Salt

[guppymonkey]

I usually don't post in this forum but with this kind of question I am a beginner.

Does salt make water softer or harder? I know there is water softener salt (usually for domestic water use from wells I believe) but I am not sure if that is chemically treated. Does salt naturally soften water? I would assume the opposite, that salt would make water more hard because of the calcium in it. What is correct?

 

[kellyp]

Salt is Sodium Chloride (NaCl). Wont do anything to the hardness of the water - that is dependent on the calcium carbonate content. They are independent

 

[zodiac]

I usually don't post in this forum but with this kind of question I am a beginner.

Does salt make water softer or harder? I know there is water softener salt (usually for domestic water use from wells I believe) but I am not sure if that is chemically treated. Does salt naturally soften water? I would assume the opposite, that salt would make water more hard because of the calcium in it. What is correct?

Water softeners remove calcium by ion exchange the salt used in softners is used to regenerate the ion exchange resin inside the softner it is then rinsed off and the regenerated resin will again remove calcium from the water, no salt goes through the softner to service if it is set up correctly

 

[guppymonkey]

So salt has no effect on water hardness then? Does it raise the pH? I know that is completely different than water hardness but usually hard water has a high pH. I have never bothered to mess with my pH its really more trouble than its worth in most cases. I am just curious as to what effects salt has on an aquariums parameters.

 

[nmonks]

As kellyp stated, pure sodium chloride (NaCl) has no effect on hardness or pH. However, marine aquarium salt mix has a very big effect, because the sea water contains not just NaCl but also calcium carbonate and many other mineral salts. The result is that adding "marine salt mix" to an aquarium will raise the pH and the hardness. Typically, in a brackish or marine aquarium, the water ends up with a pH of ~8 and a "very high" hardness, which is what the fishes in such a tank want.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[guppymonkey]

But is regular aquarium salt "pure"? Not the marine variety but the type specifically intended to be a freshwater supplement.

 

[nmonks]

Regular aquarium salt is useless and shouldn't be sold, and I hate that retailers push the stuff. It serves no purpose. No freshwater fish needs salt added to its water (if it did, it would a brackish water fish). Yes, I know some betta keepers use the stuff in their tanks, and that's fine, but if you are going to use salt in a freshwater aquarium use proper marine mix. But I say again: freshwater fish don't need it.

Tonic salt and "freshwater" aquarium salt is nothing more than snake oil.

If you live in a soft water area, and want to keep guppies or some other fish that needs hard water, then either add some clean coral sand to the substrate and/or filter, or use a proprietary hard water buffer such as Calcium Plus. If you have mollies or some other fish that likes slighty salty water, add a small amount of marine mix (around 3-5 grammes per litre is fine and won't upset other livebearers like swordtails or platies).

Cheers,

Neale

But is regular aquarium salt "pure"? Not the marine variety but the type specifically intended to be a freshwater supplement.