Advantages and disadvantages ?!

[johnny4491]

From getting your saltwater directly from the ocean or making it your self with all those different salts out there??

 

[saltyphish]

Advantages are nothing more natural than ocean water, Disadvantages can't be sure what you are placing in your tank chemical wise. Contamination might be a concern depending on collection site. Who knows what type of hitchhikers you may end up with.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I use both, but mostly artificial. I collect seawater myself when I use it.

I describe the pros and cons here:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php

from it:
Natural Seawater for Coral Reef Aquaria

Natural seawater can be a fine source of water for a coral reef aquarium. Many aquarists collect it themselves if they live near an ocean. The most important factors are how pure it is when collected, and how pure it remains until used. It is often suggested to collect the water offshore to avoid run-off and other pollution sources although even offshore waters can have unwanted organisms and chemicals in them. The next best is to collect it from a rising tide from a jetty or other means, to get a bit away from shore. There can be risks to using coastal waters. Depending on the location there could be enough chemicals or pathogens to harm the tank. Also, even far from shore there may be elevated nutrients and salinity that deviates significantly from “pure” seawater.

One issue with natural seawater is that it contains suspended organic molecules, bacteria, phytoplankton and other organisms. In most cases, these will not hurt an aquarium and may actually provide food for many reef aquarium inhabitants. But if the water is stored and allowed to stagnate, the breakdown of these organic materials can produce toxic compounds such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. For this reason, storing natural seawater is usually preceded by filtration, and even sterilization processes in some cases. It is beyond the scope of this article to detail these procedures, but aquarists storing natural seawater should be aware of these concerns and seek out additional resources to deal with these issues. For those interested in further details, Martin Moe mentions how to treat and store seawater in his Beginner to Breeder book and also his Marine Systems book.

One word of caution is in order. Some companies collect and sell natural seawater. However, it appears that in some cases this water is not handled as well as it might be. One company, for example, has had significantly elevated lead and zinc in its water, suggesting possible exposure to metals in the collection or handling process (see analyses studies linked below). Consequently, not all “natural seawater” is the same.

Artificial Seawater

Most marine aquarists use artificial seawater for their aquaria. This is usually made by combining a commercial mixture of appropriate salts with suitably pure freshwater. A very few aquarists may make their own salt mixes, but unless you have access to commercial chemicals, and unless you make very large amounts, this work is neither cost effective, nor does it have clear benefits.

“Sea salt” that is often sold to consumers for various purposes (such as cooking) cannot be used. Regardless of the fact that it sounds to many people like it should work, it does not match real seawater, and often is not even close. Often, its magnesium levels are tenfold lower than natural seawater, for example, so don’t go that route.

Artificial Seawater: Which Mix?

One of the first things that most marine aquarists ask is, “Which mix?” Many are commercially available; some are widely used, and some less so. Many aquarists just use the cheapest one that their local stores have in stock. But what evidence is there about which salts are best?

To be honest, the evidence for using one salt mix over another is marginal at best. Certainly some are better, and some may be downright undesirable, but no simple ranking can be made. Every artificial salt mix varies from natural seawater's concentrations of some ions. Amazingly, many that claim to try to match seawater actually do a surprisingly poor job, and differ significantly. Sometimes this deviation from nature is intentional, although most aquarists don’t even know how their mixes deviate. I sometimes think the companies don’t always know either, based on their public and private comments about their own salt mixes.

A variety of factors prevent companies from exactly matching seawater's concentrations of many of the minor and trace elements in seawater. The biggest of these is cost. The four big ions in seawater (sodium, chloride, sulfate and magnesium) must be added in large concentration to seawater. Unless they are very pure (and very expensive), these primary ingredients will contain impurities that rise to the level of, or even exceed, the levels of other ions naturally occurring in seawater. So companies work as best they can, within reasonable cost constraints, to control impurities to appropriate levels. More expensive salt mixes can theoretically do a better job by purchasing purer raw materials, but that does not ensure that those companies do so.

 

[nazzman]

Yea what he said LOL

 

[johnny4491]

I use both, but mostly artificial. I collect seawater myself when I use it.

I describe the pros and cons here:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php

from it:
Natural Seawater for Coral Reef Aquaria

Natural seawater can be a fine source of water for a coral reef aquarium. Many aquarists collect it themselves if they live near an ocean. The most important factors are how pure it is when collected, and how pure it remains until used. It is often suggested to collect the water offshore to avoid run-off and other pollution sources although even offshore waters can have unwanted organisms and chemicals in them. The next best is to collect it from a rising tide from a jetty or other means, to get a bit away from shore. There can be risks to using coastal waters. Depending on the location there could be enough chemicals or pathogens to harm the tank. Also, even far from shore there may be elevated nutrients and salinity that deviates significantly from “pure” seawater.

One issue with natural seawater is that it contains suspended organic molecules, bacteria, phytoplankton and other organisms. In most cases, these will not hurt an aquarium and may actually provide food for many reef aquarium inhabitants. But if the water is stored and allowed to stagnate, the breakdown of these organic materials can produce toxic compounds such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. For this reason, storing natural seawater is usually preceded by filtration, and even sterilization processes in some cases. It is beyond the scope of this article to detail these procedures, but aquarists storing natural seawater should be aware of these concerns and seek out additional resources to deal with these issues. For those interested in further details, Martin Moe mentions how to treat and store seawater in his Beginner to Breeder book and also his Marine Systems book.

One word of caution is in order. Some companies collect and sell natural seawater. However, it appears that in some cases this water is not handled as well as it might be. One company, for example, has had significantly elevated lead and zinc in its water, suggesting possible exposure to metals in the collection or handling process (see analyses studies linked below). Consequently, not all “natural seawater” is the same.

Artificial Seawater

Most marine aquarists use artificial seawater for their aquaria. This is usually made by combining a commercial mixture of appropriate salts with suitably pure freshwater. A very few aquarists may make their own salt mixes, but unless you have access to commercial chemicals, and unless you make very large amounts, this work is neither cost effective, nor does it have clear benefits.

“Sea salt” that is often sold to consumers for various purposes (such as cooking) cannot be used. Regardless of the fact that it sounds to many people like it should work, it does not match real seawater, and often is not even close. Often, its magnesium levels are tenfold lower than natural seawater, for example, so don’t go that route.

Artificial Seawater: Which Mix?

One of the first things that most marine aquarists ask is, “Which mix?” Many are commercially available; some are widely used, and some less so. Many aquarists just use the cheapest one that their local stores have in stock. But what evidence is there about which salts are best?

To be honest, the evidence for using one salt mix over another is marginal at best. Certainly some are better, and some may be downright undesirable, but no simple ranking can be made. Every artificial salt mix varies from natural seawater's concentrations of some ions. Amazingly, many that claim to try to match seawater actually do a surprisingly poor job, and differ significantly. Sometimes this deviation from nature is intentional, although most aquarists don’t even know how their mixes deviate. I sometimes think the companies don’t always know either, based on their public and private comments about their own salt mixes.

A variety of factors prevent companies from exactly matching seawater's concentrations of many of the minor and trace elements in seawater. The biggest of these is cost. The four big ions in seawater (sodium, chloride, sulfate and magnesium) must be added in large concentration to seawater. Unless they are very pure (and very expensive), these primary ingredients will contain impurities that rise to the level of, or even exceed, the levels of other ions naturally occurring in seawater. So companies work as best they can, within reasonable cost constraints, to control impurities to appropriate levels. More expensive salt mixes can theoretically do a better job by purchasing purer raw materials, but that does not ensure that those companies do so.

Wow!! That was a good explanation!! Thanks a lot but I still don't know what to use lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Wow!! That was a good explanation!! Thanks a lot but I still don't know what to use lol

Do you have access to good quality natural seawater? Most people do not.

 

[johnny4491]

Do you have access to good quality natural seawater? Most people do not.

Well I don't know if it's good quality but one of my LFS sell water from the sea and my other LFS sells water that they make that's why I asked

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If I didn't collect it myself (or know exactly how and where and when it was done), I would not use it.

Some "natural" seawater tested in the past seemed to suffer excessive heavy metals from the collection and/or storage setting, perhaps in metal tanks.