Pond Salt

[fSharpless]

I am looking to purchase some pond salt. I believe I need to buy non-iodized mineral-free salt. The problem is that I am trying to buy a large amount ( around 50 lbs). My pound is fairly large around 5500 gallons, so I need at least 1 lb per 100 gallons. Do anybody know where I can purchase this?

Thanks

 

[bunnymp]

I spent a fortune buying pond salt at the pond shop until I discovered pure rock salt at Home Depot for a fraction of the price. Just make sure it is pure.

 

[fSharpless]

Thanks for the advice. Should I look for any particular brand? Where was it in the store (Gardening, Construction Materials, etc..) ?

 

[DrDave]

The brand does not matter as long as it is rock salt. Being a crystal, it will be more or less pure.

 

[lovinglife]

I heard you were supposed to use Sea Salt...

 

[bunnymp]

As long as it is just salt, no added chemicals, you can use whatever you want. Your pond is so large that no grocery store is going to carry the qty of sea salt you need. You are better off buying a 50 lb bag of rock salt for $6 in the home improvement stores. It will be in the seasonal area where they keep the show shovels - provided you have those supplies where you live. If you don't, you can use the salt for water softner machines.

 

[DrDave]

Chemistry 101

NaCL is salt. No matter where it comes from, the crystals are still Sodium Chloride. Stating it is sea salt does nothing more than tell you they got it from the cheapest source so they can charge you more.

 

[PHYLAL]

Why use sea salt? Sea salt adds natural electrolytes, improves gill function, and reduces fish stress. Koi and goldfish actively maintain a natural balance of electrolytes in their body fluids. Electrolytes such as potassium, sodium, chloride, calcium and magnesium are removed from the water by chloride cells located on the gills. These electrolytes are essential for the uptake of oxygen, and the release of carbon dioxide. The lack of electrolytes can cause serious health problems for pond fish. During periods of disease and stress, healthy gill function is disturbed. This can lead to loss of electrolytes and osmotic shock. Osmotic shock reduces the ability of the gills to take up oxygen and release carbon dioxide and ammonia. Sea salt reduces the risk of osmotic shock by replenishing natural electrolytes fish need.

So the claim goes!

 

[clm]

Better question is why use salt at all? I've never used it in my 20+ years of pondkeeping, it's something that should be used as a medication, not something that should be used in the pond all the time IMO. Weekly water changes are normally all that's needed to keep enough salinity in the water.

Cindy

 

[DrDave]

In my 40 years of ponding I only started to use salt only on occasion when I got into Koi breeding.

Sea salt does not contain anything but salt, NaCL. That is as basic as 1+1=2. Impurities that might come with it but cannot be part of the crystal. Some of those elements could be all those other things, but so can lead, mercury, Iodine and so on.

I will pay anyone a fee to anyone if they can find and prove that any of those elements are in a pure sea salt crystal.

It's like freezing water, some impurities might get trapped in the crystal but the ice cube will be 99.9999999% pure oxygen and hydrogen.

 

[cokeisit]

I found these guys online offering pond salt. Says they have 50 lb bags for 24.95, but it sounds like the rock salt may be the way to go if you can find it.

Does the size of the crystals have any impact on how fast it works?

Pond Salt

 

[DrDave]

These ads on pond salt crack me up. Either they are written by idiots, or they think we are.

If you take a pure salt crystal from any source, ocean or otherwise, and put it into a mass spectrometer, it will spike the same. The only difference is in not pure crystals and they could have virtually every element in them, including a lot of very toxic ones.

This is not rocket science...

To answer the question on large crystals versus smaller ones, the larger ones will take longer to disolve but will be more pure since the residue is attached to the surface. Either will do the job and the results will be the same.

If you want really pure salt, disolve what you have in warm water and keep adding salt until it no longer will disolve. Then remove the heat and allow it to cool very slowly (the slower the larger the crystals). The liquid residue at the bottom of your vessel will have the impurities that you will discard.

You will get about 90-95% of your salt back in re-crystalized form that is 99%pure if you do it right.

 

[bunnymp]

Rock salt is fine as long as it is not the type that has added chemicals for your lawn. That is what I meant when I said pure.

 

[PHYLAL]

In my 40 years of ponding I only started to use salt only on occasion when I got into Koi breeding.

Sea salt does not contain anything but salt, NaCL. That is as basic as 1+1=2. Impurities that might come with it but cannot be part of the crystal. Some of those elements could be all those other things, but so can lead, mercury, Iodine and so on.

I will pay anyone a fee to anyone if they can find and prove that any of those elements are in a pure sea salt crystal.

It's like freezing water, some impurities might get trapped in the crystal but the ice cube will be 99.9999999% pure oxygen and hydrogen.

I can not prove it but as a chef I can taste it. There are literally dozens of different types of salt available for culinary purposes, one of which is ‘sea salt’. All have different mineral combinations in them and each has a different flavor. Does this prove that ‘sea salt’ for ponds has these minerals in them, it does not.

As for your frozen water analogy, try freezing grape juice, or any other flavored liquid that does not contain alcohol or salt!

 

[DrDave]

No one is challenging the impurities that come with salt. My educated responses are about the crystal itself. We are talkng about rock salt which is a crystal. If you can't seperate the difference, then you better quit while you are ahead.

I respect your taste as a chef. You, on the other hand, are not a chemist. Just last night I complained to the chef of a chain resteraunt because the food was so salty neither my wife or I could eat it. So I do know a little bit about taste as well. Salt is a chef's way to get you to buy more drinks.