The choice of which sea salt mix to integrate into your salt water aquarium is one of the most important choices that you can make when setting up your fish tank. If the sea salt concentration or mixture is incorrect, all of the plants and animals in your aquarium could die or become ill. This is why knowing what to look for, and what NOT to look for, in sea salt is so important.
There are a few natural elements found in sea salt that, in moderation, are not harmful at all. However, if these elements are in a high concentration they can be extremely harmful to all organisms in a salt water aquarium. Knowing about these elements and how to detect their concentration in a brand of sea salt can end up saving you a lot of hassle in the long run.
One of these elemental compounds is ammonia, which is a combination of hydrogen and nitrogen. While high concentrations of ammonia aren’t toxic, they could lead to tank problems down the road. A simple way to defuse the concentration of ammonia in a sea salt mix or aquarium is to add a simple dechlorinate or leave a sea salt mix in fresh air for about 24 hours before putting it in your aquarium.
Ionic nitrates are a compound of different kinds of nitrates and contribute to algal growth in a salt water aquarium. If ionic nitrates have a large, or high, concentration in the sea salt, this means that you are going to have a lot of algae growing at a fast rate in your aquarium. This means that you’re going to be cleaning your aquarium much more than you would if the nitrates were dispersed in moderation. The same problems can be put at the door of high concentrations of phosphorus, which is also found in sea salt mixes.
Finally, beware of high concentrations of silcon. Silcon is a nutrient of the diatoms that make up algal growth in salt water aquariums. While having a lot of algae in your aquarium isn’t necessarily a huge deal, it can lead to problems if the growth goes unchecked. Making sure that you have the correct concentration of elements and compounds in your sea salt mixes can help to stop algal growth and the associated troubles.
For more information about sea salt mixes and the importance of choosing the right one, check outthese articles by Steve and Debbie Hauter, which are highly informative. They have published dozens of articles dealing with salt water aquariums and are a great source of information.