To Add Salt Or Not To A Tropical Tank?

[Bigman]

Wow, what have I started here! 

Thank you all for your contribution to this post, as always I am indebted to you all.
 
TwoTankAmin, I have just read the article 'Salt of the Earth' by Robert T. Ricketts,  absolutely riveting. Took me right back to my 'A level Chemistry' days many moons ago. I believe he has more than answered my original question...... Thanks for the lead.....
 
Hope you all don't mind me asking questions like this..... 
 
Best Regards
Tony

 

[Chad]

Mind? We honestly live for it!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

 I am reminded of that old saying that the only stupid question is the one you don't ask.
 
But lets make sure something here is crystal clear. The salt you put on your food is sodium chloride.
The marine salt one buys contains more ingredients, however the actual salt part is the exact same sodium chloride.
Kosher salt is NaCl that has been blessed, but not transmuted. This is harder to use because finding those tiny yamulkes for the fish is not easy.
 
Salt is salt and it doesn't change its chemical makeup based on where it is.
 
The wiki page says this about artificial seawater:

 
The tables below present an example of an artificial seawater preparation devised by Kester, Duedall, Connors and Pytkowicz (1967).[1] The recipe consists of two lists of mineral salts, the first of anhydrous salts that can be weighed out, the second of hydrous salts that should be added to the artificial seawater as a solution.

 
I notice they refer to salts And the single biggest component is Sodium chloride (NaCl)
 
Since day one I have used plain old table salt when needed in a tank. It has never been an issue. Like RTR says, "Iodine is a halogen, and is required for vertebrates in its ionic form, Iodine is the element; iodide is the ionic form," don't confuse the two. Plus the concentration is so low your tank inhabitants would "pickled in brine well before toxic concentrations of iodide could be reached." And the same applies to the anti-caking agents.
 
So for use in fw tanks as a med or to counteract the effects of nitrite poisoning, table, kosher, sea or any other form of salt (NaCl) is basically the same. If you sw folks can't say salts, you should at least call it a salt mix

 

[Chad]

I'll try to use the term "salt mix" or "marine tank salt" to differentiate as that's a good point. I don't want anyone confused as I stated above.
 
For medication we want salt.
For brackish, marine or reef we want salt mix.

 

[Sophie]

Nerds.

 

[Chad]

Geeks actually.

 

[Sophie]

Lardy dar!