Difference between Epsom salt and regular salt

[Gnopvp]

About rock salts..... I have heard it's bad to use rock salts that contain potassium chloride; is it true? About magnesium and calcuium chloride...is it better to get the rock salt that comes with these 2 chloride or just straight sodium chloride?

[Carol_Roberts]

When using regular salt I like sodium chloride

One more point of Epsom salt..... Fish loves the taste of it, will nibble and swallow it. I always make a small portion of my BH laced with dewormer and concentrated epsom salt to improve appetite, clean out the guts one meal a week. that will keep the internal worms away. One other point is does anybody know if epsom salt affact the biological filter? How about the regular salt? Do you have to remove them with Carbon? Ot just W/C? I let someone else answer it.
Jimmy.

[Anonapersona]

I've never heard of any issues with the biofilter with epsom salts. We add epsom salts to planted tanks to balance the calcium/magnesium levels. I doubt we use enough to be concerned.

Adding 0.5 teaspoons per 10 gallons give 7.8ppm magnesium (from Chuck Gadds' calculator) and the target magnesium level for a planted tank is 5 to 10 ppm assuming no magnesium in the water already. That is the dose suggested by Puregold goldfish site for treating dropsey (note no regular salt is used at the same time, do water changes to remove regular salt), I think the sticky in the Beginner Section here suggests higher doses of epsom salts for discus. Anyhow, that ought to be a safe amount to add.

As for salt and biofilters in general, at some point you will be getting into salt conditions that would not be suitable to freshwater bacteria. But there is a lot of leaway there, as long as you allow the filter to adjust.

Info from Puregold http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/home.html(one of my favorite sites for general fish health info);
0.1% salt (~1 teaspoon/gallon) which is low concentration is said to a be a limit on how much one can add in a day, any more will shock the biofilter. 0.2% will kill off floating plants but not most rooted plants in ponds (from Bonnie's Plants testing). 0.3%, added over 3 days, is considered "preventative" and is for nitrite protection (2.5 teaspoons/gallon) A medium concentration is up to 0.5%, and this must be done over a period of days to allow the biofilter to adjust. 0.9% kills and is used for short term dips to shock parasites and knock off slime coat. Solar salt (for water softeners, really cheap) is recommended and is slow disolving, fine salt can burn gills or skin. Puregold sites many USDA, Texas A&M, and Purdue University publications as references.

Now, I wonder if we discus keepers have been careful about shocking the biofilter when adding salt?? Any more than 1 teaspoon/gallon a day would be an issue.

Salt is removed by water changes.

As for potassium chloride, WetmanNy on SkepticalAquarist.com says that if you must go through a water softener, then switch to KCl insted of NaCl. The reduced sodium is a good thing for plants and fish. In the planted tank fourms we do talk about K overdose, but debate what that might look like in plants, never a concern about the fish.

[bio new]

Hi,

Is Epsom, a generic or a brand name for salt? I cudn't find any in my country.

[Carol_Roberts]

It's magnesium sulphate

[bio new]

Thx Carol.

Will look for it at a local drug store and I think, if it is available, i want to add it to my homemade BH. What do u say?

CHEERS!

[Carol_Roberts]

I add it directly to the water. Bloated, constipated fish shouldn't be eating more . . .

[Gold Nugget]

So others are not so confused: I must say your wrong on both counts, read the info at the following link:

http://www.aquascienceresearch.com/APInfo/Salt.htm

1) Iodized or non-iodized can be used in aquaria safely.

2) All salts don't raise the PH and KH, "try it for youself".

Carol,, Good public service--I would like to add that the salt used in aquaria must be non-iodized. Plants do not appreciate salt.

Nicefishman, All salts raise the ph and hardness. Aquarium Salt and Epsom salts should be used in a hospital tank. Carbon will not remove these --only water changes will. But then we don't have carbon in our tanks --do we?

HTH, Joe

[Carol_Roberts]

So others are not so confused: I must say your wrong on both counts, read the info at the following link:

http://www.aquascienceresearch.com/APInfo/Salt.htm

1) Iodized or non-iodized can be used in aquaria safely.

2) All salts don't raise the PH and KH, "try it for youself".

Are you talking to me?
If so all table salt - sodium chloride does not raise pH or KH. Magnesium sulphate (epsom salt) does.

[Gold Nugget]

Hi and no that reply was to the guest remark...though a long time ago. I think a lot of people are confused about the use of salts in freshwater aquaria.

I use the 50 lb bags of Morton Solar Salt from the Depot for $5, it's in a crystal form and disolves extremly fast in the warm discus water.

http://www.mortonsalt.com/consumer/p...crystal_ss.htm

How Your Water Softener Turns Hard Water Into Soft Water:

The principle behind water softening is really just simple chemistry. A water softener contains resin beads which hold electrically charged ions. When hard water passes through the softener, calcium and magnesium ions are attracted to the charged resin beads. It's the resulting removal of calcium and magnesium ions that produces "soft water." The diagram shows the exchange that takes place during the water softening process.

http://www.mortonsalt.com/faq/faq_indu.asp

Are you talking to me?
If so all table salt - sodium chloride does not raise pH or KH. Magnesium sulphate (epsom salt) does.

[aggie_67]

Bio New,

In regard to adding epsom salt to your BH, don't feed it constantly, Epsom is a laxitive. You wouldn't want a laxitive in your food continously!

[bio new]

Bio New,

In regard to adding epsom salt to your BH, don't feed it constantly, Epsom is a laxitive. You wouldn't want a laxitive in your food continously!

Thx alot Aggie, will separate the BH that contains epsom. Will it be o.k. if feeding is done once a fortnite?

CHEERS!

[Carol_Roberts]

I only use it when the discus show symptoms of constipation.

[wvt9527]

In my oppion after just reading all the reply's is if you never used salt before. Always start with the lower portion of salt which I would be to beleive is .5 tbs per 10 gallon & only after you do a 50% wc. On the next day do another 50% wc for at least 4 days to remove all the salt that you have added.