alan l

have been buying aq salts from pet shops they have been working fine except the cost of $10 per kilo they are sold ina clear plastic container no label of contents went to another shop today and he had ones abit dearer but with contents on them talking to him he rekons the ones ive been buying are just plain poolsalts when iasked him what he uses in his tanks he said he buys 20 kilo bags of pool salt and uses that i have bought about 10 fish off this guy over the last 6mths and have had no probs. imagine my suprise pool salts cost $8 for a 20 kilo bag and they look exactly the same as the ones im using is anbody used pool salts and whats your views

armadillo

I have the same question. What are the basic differences between:
- rock salt
- epsom salt
- aquarium salt
- sea salt

They're all for sale at various fish stores, but not sure how interchangeable they are.

Butterfly

Epsom Salt is not salt actually. It's magnesium sulfate. It's called salt because of the form it's in(crystals)
Salt is sodium in some form.
Carol

armadillo

OK, and what do you use each of these different 'salts' for?

Butterfly

I have used epsom salts for swollen fish because it tends to pull fluids from the fish, it also seems to have a laxative effect. I have only had to do this a very few times. Otherwise I don't use any salt at all, somebody else will have to elaborate in that.
Carol

alan l

does anybody use any salts all the time

Allie

Epsom Salt is suppose to relieve bloat.

Butterfly

yep because it pulls fluids from the fish
Carol

sgould

Interesting...how much epsom do you mix?

Butterfly

About 1/8 teaspoon Epsom salts per each 5 gallons of water. If you use it at the first sign of problems it usually works.
Carol

Cody

i use api aquarium salt...when ever i set up a tank or do a water change..i bought it once becuase i had gotten ghost shrimp and she said i should have it in there...so i bought it i dont know if its true or not...but yeah...on the back it says it helps promote electrolyts or somthing of that sort....and its suposed to be good for them in a few different ways...im not sure but ..i bought it so i figure i should use it

alan l

i just bought a twenty kilo bag of pool salt for $7 aus insted of $10 a kilo for what ive been using my guy at the shop says hes been using pool salt for 10 years he has somthing like 50 tanks and as had no probs the mix is 1 teaspoon full to 10 literes so it will be quite a long time to use on my 12 tanks but at 35cents a kilo compaired to $10 some shops are just to gready