Natural Reef?

[RocketBunny]

Hello dear reefers. Have any of you made an aquarium solely based on or with seawater/oceanic water... and if so how did it turnout? What are the pros and cons? What are your thoughts?

I am doing one right now and everything is fine... even better than when i used RO/DI and chemical salt as a water source...

But what have you experienced?

Comment below!

 

[ZoWhat]

I would say it be sorta like growing tomatoes using the soil just off the edge of a NYC hwy.

NSW I would think have contaminants that form a thin slimecoat on the oceans surface, like:

- tankers spilling oil, and whatever chemicals they are transporting,

- to cruise ships dumping human fetus matter and biogradeable food garbage,

- to all boats, ships, tankers leaving behind gas and oil out their exhausts

- to random garbage being thrown overboard by commercial ships,

- to God knows what else is being dumped and pumped into the ocean

I would NOT trust it.....

 

[cgdcinc]

Keep it rolling and keep telling us how it is going! I live in south Florida and know people who get their water offshore from the gulf stream when they are out fishing. It saves them some cash. Some have ended up with some interesting critters as well. I would just try to get it from offshore if possible. Pollution would be a concern if you have expensive corals.

 

[Instigate]

Depends on where you collect. @Paul B could tell you more.

 

[lapin]

+1 for Paul B

 

[KrisReef]

In Southern CA there is an aquarium that pumps water from off of a pier (~300yds offshore) and lots of folks use that same water source for reef aquariums. As noted before, following storms the run-off into the ocean lowers water quality and increases nutrients. Also, the possibility of bringing in wild organisms (virus, bacteria, plankton) makes the use of this water kind of a crap-shoot. IT generally is fine. Some folks have used it without problems, others swear that bad water destroyed their tanks.

 

[sghera64]

I would say it be sorta like growing tomatoes using the soil just off the edge of a NYC hwy.

NSW I would think have contaminants that form a thin slimecoat on the oceans surface, like:

- tankers spilling oil, and whatever chemicals they are transporting,

- to cruise ships dumping human fetus matter and biogradeable food garbage,

- to all boats, ships, tankers leaving behind gas and oil out their exhausts

- to random garbage being thrown overboard by commercial ships,

- to God knows what else is being dumped and pumped into the ocean

I would NOT trust it.....

Nice. Now this is a hoot. Not that I disagree with the cited evidence. But, given the long thread on R2R about “Coral bans” and “Should we just let the reefs die?”, this observation is as fitting as it is ironic.

What I’m taking away from all this is:
1. Our artificial inland oceans might become more suitable for corals than the real ocean (at least near the shores).

2. Moving corals to reef tanks (better water, promoted coral propagation) is “frowned upon” over leaving the corals in garbage and chemical filled oceans where tidal changes, thermal changes, etc. can cause coral bleaching.

You have to laugh. [emoji23]

 

[RocketBunny]

Keep it rolling and keep telling us how it is going! I live in south Florida and know people who get their water offshore from the gulf stream when they are out fishing. It saves them some cash. Some have ended up with some interesting critters as well. I would just try to get it from offshore if possible. Pollution would be a concern if you have expensive corals.

I live on the west side of florida (gulf) and the water here is clean... i did end up with small jellyfish once xD. I just noticed them and then the skimmer finished them... oh well

 

[RocketBunny]

In Southern CA there is an aquarium that pumps water from off of a pier (~300yds offshore) and lots of folks use that same water source for reef aquariums. As noted before, following storms the run-off into the ocean lowers water quality and increases nutrients. Also, the possibility of bringing in wild organisms (virus, bacteria, plankton) makes the use of this water kind of a crap-shoot. IT generally is fine. Some folks have used it without problems, others swear that bad water destroyed their tanks.

Yeah you could potentially destroy your tank. I take water from the sea and i figured out that there are specific times when you have to grab it... Best times are early morning ... before tide... and when there are no algae blooms or bacterial blooms around... the area...

 

[RocketBunny]

I would say it be sorta like growing tomatoes using the soil just off the edge of a NYC hwy.

NSW I would think have contaminants that form a thin slimecoat on the oceans surface, like:

- tankers spilling oil, and whatever chemicals they are transporting,

- to cruise ships dumping human fetus matter and biogradeable food garbage,

- to all boats, ships, tankers leaving behind gas and oil out their exhausts

- to random garbage being thrown overboard by commercial ships,

- to God knows what else is being dumped and pumped into the ocean

I would NOT trust it.....

Tankers rarely spill oil... and that is far out at sea... by the time it gets to the shore... bacteria will get rid of most of the oil and the rest will dissolve...

human fetus and biodegradeable matter serves as fertilizer for beneficial algae and is broken down by bacteria... im not talking about "bio degradeable plastic" stuff... that stuff is undestructible... so you are sorta right in this case

most of the dirt gets consumed by bacteria and other microorganisms that make up the "refugium" part of the oceans ecosystem...

So far I havent had any problems... my tank seems very happy and many of my softies split/multiplied once i started using seawater... but you are right that theres a risk

 

[RocketBunny]

Nice. Now this is a hoot. Not that I disagree with the cited evidence. But, given the long thread on R2R about “Coral bans” and “Should we just let the reefs die?”, this observation is as fitting as it is ironic.

What I’m taking away from all this is:
1. Our artificial inland oceans might become more suitable for corals than the real ocean (at least near the shores).

2. Moving corals to reef tanks (better water, promoted coral propagation) is “frowned upon” over leaving the corals in garbage and chemical filled oceans where tidal changes, thermal changes, etc. can cause coral bleaching.

You have to laugh. [emoji23]

You are right. But where did corals initially come from? The ocean itself and the parameters there are much different than those in our aquariums (example. salinity in my tank ia 1.027 and in the sea is 1.032... a big difference that should shock corals... but they thrive). What im trying to do = i got an experimental tank to see if CLEAN seawater will help out sick... or corals that are not in their best state... and so far it has been working due to the abundance of nutrients and things like minerals and planktonic organisms.

but then it is ironic... because we are breeding corals in our aquariums to have a back up just in case all the coral reefs in the world die out due to pollution... but then some of us are introducing that same "polluted" water into our tanks to yield fantastic results.... and then there are people qho do frown upon this hobby....there is lots of stuff to debate on this...

 

[jtl]

RO, do you get Red Tide where you are located. We do and it is nasty, lots of fish kill and it seems to get worse year by year. Fortunately it is does not usually last very long.

 

[RocketBunny]

RO, do you get Red Tide where you are located. We do and it is nasty, lots of fish kill and it seems to get worse year by year. Fortunately it is does not usually last very long.

jtl. yup we do. we had a big one last week... happily it cleared up fast... I normaly dont go out to get water for aquarium whenever there is a red tide or bacterial/algae bloom of any sort... there are more chances of catching some sort of parasitic mocroorganism that is toxic/dangerous for aquarium...

There was so much fish kill on the beach. I went out one day for a nice walk and to see if the red ride is gone... but all i saw was dead fish. and all i smelt was dead fish and decay. Theee were expensive fish too. I saw some tangs. A 300 dollar batfish... tons of groupers and puffers... Now i hope that the reef where they came from is ok and none of the corals were hurt too bad... The beach i use is Nokomis... sarasota

 

[jtl]

We live on the island in Venice about 3 blocks from the public beach, it was horrible.

 

[RocketBunny]

We live on the island in Venice about 3 blocks from the public beach, it was horrible.

It was... a big waste... The red tide was so big because excessive farm fertilizer was dumped into the ocean by rain... that served as a boost for bacteria like ostreopsis... causing fish kills

 

[jtl]

I heard big sugar is dumping a lot.

 

[Gareth elliott]

I considered doing this, the biggest reason i havent is salinity.
Take a calibrated refractometer to your proposed collection point. Rain or river effluent can have a large localized effect.

 

[Salty.Reefer]

I used to collect water from the scripps pier in San Diego. It would take 2.5 hours round trip which was a pain. Also during the winter I was concerned with timing due to run off.
I am an avid surfer who has gotten sick many times from the ocean. Bronchitis, ear infections, UTIs, infected cuts, and so on. My high school teacher almost died from a staph infection from surfing.
All of this scared me away on top of the time commitment. I now make my own saltwater which is much more expensive but less time consuming. My chemistry is much more stable and the tanks are happier.
I say if you want to do it get it from a filtered source or take a boat out. I did get the ok to collect water off my local peir but it is 40 feet tall. I never did it.

 

[User1]

Just depends on where you collect but other than that it is perfectly fine. Depending on what state you live in and their associated nanny laws that may be the only viable water source one day unless you are willing to pay the over consumption water tax. The main thing you have to watch out for in California, if you are one to collect, is to pay attention to your collection source. Lots of areas up and down the coast are viable but many others are marine parks. Collecting from the parks is a no no. Everything else is fair game. I've been in contact with the State Water Resource Control Board and a few other agencies because during the drought I was trying to do the right thing and conserve. After getting bounced around the general answer is that if you stay out of the designated marine parks you are good.

With that out of the way it now is up to you to find a good source to pull from that also meets accessibility. I can tell you as a active scuba diver here out West there are great sources with perfectly fine water. I've used it and have had no issues. More than likely I'll be running it again once I get the tank I just upgraded to a bit more mature and the storage containers to hole it properly setup. I'll go on a couple dives, then fill up with water, then head home and transfer. I think if anyone is near a source or within their acceptable driving distance we should do it.

 

[ZoWhat]

OP....
not understanding the intention of the post. You first come out with 'anyone collecting NSW? Pros? Cons?'

Just wondering why you first had questions only a day later to be so pro-collecting with solidified opinions. I'm not trying to bust your chops .... just reading along.

I live in Ohio so it's a nonissue for me. If I lived 30mins from a beach I would be tempted to collect myself.....

Sorta like in Ohio if I found a natural spring water source then saying I'm going to collect from the spring rather than filtering my own RODI. there are things in the spring water I can't test for....