# Aquarium Salt, Sea Salt, and Table Salt question.



## Krys (Jul 28, 2009)

I know everyone says Aquarium salt for fish. But I have also heard, and have done regular table salt without iodine and that doesn't seem to bother my bettas at all. In fact when someone breaks out in ick, i go straight for non-iodine table salt and that usually takes care of the ick in a few days to a week.

Now I'm wondering if natural sea salt is safe to use? Has anyone tried it and had bad out comes?


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

i only use AQ salt and for heavier diseases i use epsom salt


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## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

AQ sale is just another way to make money off of the uninformed fish hobbyist. If you have regular table salt (minus the iodine) then it will be just fine. 

Epsom salt though, is not the same.


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## Krys (Jul 28, 2009)

But what about natural sea salt?


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## Shadyr (Mar 27, 2012)

AQ salt = chunky non-iodized normal salt. Usually used for external things...ich, fin rot, missing scales.

Iodized salt = BAD

Epsom salt = usually used for internal things - parasites, bloating, SBD.

If the sea has any additives, scent, or extra chemicals, don't use it.


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## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

I have never heard of using sea salt before.... 

Epsom salt is used for treating certain disease (as mentioned above), whereas AQ salt is used as a prophylactic additive. I think too many hobbyists use AQ salt as a treatment when this is NOT one of its uses.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

AQ salt is a treatment, and works better that way than to be used as a preventative - bacteria, the fish itself, etc will become resistant/immune to the salt if over exposed.. along with risking the destruction of kidneys due to long exposure of the salt.. whereas it has been proven that AQ salt does kill off external parasites such as ich, does kill off fungus and does kill off bacteria.

It can be used as a preventative for open wounds when used for a short time - a few days.. but other than that, you don't want to use AQ salt unless specific treatment is needed. 

Based off of wet vets, people with decades of experience/research/experiments/etc have shown that AQ salt is better for treatment rather than preventative overall. 

Sea salt is fine to use as a treatment, same rules apply - dissolve before adding it in with fish, no longer than 10-14 days, etc.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Sodium chloride.....salt, aquarium salt, table salt, sea salt, kosher salt....

Even the iodine in salt isn't harmful and can even be deficient in some case-making it beneficial in low dose-often found in many fish foods, additives...etc... Iodine in salt is really iodide.

Same with the other additive in table salt for clumping.....short term low doses are not harmful to salt tolerant fish, however, with any thing....excessive can be bad..........In a pinch I have used table salt without problems and still use it for hatching brine shrimp. With that said, I would only recommend table salt in an emergency when you didn't have a salt without additives on hand.

Depending on the sea salt or marine salt-these can sometime have other additives, minerals, salts...etc.....Marine salt isn't the same as aquarium salt per se-but its still sodium chlorine with a lot of different minerals, elements, salts added.

With the sea salts-it is a natural product-evaporated sea water and table salt is mined underground, however, sodium content is the same-with sea salt having added natural minerals/elements from the sea.


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## Option (Oct 20, 2012)

Myates said:


> AQ salt is a treatment, and works better that way than to be used as a preventative - bacteria, the fish itself, etc will become resistant/immune to the salt if over exposed.. along with risking the destruction of kidneys due to long exposure of the salt.. whereas it has been proven that AQ salt does kill off external parasites such as ich, does kill off fungus and does kill off bacteria.


Really?? Are you sure? I have ALWAYS heard quite the opposite....that once the disease kicks in then there is no effectiveness of AQ salt in getting rid of the disease. AQ salt is not for treatment purposes is what I have always read. Not to be confused with Epsom salt, which apparently can be used as treatment for certain fish diseases.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

AQ salt is recommended to be used as treatment.. unsure where/when you heard otherwise. But it has gotten rid of thousands of cases of ich, fungus, rot, etc. It's when people place salt into the tank all the time that it loses its effectiveness due to the bacteria, parasites, etc becoming used to the salt over time.

But if the fish isn't normally exposed to the salt, it will work to heal most external problems.

I am as sure as I can ever be about anything.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Aquarium salt (_sodium chloride_) can be an effective treatment when used for the right reason, dosage and durations with salt tolerant fish.

Nothing is a cure all or will have little effect-even antibiotics-unless you fix the bottom line problem and support the immune response.


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## Nicci Lu (Jan 7, 2013)

I have used sea salt in a pinch with the same results as AQ salt. I just made sure to read the ingredients first to see if there were any additives. Usually, if sea salt does not have additives, it is labeled as "natural".


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## Krys (Jul 28, 2009)

This is the sea salt I have. I got it for a $1.60 at Job Lots.


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## Nicci Lu (Jan 7, 2013)

That looks safe to me. Try grinding it before measuring it because with crystals that large you won't get an accurate measurement and it will take forever to dissolve.


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## Krys (Jul 28, 2009)

well yeah, i was going to.


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