LFS Saltwater vs Making your own saltwater

[Los]

I am curious as to what other members prefer and have had the best results between buying saltwater (actually from the ocean) from the LFS or just getting RO/DI water and mixing in your own salt.


I was previously making my own water but switched over to buying it from the LFS store. It was fine at first, but trying to keep my Params in check is turning out to be a hassle. I think I will be switching back to buying salt and RO water. But I would like to hear others experiences and preferences.... Thanks!

 

[NanaReefer]

I feel more secure making my own.

 

[Jimbo662]

+1 on making your own. If you make it yourself you can use the same process / products every time. At an LFS there may be 5 or 6 different people that make it everytime and each will probably do something a little different.

 

[StikHedRon]

make your own, you have better control of TDS and all other params. meaning better stability!

 

[noobofthereef]

In addition to the reasons above, it's cheaper to make your own.

 

[Los]

Agreed, I guess its one of those that you learn from your mistakes. Looks like I have a trip to the LFS happening today. Thanks everyone

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Make my own.

1. Cheaper

2. More Secure

3. Easier

 

[Tradewinds]

I make my own. I don't have any LFS that sell actual ocean water.

 

[Los]

I thought it was going to be more stable and well who can go wrong with watch from the ocean... That was the thinking that got me into trouble. There was always a salinity issue. It was never the same from week to week ... very frustrating. I think Im going to start using Red Sea Coral Pro salt mix.... Good choice? I used only Reef Crystals in the past.

 

[ebushrow]

The ocean water would be nice, but as you stated there are issues with salinity and nutrient loads. I prefer to make my own as most have said. As for salt brands, stick yo what works....coral pro by Red Sea is the only one that is salt from dried down sea water, I think, but remember what is in natural sea water...pollutants, hormones, etc that are sent to the oceans for disposal, I am not saying that this is always true, however I stick to synthetics to leave that potential issue out of the equation. For me I am not close to the ocean to get the real thing anyways, but the bottles stuff as you see on a popular tv show seems an extra cost that I don't want to add unless there is a real benefit. Just my 2cents

 

[Los]

As for salt brands, stick yo what works....coral pro by Red Sea is the only one that is salt from dried down sea water, I think, but remember what is in natural sea water...pollutants, hormones, etc that are sent to the oceans for disposal, I am not saying that this is always true, however I stick to synthetics to leave that potential issue out of the equation. For me I am not close to the ocean to get the real thing anyways, but the bottles stuff as you see on a popular tv show seems an extra cost that I don't want to add unless there is a real benefit. Just my 2cents

Would Reef Crystals be considered synthetics? Im striving to get very stable params and avoid any unnecessary variables.

 

[jeff_a]

Would Reef Crystals be considered synthetics? Im striving to get very stable params and avoid any unnecessary variables.

I've used Catalina Sea Water with great results so I can highly recommend Catalina Sea Water. One of our LFS get's a regular delivery so it worked out well for me. Due to logistics and costs, I've decided to go back to creating my own salt water. I use an RODI unit from BRS and Reef Crystals and change 10 gallons per week on my 80G/30G(sump) mixed fish/reef tank. I was quite nervous switching back to synthetic from NSW, but so far so good. It's been a few weeks and my ph, Ca, and Mg have all changed slightly. Everything else is A-OK.

 

[miamiangler]

Use natural sea water . Ocean is only 10 minutes from my home . If I take out the boat then I get the real good stuff 6 to 20 miles out while I`m fishing . I `ve been using natural sea water since I started in 1975 . Never had issues yet ,fingers crossed .

 

[vetteguy53081]

I make my own. Cheaper and more sensible. Our salinities vary In our tanks whereas the pre-mix will counter that

 

[tuna_bullet]

I use natural sea water from scripps in San Diego....free...and I have 0 issues.....don't recommend the lfs unreliable I watched them fill a 300g drum with tap and add declor one time...that was all it took for me...............

 

[tyler1503]

I use LFS mixed water and my own mixed water now, whatever's easier at the time. Where I used to live I used LFS ocean water and collected my own ocean water. To be honest, I couldn't tell any difference between any of them. Everyone looks happy and healthy!

 

[definitionofreal]

I can't trust an lfs to keep everything where I want it, so I switched to mixing my own. Now I have no swings in my parameters anymore. Everything has been looking much happier.

 

[bigfoot86]

Definitely feel more comfortable making my own. + the lfs salinity is a little lower than I prefer. For some reason the water that I would get from the lfs measure about 1.023 which is ok, but I usually keep my tank around 1.025.

 

[Fengxzhang]

It's much cheaper, in the long run, to make your own. Like everyone said, you know exactly what the parameters are.

 

[tmg1286]

I prefer to make my own mixture using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals + RO/DI water.