Comments on: Salt Water versus Fresh Water

By: John

John — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:39:30 +0000

Hello Bob.
I hope this is in time to be of some use.
You would think that mixing table salt with fresh water would give salt water. Well, it does, but it isn’t seawater.
Seawater (very often called salt water) has a lot more in it than just salt (sodium). Seawater is composed of many things, some in biggish quantities called macro elements, some in smaller quantities called trace elements, and others in very tiny amounts. The amount of salt (sodium) in seawater is10.770 miligrams per litre so clearly there is a lot more to it. All the elements found on earth, (including gold, arsenic and calcium) are found in seawater.
There are 13 macro elements, 64 trace elements and 10 elements in extremely small amounts.*
So seawater is very different from fresh water and very different from fresh water just with salt added.
(* Ref: Baensch Marine Atlas)

By: bob

bob — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:07:05 +0000

by the way its due tomorrow and my bedtime is soon

By: bob

bob — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:06:00 +0000

hi. my names bob.
im doing a project for school where i have to know why salt water fish cant live in a simple solution of table salt and water.
can you help?

By: John

John — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:24:47 +0000

No-one should ever detract from fresh water aquariums, be they simple with a few guppies or advanced with selected lighting and bogwood/sand aquascaping.

Many (most?) aquarists start with fresh water and graduate to salt water. The idea has arisen in some quarters that marine is difficult and therefore impressive and fresh is just for beginners who ‘don’t know’. It’s true that salt water aquariums are more compicated, however I would dispute that they are more difficult. I would replace the word difficult with different. There’s more to check but these checks are not difficult but different.

I’ve seen some fantastic aquascaped fresh water aquariums with bogwood, swathes of plants of various shades of green and different appearance. Among these plants could cruise shoals of neon or cardinal tetras etc.

It’s all down to the aquarist. I’m hopelessly smitten by the salty side of things but whatever the aquarium type it holds interest for the aquarist and above all pleasure in seeing creatures healthy and settled in a suitable environment.

By: Aquarium Freshwater Fish

Aquarium Freshwater Fish — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:21:32 +0000

It’s true, you can’t beat the beautiful colors of saltwater fish. But it is nice to have a little less upkeep with a freshwater aquarium… And some of the freshwater fish can be quite colorful, too.
.-= Aquarium Freshwater Fish´s last blog ..How Do You Set Up Your Freshwater Aquarium? =-.

By: John

John — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:33:00 +0000

Have to agree with that. David.

Is there anything that can rival a well stocked and maintained reef aquarium? What a picture they make.

By: David

David — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:35:49 +0000

Salt water fish tanks have much more eye appeal than do fresh water tanks…primarily because the varieities of fish that habitate in salt water tend to be far more colorful than those that live in fresh water. Either way, it is a fabulous hobby that will captivate one forever.

By: John

John — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:40:46 +0000

Hi Justin.

I’m not a scientist, but I do know that a reduction or increase in salt content will affect the metabolism of fish and probably other sea dwelling creatures. This is because of osmosis where a weaker solution moves to a stronger one (I think that’s the correct way round!). So a salt water fish is continuously drinking to replace the lost water from its body, and for the same reason – the retention of water- faeces are fairly dry.

Hope this helps.
.-= John´s last blog ..A Large Aquarium Re-Start =-.

By: justin

justin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:22:26 +0000

hi im justin,
my science fair project is if increasing or decreasing the amount of salt water will affect sea life. Can you help me with any information?

By: John

John — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:10:36 +0000

Hello Haley.

Sounds like you’ve got yourself a very interesting project.

I won’t be over-technical about your question – but if you need more information don’t hesitate to ask!

The sea, all over the world, is salty. This salt is not just salt like we have on the dinner table, it is made up of the elements on earth. There is even gold in it, but in very small quantities.

Speaking very generally, there are two types of fish. The first lives in fresh water (no salt), and the second lives in seawater (with salt).

If you put a fish from the sea in salt water then it would survive. If you put a salt water fish in fresh water it would not.

If you put a fresh water fish in salt water it would not survive, as it of course needs fresh water.

There is another thing. Fish can come from cold water or from warm tropical water. To survive they need the water to be the same temperature as in their wild home.

I hope this helps.