What about easy brine shrimp salt?

[Minanora]

Alright, so I often kept salt in my 75 at the rate of 1tbsp per 5 gallons. My plants have always been fine with this salinity. Then on Monday I stumbled into a conversation with @PineSongabout Java Ferns and magnesium/potassium. So my gears have been turning ever since.

Easy brine shrimp salt is essentially reef salt and it does have calcium, (which I have no shortage of in my tank so this may not work at all for me), BUT it also contains magnesium and potassium in small amounts.

I'm not sure on the math yet but I'm thinking I could change my salt addition to part standard aquarium salt and part easy brine shrimp salt without raising my GH and pH too much and get some extra magnesium and potassium in the tank after my water changes.

I may try this. But in a test bucket so I don't turn my liquid rock into *Plus Ultra* liquid rock.

I know I can add magnesium in other ways and, I likely will, but this just seems like an interesting idea to talk about.

I'm sure others have used reef salt in planted tanks before. For those with RO/DI or overly acidic water, I feel like reef salt could be an excellent product for water amendments. For me, it's probably a bad idea. But the thought crossed my mind so here I am. *Shrug* 😊

Edited July 27, 2022 by Minanora

[Brandon p]

I have used reef salt but only for treatment in my aquarium l. Never had and issues but it was not a regular part of the tank maintenance. I got a huge box when I bought a used tank and the owner gave it to me. It’s mostly from brine shrimp.

[gjcarew]

I don't really have any input since I haven't used salt in a freshwater aquarium before. I'm just curious why you add salt?

From a pure fertilization standpoint, magnesium sulfate and potassium sulfate will allow you to add a known quantity of Mg and K. They are pretty readily available at garden stores as epsom salts and sulfate of potash, respectively.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/28/2022 at 9:44 PM, gjcarew said:

I don't really have any input since I haven't used salt in a freshwater aquarium before. I'm just curious why you add salt?

From a pure fertilization standpoint, magnesium sulfate and potassium sulfate will allow you to add a known quantity of Mg and K. They are pretty readily available at garden stores as epsom salts and sulfate of potash, respectively.

There's a few uses for it but let me try to elaborate a bit on some of the uses.

We all use salts in the freshwater planted tank whether we like it or not because that's typically how they make all of these fertilizers!

Aquarium salt (normal salt, non-iodized): used for treating illness, external parasites, respiration, osmosis help, recovery
https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-salt-for-sick-fish

Epsom salt: Used for some dosing situations on some water parameter issues, used homeopathically for internal damage and a few other reasons as a salt bath
https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/plant-nutrient-deficiencies
https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh

One of the other things this leads to is some products like Seachem Equilibrium which advertise as "no sodium, no chloride" to allow buffers for those that want to avoid salt or some of the minerals not desired in some situations from other types of salt/salts.

Edited July 29, 2022 by nabokovfan87
fix store link

[Brandon p]

I don’t filter out my water from the brine shrimp when I use the coop brine because I don’t get eggs. I know that not the much and you should still do your test. I don’t have issues with plants or other things dying. I didn’t think about it early when I posted. 

[Minanora]

On 7/28/2022 at 11:20 PM, Brandon p said:

I don’t filter out my water from the brine shrimp when I use the coop brine because I don’t get eggs. I know that not the much and you should still do your test. I don’t have issues with plants or other things dying. I didn’t think about it early when I posted. 

That's a good point. I do the same thing. But I'm not feeding baby brine regularly except in my fry tank and that one gets lots of water changes.

[Minanora]

On 7/28/2022 at 9:44 PM, gjcarew said:

I don't really have any input since I haven't used salt in a freshwater aquarium before. I'm just curious why you add salt?

From a pure fertilization standpoint, magnesium sulfate and potassium sulfate will allow you to add a known quantity of Mg and K. They are pretty readily available at garden stores as epsom salts and sulfate of potash, respectively.

I just add salt for improved fish health overall. I've always thought of it as a fish Gatorade. Good for gill function and whatnot. Maybe it's hearsay. I just have always done it over the last 25+ years.

You bring up a good point, I need to go get ferts for my garden today. 😄

[Brandon p]

On 7/29/2022 at 10:15 AM, Minanora said:

That's a good point. I do the same thing. But I'm not feeding baby brine regularly except in my fry tank and that one gets lots of water changes.

I feed them once a day. They don’t get a lot but it seems to keep them ready to breed