Kosher salt for FO???

[nyghtone]

I'm just curious. Is there any reason why you couldn't make saltwater out of simple kosher salt from the 50 cent a pound box??? It's basically pure sodium with no trace minerals I know, but are these nessesary for a FO tank? Or are they very important??? I searched like crazy and couldn't find any talk of this on this site or on the internet. So I'm really curious to know how people kept these fish before artificial salt mixes and what not.

Let's hear what yall know about this, Joshua...

[nodoubt471]

yes, the minerals are nessescary for healthy growth of fish and cleanup crew. ex. without iodine, a hermit will be unable to molt and will die quickly. it would probably require a lot more work than its worth, what with having to check levels of trace elements and everything.

and ive read that before artificial salt mixes only people that lived by the ocean could have marinie critters, and that the ocean water was used. im pretty sure that was in robert fenners book if you want to go check it out yourself.

[Cafe Jeff]

Just make sure none of the fish are Halal. Jeff

[Sam]

Remember that as long as you will have SW fish, you need to recreate the environment they live in. That is a lot more than just NaCl. There are a myriad of trace elements that all contribute to keeping the fish alive and healthy. There is a lot of information on seawater composition that I have seen and that lists all of these various elements. so yes, sorry, you would need aquarium salt. Believe me, If Morton's would do the trick, I would have a lot more money in my pocket!!! HTH