salt questions

[bunnymp]

I have read on another site that salt does not evaporate. My experience tells me that is does, and I can't find a thread about it on this site.
Here is my experience... last year I did not use salt and my pond level dropped daily due to evaporation during the summer. So much so, that last summer we swore we had a leak until the weather started to cool and wallah - no more "leak".
This summer - same thing, except that I use salt as preventive maintenance. Water level was fine until the warm weather hit. Every day I add water to the pond. Every week I check the salt level and it is low. By low, I mean about .03. I like to keep it at .15. So, if salt does not evaporate, why are my salt levels dropping? I use a new digital meter by the way. Also, why wouldn't salt evaporate? It is dissolving in the water afterall?
Regarding using salt as preventive tool. Should I? I see mixed thoughts about that too.

 

[boogies1952]

I amnot an expert...only sharing what I have been told or read elsewhere. Salt does not evaporate. If your water level goes down thru evaporation your salt levels should increase not decrease. I also use salt for Koi....keeps down parasites and disease causing bacteria...water lettuce and other plants dont like it so much.

I have been told not to add salt when adding water unless it is a major water change 40-50%

 

[hockeyref88]

The salt will not evaporate. In my salty tank at home I top off my tank with R.O. water not salt water. Its because even though the water evaporates the salt does not.

Rick

 

[bunnymp]

Then why do my salt levels decrease regulary? Is it because I am adding so much fresh water daily? I have to add salt weekly to keep the level above one.
What is R.O. water?

 

[hockeyref88]

R.O. water is reverse osmosis. Purified water. In salt water aquariums you top off water with R.O. water. You are told early on that the salt content in an aquarium never goes down due to evaporation. Now having said that yours is a pond that you put salt in. The salinty is very different and now that I'm thinking about it, I would assume it is the same principle but I could be wrong. I imagine the salt levels in your pond are a fraction of true salt water for aquariums. I do know that for my goldfish aquarium I only add salt when I change water out. My understanding is salt levels never change unless water is removed and new water is replaced. Its at that point you add more salt.....................One question......................Why are you adding salt to your pond? I only use it for treating my fish if ill and then I take them out and put them in a container with salt for 15 minutes or so. I have had great success with that procedure. Salt in ponds is also no good for plants as well...............Just curious

Rick

 

[PHYLAL]

I really can not answer your question as to where your salt is going, and I would love to know the answer to that question myself. What I can tell you that salt does not evaporate. Examples: the Dead Sea, Salt Lake in Utah. Other examples are the numerous salt pans (or salt flats) around the world. Here in the US, think of Groom Lake, Bonneville Salt Flats, or Devils’s Golf Course in Death Valley. If water is unable to drain into the ground, it remains on the surface until it evaporates, leaving behind whatever minerals were dissolved in it. Over thousands of years, the minerals (usually salts) accumulate on the surface. In many parts of the world sea water is let into large, very shallow ponds where maximum surface area is exposed to the sun. After the water dissolves, the salt is gathered for commercial use. Try dissolving a teaspoon of salt in a small glass of water. Allow the water to evaporate and guess what will remain; a teaspoon of salt.

 

[lovinglife]

I would think maybe you do have a small leak in your liner, at least you must have some place that is leaking be it a fitting or something similar.

 

[thejetskiqueen]

I would think maybe you do have a small leak in your liner, at least you must have some place that is leaking be it a fitting or something similar.

Exactly. Must be a leak either liner or plumbing or possibly runoff when it rains. As a reef aquarist, I promise that salt does not evaporate.

 

[bunnymp]

I know that the water loss stopped last fall and so I expect it to stop again this fall, but we shall see.

Rick - I use salt regualry to prevent problems. I read articles that said you should keep your salt level between .10 -.20. But, if you have palnts, you should keep it between .10 - .18. I have plants, so I like to keep it around .15. If there is no good reason to do this, I will gladly stop.

 

[boogies1952]

salt in ponds helps keep down bacteria and parasites...good for fish health...not so good for many plants..I can replace water lettuce more cheaply than Koi

 

[Gene B.]

When you you "0.15" (salinity), is it 1.5%, or 0.15% salt? I have a simp;e hydrometer that measures in "parts-per-thousand" (and corresponding specific gravity). What is the norm for a small pond with very few plants?

 

[bunnymp]

0.15 is 1.5%.
I figured it out - The salt is not evaporating, it is getting diluted by daily additions of fresh water.

 

[DrDave]

1.5% will kill your fish in less than 10 minutes!!!!!!
Get a test kit and do the math before you add salt.

 

[bunnymp]

Absolutely no leak. As soon as the weather cooled, the evaporation stopped.
Sorry for the typo. I meant .15