Can i use Sea Salt instead of Aquarium Salt and how much salt do i use?

Question

"McCormick" Sea Salt bought at grocery store no iodide

Answer 1

You can in small amounts. While it's not the traditional NaCl, the other minerals in sea salt are mostly made up by calcium, magnesium, potassium, and other minerals they fish can actually use. There are some others that your fish may not come into contact with naturally (strontium, molybdenum) these are present just as trace elements. Because I don't know what the affect of these would be on freshwater fish over the long-term, I wouldn't recommend their use all the time, it would be okay to use on occassion - I once used some synthetic sea salt mix in freshwater tanks after a move and none of the fish died.

The usual dose is 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water.

Answer 2

Using sea salt will raise the salinity of the water, so unless you have brackish fish, no you cannot use sea salt instead of aquarium salt.

Answer 3

If your aquarium is a saltwater tank, then you can use either sea salts or aquarium marine salts. These are the same. If your aquarium is a freshwater aquarium with slightly brackish properties, then plain old aquarium salt is best. The salt that I use says it is safe for both freshwater and saltwater.

Answer 4

If it is a freshwater tank, then you do not need salt at all unless you are using it for medicinal purposes. If it is a salt or brackish tank, then use salt specifically for salt water aquaria.