies use different trace elements, ions, and minerals to regulate hormone development, osmotic processes, amino acid development and use, tissue development, scale development, pigment cell development, etc. Basically, every physiological process in the body requires necessary elements to function properly.

 

[Oddball]

Fish have evolved to take in needed trace elements differently then air-breathing humans. Many elements are absorbed and properly routed through gill tissues and palates.

 

[Pazzoman]

pretty much based on the given info on oddball and doc turtle..... table salt is a no go

marine salts have trace elements that fish/corals/inverts thrive on, something mined won''t have no where near the elements of a balance ecosystem that the ocean has...the closest we can possibly get is through marine salt preferably instant ocean.