Natural Reef?
- Thread starter RocketBunny
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I started my last tank, a 20 long, with all NSW. The tank was fine. I did start using ASW during the winter since I would just collect right in the surf. Too cold in NJ to collect that way. All of my SPS and softies did just fine.
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RocketBunny
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Skim Jim. I decided to make this thread to see what other people experienced if they used seawater for their tanks... that also includes opinions... which we all stated. I am a pro-collector, and I think that it isn't bad at all, as long as you are aware of where you collect it and when. And then people like you ( no offense) said that they think that seawater isn't worth the risk of losing a whole system of fish and coral, just because the water is polluted.
And then I said my "pro-collecting" opinions out because others said theirs... so I told them mine...
You should have known from the beginning that I am not against collecting sea water, and just wanted to see what others think about it and what they experienced... You told your opinions, I told mine... no need to stress about anything.
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RocketBunny
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Is your tank based on oceanic water? I don't know but it looks very good.
vetteguy53081
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Yes- make my tanks as natural as I see them when diving
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How do you collect ocean water in Sheboygan, WI, or have you moved? Your tank looks great!
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Oh.... Ocean water- my bad. Use aquaforest. Salt
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LOL - Tank still looks great though!
Shaun Sweeney
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I live on Vancouver Island and I've been using local ocean water for a couple of years. I'm on the inside so it's probably not as good as the west coast but I haven't had any problems. I usually pump on a rising tide and all I have to do is add salt and warm it up. Use about 70 gallons a week.
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RocketBunny
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Thats neat... ill be going down to a reef island soon so ima grab a ton of buckets to get that awesome water... as well as some macro algae and maybe even some corals... maybe
PranK
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I'm lucky enough to live on the coast in Sydney and have used natural sea water for my entire reefing life.
At first I bought 25L containers worth in 6 or 7 container lots for about $5ea from LFS. Then I tried collecting myself which totally sucked and now I buy from a local guy 1000L for $120 every few months.
The water along Sydney's coast is very fast moving which means nothing is sitting and stagnating. Also, no collections are done within 3 or 4 days of a storm or heavy rain.
Buying salt here is very expensive. I'd attribute that to both being in Australia (where everything is generally more expensive) and also because demand is low due to the high availability of NSW.
I've never had issues with the water I get.
At first I bought 25L containers worth in 6 or 7 container lots for about $5ea from LFS. Then I tried collecting myself which totally sucked and now I buy from a local guy 1000L for $120 every few months.
The water along Sydney's coast is very fast moving which means nothing is sitting and stagnating. Also, no collections are done within 3 or 4 days of a storm or heavy rain.
Buying salt here is very expensive. I'd attribute that to both being in Australia (where everything is generally more expensive) and also because demand is low due to the high availability of NSW.
I've never had issues with the water I get.
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I started my reef in the 70s with water from here.
No problems yet. I moved the tank 2 weeks ago and filled it with water from here.
No problems yet. The local New York is normally low in salinity so I have to add some fake seawater but that's it.
Don't worry to much about pollution. Oil and gas floats and doesn't stay in the water long, besides you can see that and smell it. Garbage also won't affect it, just strain out any Oldsmobile fenders, baby carriages, cigar butts etc. You will be fine. The bacteria in seawater is a good thing, not a bad one and I purposely look for beaches where I can find muddy rocks to collect for the bacteria.
All your fish and corals came from NSW. I have been to the places where they collect these things and those places are far from pristine. Fish are not delicate creatures but we make them that way by trying to sterilize everything around them. This is a mistake and the cause of all the disease threads.
Fish need a constant supply of fresh bacteria, parasites and Netflix.
I am surprised anything lives in fake seawater because it is only a bad representative of the real ocean. There are so many trace elements in real water like whatever is in meteorites, stuff that comes out of volcanoes and all that wash water the Pilgrims threw overboard from the Mayflower.
If you can get real water, get it.
Someone asked me once how I can use real ocean water because it is so cold. Like really! Is it me?
No problems yet. I moved the tank 2 weeks ago and filled it with water from here.
No problems yet. The local New York is normally low in salinity so I have to add some fake seawater but that's it.
Don't worry to much about pollution. Oil and gas floats and doesn't stay in the water long, besides you can see that and smell it. Garbage also won't affect it, just strain out any Oldsmobile fenders, baby carriages, cigar butts etc. You will be fine. The bacteria in seawater is a good thing, not a bad one and I purposely look for beaches where I can find muddy rocks to collect for the bacteria.
All your fish and corals came from NSW. I have been to the places where they collect these things and those places are far from pristine. Fish are not delicate creatures but we make them that way by trying to sterilize everything around them. This is a mistake and the cause of all the disease threads.
Fish need a constant supply of fresh bacteria, parasites and Netflix.
I am surprised anything lives in fake seawater because it is only a bad representative of the real ocean. There are so many trace elements in real water like whatever is in meteorites, stuff that comes out of volcanoes and all that wash water the Pilgrims threw overboard from the Mayflower.
If you can get real water, get it.
Someone asked me once how I can use real ocean water because it is so cold. Like really! Is it me?
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RocketBunny, I don't see enough issues with using NSW in an aquarium if you want. I'm close enough to the water that I could do it. But having an RO/DI in the garage with a big storage tank is just so much easier!
However, I sure wouldn't think NSW would be much of an issue. I bring home live animals that I collect on the beach when I do beach walks out on Sanibel Island and Lovers Key (both near home) and even more when we go snorkeling in the Florida Keys (see the link in my signature). I used to quarantine everything I brought home. Eventually I set up a 65g shallow reef (4'x2'x14") and just put my wild collectioned critter right in, no quarantine. In 10 years I've never had an issue except with some live rock I got from Tampa Bay Saltwater.
However, I sure wouldn't think NSW would be much of an issue. I bring home live animals that I collect on the beach when I do beach walks out on Sanibel Island and Lovers Key (both near home) and even more when we go snorkeling in the Florida Keys (see the link in my signature). I used to quarantine everything I brought home. Eventually I set up a 65g shallow reef (4'x2'x14") and just put my wild collectioned critter right in, no quarantine. In 10 years I've never had an issue except with some live rock I got from Tampa Bay Saltwater.
Lifelongaquaria
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I have run tanks using natural seawater when I lived in Panama City Beach. It was terrible. I had no equipment other than filters and aquariums and wanted to keep some of the sea life I was finding. Had to rely on water changes to get rid of ammonia as I had no sumps built. The tanks always smelled terrible, looked terrible and never would I have subjected any more sensitive creatures like polyps to the conditions that I had in those tanks. So much crap in the water that it was never clear grew alge instantly sea foam was a terrible Brown and yellow. Other than filter media and carbon had nothing to really clean the water though and in my experience was never enough to keep up with specimens ammonia production. I would always end up releasing any specimens I caught eventually and think if they weren't already acclimated to all the crap in the water feel they wouldn't have made it as long as they did. Not saying anyone should or should not try this but in my experience it was not good at all.
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I also used beach sand which probably caused allot of the contaminant problems I had.
carlson
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yes, because heaters don't work with all of the pollutionI started my reef in the 70s with water from here.
No problems yet. I moved the tank 2 weeks ago and filled it with water from here.
No problems yet. The local New York is normally low in salinity so I have to add some fake seawater but that's it.
Don't worry to much about pollution. Oil and gas floats and doesn't stay in the water long, besides you can see that and smell it. Garbage also won't affect it, just strain out any Oldsmobile fenders, baby carriages, cigar butts etc. You will be fine. The bacteria in seawater is a good thing, not a bad one and I purposely look for beaches where I can find muddy rocks to collect for the bacteria.
All your fish and corals came from NSW. I have been to the places where they collect these things and those places are far from pristine. Fish are not delicate creatures but we make them that way by trying to sterilize everything around them. This is a mistake and the cause of all the disease threads.
Fish need a constant supply of fresh bacteria, parasites and Netflix.
I am surprised anything lives in fake seawater because it is only a bad representative of the real ocean. There are so many trace elements in real water like whatever is in meteorites, stuff that comes out of volcanoes and all that wash water the Pilgrims threw overboard from the Mayflower.
If you can get real water, get it.
Someone asked me once how I can use real ocean water because it is so cold. Like really! Is it me?
Lifelongaquaria
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My heaters worked fine. Had no effect at all that I was aware of on water temp. Not sure what you mean.
Carl Potts
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Back when I started keeping marine aquariums in the early 1970s, Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco allowed aquarists to fill their containers with natural sea water piped in from a deep well that, I believe, was run though a sand filter. It was the same water they used for their displays. It was much preferable to the salt mixes available then! I’ve been living on the east coast for many years now, so I don’t know for sure, but I have heard Steinhart no longer does this. Might be worth a call to check if you live in the area.
