# Aquarium vs marine salt



## fishbone (Jan 15, 2007)

Can anyone tell me what the difference is? I'm trying to determine which will be better and I know it depends on the application.
I've got some API Aquarium Salt which is made of, I quote


> All natural salt, made from evaporated sea water


Doesn't that mean it's very close, if not the same, to marine salt?
I've also got a big bag of Marineland Instant Ocean marine salt which I use for my brackish biotope.

Here's where I'm at. I have a 5.5 gallon tank with 1 dalmatian molly, 1 wagtail platty and 1 rainbow guppy and also 5 ghost shrimp. From what I can tell all these critters benefit from a bit of salt in the aquarium, especially so the shrimp which need a bit of iodine for healthy moulting.

Which type of salt should I use? Are 2 tbsp too much for 5.5 gallons?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

To give a short answer, salt is salt. The main difference between various types of salt are the additives that are included with them (iodine,calcium, magnesium, ect....)


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## fishbone (Jan 15, 2007)

That's what I figured but I wanted to put this thing to rest, more or less. I tried finding out exactly what the chemical additives in each, found a long laundry list of stuff for marine salt but nothing for aquarium salt.


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## Reefneck (Oct 15, 2005)

It's fine to use sea salt for freshwater. I usually recommend 1 TBSP per 10G.


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

Like Damon said "salt is salt". Keep in mind salt doesnt just mean NaCl.... KI is also a salt.. But i would do as Reefneck suggested, use marine salt even in FW tanks. Aquarium salt is lacking all the other dissolved solids (also as mentioned by Damon)


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

NaCl should not buffer your water nor raise your pH, marine salt will but not to the extent that its harmful unless you've got very soft water.


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