Ocean water and sand

boogiesnap · Mar 25, 2023

Hey y’all. I live on the beach, in CT, it’s the Long Island sound.
Wondering if anyone has experience using sand and or ocean water in their tanks?
I have nyos and arag alive special grade for my tank but am thinking maybe adding a cup or two of “clean” sand and water.

Stephen8169301 · Mar 25, 2023

No too much pollution you might be able to get away with sand but pass on ocean water hopefully someone with more experience will give you a better answer

CoastalTownLayabout · Mar 25, 2023

A lot of the concerns around natural seawater seem a bit overblown to me. In saying that, location and an understanding of the body of water you’re collecting from is key. I’m surfing in my zone almost every day so have a pretty intimate understanding of what’s happening with currents, turbidity, temperature, upwelling etc. If you’re unsure about the quality of your water source it might be best to give it a miss.

jabberwock · Mar 25, 2023

The ocean is kind of large, and the solution to pollution is dilution.

Unless their is an outfall right where you collect the water at, or a noticeable sheen, I think it would be fine.

Rusty_L_Shackleford · Mar 25, 2023

I live in a beach town and i dont bother with nsw for several reasons. You have to collect, treat it and transport it. Water is HEAVY. Its going to be a huge PITA to collect and transport enough for a decent water change. And where exactly are you gonna grab it from? The beach on an incomming tide is ok, but its gonna be full of sediment youre gonna have to let settle and/or filter out. Theres a risk, however small of pathogens, etc. From a boat landing you have to worry about contaminants. Making salt is cheap. There are lots of good ways to save money in this hobby, but water isnt one of em. I have an ro/di unit and i just bought a 160g bucket of instang ocean for $33. Its worth $33 for me not to have to lug buckets of water. Why risk my livestock investment over such a small amount of money?

boogiesnap · Mar 26, 2023

Rusty_L_Shackleford said:
I live in a beach town and i dont bother with nsw for several reasons. You have to collect, treat it and transport it. Water is HEAVY. Its going to be a huge PITA to collect and transport enough for a decent water change. And where exactly are you gonna grab it from? The beach on an incomming tide is ok, but its gonna be full of sediment youre gonna have to let settle and/or filter out. Theres a risk, however small of pathogens, etc. From a boat landing you have to worry about contaminants. Making salt is cheap. There are lots of good ways to save money in this hobby, but water isnt one of em. I have an ro/di unit and i just bought a 160g bucket of instang ocean for $33. Its worth $33 for me not to have to lug buckets of water. Why risk my livestock investment over such a small amount of money?

Thank you, it wasn’t about saving money. I already invested in the pricey nyos salt, I was more interested in if there were benefits to the health and development of the aquarium.

Rusty_L_Shackleford · Mar 26, 2023

boogiesnap said:
Thank you, it wasn’t about saving money. I already invested in the pricey nyos salt, I was more interested in if there were benefits to the health and development of the aquarium.

Many years ago i might i have said yes, but modern salt mixes are sooooo much better. I can only see downsides for most people. However if you were close enough to be able to pump the water and do a flow through system, or had a system to allow you to handle enough water to do a lot of big water changes then you might not have to worry about dosing and maintain rock solid parameters.

BeanAnimal · Mar 26, 2023

boogiesnap said:
Thank you, it wasn’t about saving money. I already invested in the pricey nyos salt, I was more interested in if there were benefits to the health and development of the aquarium.

I just don't get the "investment" in expensive salt. Sure, if you have a small tank and rely on water changes for levels instead of dosing... otherwise you are just dumping money down the drain. Instant Ocean is cheap and works just fine. Salt is Salt - trace and macro elements are trace and macro elements. Why pay to have the salt company add them when you can do it (and likely already are) yourself for exponentially less via dosing?

boogiesnap · Mar 26, 2023

BeanAnimal said:
I just don't get the "investment" in expensive salt. Sure, if you have a small tank and rely on water changes for levels instead of dosing... otherwise you are just dumping money down the drain. Instant Ocean is cheap and works just fine. Salt is Salt - trace and macro elements are trace and macro elements. Why pay to have the salt company add them when you can do it (and likely already are) yourself for exponentially less via dosing?

Because it mixes clean, very quickly, doesn’t need to be warmed or sit for 24 hours. I’m new so just wanted to be safe then sorry for first go around. I may change salt as I gain experience.

boogiesnap · Mar 26, 2023

Rusty_L_Shackleford said:
Many years ago i might i have said yes, but modern salt mixes are sooooo much better. I can only see downsides for most people. However if you were close enough to be able to pump the water and do a flow through system, or had a system to allow you to handle enough water to do a lot of big water changes then you might not have to worry about dosing and maintain rock solid parameters.

It’s a stone throw but not close enough to plumb out of. That’d be hilarious though I think to see.
It’s a nano 20G so id only grab like a pitcher a week.

Reefer Reboot · Mar 26, 2023

As far as the water, I've done it for years (West Coast), PaulB has done it for years (Other side of the sound from you on Long Island) and many others have done it also. Just pick an appropriate spot for clean water during incoming tide. With that being said, the only way you're ever going to convince yourself is to actually try it. Then let us know how it worked for you. My money is on it will be okay.

Uncle99 · Mar 26, 2023

boogiesnap said:
Because it mixes clean, very quickly, doesn’t need to be warmed or sit for 24 hours. I’m new so just wanted to be safe then sorry for first go around. I may change salt as I gain experience.

Changing salt is not a good change.
Make sure your choice is easily available.
Decide, then stick with that, mix or ocean.

fish farmer · Mar 26, 2023

boogiesnap said:
Hey y’all. I live on the beach, in CT, it’s the Long Island sound.
Wondering if anyone has experience using sand and or ocean water in their tanks?
I have nyos and arag alive special grade for my tank but am thinking maybe adding a cup or two of “clean” sand and water.

Back many years ago I added a couple of algae covered stones to my fish only tank. I got a good population of pods from that.

If you know where to look you might find juvenile tropical fish late summer before it gets cold.

bblumberg · Mar 26, 2023

Check out @PaulB who reports that he periodically takes materials from a similar area for his very successful tank.

CoastalTownLayabout · Mar 26, 2023

The other side of this question is how pure are the materials and products we purchase? I think we’d like to assume they are all produced by people in lab coats in sterile facilities with swooshing electronic doors.

pennied · Mar 26, 2023

boogiesnap said:
Because it mixes clean, very quickly, doesn’t need to be warmed or sit for 24 hours. I’m new so just wanted to be safe then sorry for first go around. I may change salt as I gain experience.

ptrick21186 · Mar 26, 2023

I'd pass. You can't know for sure what's in it so why risk it?

ptrick21186 · Mar 26, 2023

Rusty_L_Shackleford said:
I live in a beach town and i dont bother with nsw for several reasons. You have to collect, treat it and transport it. Water is HEAVY. Its going to be a huge PITA to collect and transport enough for a decent water change. And where exactly are you gonna grab it from? The beach on an incomming tide is ok, but its gonna be full of sediment youre gonna have to let settle and/or filter out. Theres a risk, however small of pathogens, etc. From a boat landing you have to worry about contaminants. Making salt is cheap. There are lots of good ways to save money in this hobby, but water isnt one of em. I have an ro/di unit and i just bought a 160g bucket of instang ocean for $33. Its worth $33 for me not to have to lug buckets of water. Why risk my livestock investment over such a small amount of money?

Just wanted to say I love your handle LOL

C4ctus99 · Mar 26, 2023

There seems to be 2 major paradigms in this hobby, natural/biodiversity and science/balance. If you want to follow more the route of biodiversity and focusing on using as much of nature as you can, NSW is probably a good option, especially with such a small tank cause it is basically no work. If you are more on watching numbers and a clean and perfect tank, maybe not the best option because of what it can bring with it.

Hopefully I didn’t offend anyone with this oversimplified version

Rusty_L_Shackleford · Mar 26, 2023

Reefer Reboot said:
As far as the water, I've done it for years (West Coast), PaulB has done it for years (Other side of the sound from you on Long Island) and many others have done it also. Just pick an appropriate spot for clean water during incoming tide. With that being said, the only way you're ever going to convince yourself is to actually try it. Then let us know how it worked for you. My money is on it will be okay.

It definitely works. A lot of public aquariums and aquaculture facilities do it. I volunteered at the waikiki aquarium, and they used a salt water well for their water. They also had a tap for the water available to the public as well, so that might be an option if youre near an aquarium thar offers filtered nsw. I also did a little work at an aquaculture facility that pumped water into a vat and then circulated it through micron filters before using it.