Types of salt?

[quintas14]

I`ve been using aquarium salt recently to help heal one of spotted severums eyes where i put some new sand in the tank and a bit scratched him.
Does anyone know weather normal aquarium salt is Sodium Chloride with symbol NaCl and marine salt is Epsom salt =
Magnesium sulfate? I just want to know so i can get it from the chemist where it`ll be a hell of alot cheaper (not that it`s real expensive as it is but i do alot of water changes each week to keep the peramaters right).
What i need to know is what salt is best for freshwater aquaria and what the dosages are for the different salts.

Thanks guys and gals

nathan

 

[quintas14]

Bump

It`s going down the list tooooo fast

 

[Nic]

do a search there are about 50 threads on this... me i use morton kosher salt... 3lbs boxes for about 2$

 

[jcardona1]

yeah, lots of discussion about this. and yes, that fancy stuff you paying for is just regular NaCl. i personally use the morton solar salt. a 40lb bag costs about $5 and is sold everywhere (blue bag).

whatevery you get, just make sure it doesnt have any chemicals or additives

 

[DucatiDragster]

i also use morton kusher salt, 99 cents at my local grocery store

 

[FishPower]

use white crystal solar salt. Morton even states that it is fine for use in an aquarium

http://www.mortonsalt.com/products/watersoftner/white-crystal-solar.html

http://www.mortonsalt.com/faqs/index.html#q8

proper use: 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons =]

its also really cheap, around 5$ for 40 pounds haha

 

[CHOMPERS]

Ocean salt is not just MgSO4. It is still mostly NaCl. The four major ions are Cl, Na, Mg, and SO4 in that order.

Artificial sea water mix's shouldn't be used in fresh water because of this. The Mg and SO4 ions still will act as a laxitive for freshwater fish and will cause malnutrition in the long term (followed by death). It is usefull for dropsy and bloat if used with an antibiotic treatment. However due to the cost, it is more economical to just use epsom salt or Milk of Magnesia, MgCl2. Another reason not to use sea water mixes is the pH. The carbonate and bicarbonate ions are way down on the list of ions but are the contributing factors for the high pH in sea water.