Dechlorinating and Aquarium Salt?

cherryglue · Mar 14, 2014

So my boyfriend randomly had a thought and wanted me to ask the caudata community

Basically, we know to dechlorinate the water before we put it in the tank, but he mentioned that our aquarium salt has traces of chlorine, and wondered if we should dechlorinate the water AFTER we add salt or if it even matters. Our axi seems fine and we have been dechlorinating and then adding salts since we have had him.

auntiejude · Mar 14, 2014

Why are you adding salt? Axolotls are freshwater animals, you shouldn't be adding salt at all.

Boomsloth · Mar 14, 2014

The difference is you are dechlorinating chlorine Cl out of the water, the chloramines is just Cl + NH3 (ammonia).
salt compounds in aquarium salts break into the cation (Na+,Ca+ etc) and anion chloride which is a natural essential electrolyte. This is one of the reasons why you can't use deionized water because it lacks the trace minerals and electrolytes necessary for normal body functions. That being said salt does not disappear from the water over time so the only way to get it out is through water changes. Also the amount of chloride your adding through salt is very low (hopefully) compared to the volume of water.

Basics: Chlorine is not Chloride.

Boomsloth · Mar 14, 2014

auntiejude said:
Why are you adding salt? Axolotls are freshwater animals, you shouldn't be adding salt at all.

Its common to add salt to freshwater aquariums in small amounts to help add more important minerals to the water (if its lacking) and its also though to help with slime coat and treat/prevent some other stuff. However some fish can't tolerate any amount of salt (some catfish, or fish that rely on any 'electrical' means of seeing/hunting).
Axolotls prefer somewhat harder water (more dissolved salts) but most tap water is fine, unless you know its soft water.

http://www.axolotl.org/requirements.htm#hardness

that talks about the exact concentrations of salts/minerals

cherryglue · Mar 14, 2014

Ah!! He must have read the box wrong and got confused! Thank you for the info!!

auntiejude · Mar 14, 2014

I know axies prefer hard water, but sodium chloride is the wrong salt - you need a calcium based compound for that, or a mixture such as Holtfreters.

Boomsloth · Mar 14, 2014

auntiejude said:
I know axies prefer hard water, but sodium chloride is the wrong salt - you need a calcium based compound for that, or a mixture such as Holtfreters.

I think they were using aquarium salt which is a mixture of many different salts.
Holtfreters solution is a mixture of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, and sodium bicarbonate. Sodium chloride has the highest concentration.
You are right that sodium chloride alone is not enough

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