Ocean water from the ocean

[Jeremy hall]

Can you keep a tank going by doing water changes from the beach areas ?
Always something I've thought about

 

[SPR1968]

It depends on the quality of the water, but I know a lot of people do exactly that. It’s better if you can go further out.

 

[Jeremy hall]

It depends on the quality of the water, but I know a lot of people do exactly that. It’s better if you can go further out.

Well if I ever get to move to caribbean I know I'll have my dream reef In no time
Do you think that would be a insta start tank

 

[leptang]

When i lived in Southern California San Diego area i did collect a small amount of sea water and bacteria in sand at a really low tide in deep areas that dont get exposed to air and die off. Seeded my tank in other words. But i did harvest NSW (natural sea water) but at Scripps institution of oceanography. They have a pipe that runs out deep to get off shore water to collect ocean water, it gets filtered in 3 huge sand filters. It was free to get when i lived near there 5+ years ago. The biggest problem with the water is that its not tropical. The water was low salinity, low in calcium. Low in alkalinity. Basically watered down sea water, "rain run off". I would boost alkalinity and calcium with lime water after. I added magnesium sulfite to reef safe chemistry. One thing for sure is the trace elements are in balance even if it was lower in concentration.

The picture is the tank with use of NSW

 

[Jeremy hall]

When i lived in Southern California San Diego area i did collect a small amount of sea water and bacteria in sand at a really low tide in deep areas that dont get exposed to air and die off. Seeded my tank in other words. But i did harvest NSW (natural sea water) but at Scripps institution of oceanography. They have a pipe that runs out deep to get off shore water to collect ocean water, it gets filtered in 3 huge sand filters. It was free to get when i lived near there 5+ years ago. The biggest problem with the water is that its not tropical. The water was low salinity, low in calcium. Low in alkalinity. Basically watered down sea water, "rain run off". I would boost alkalinity and calcium with lime water after. I added magnesium sulfite to reef safe chemistry. One thing for sure is the trace elements are in balance even if it was lower in concentration.

The picture is the tank with use of NSW

Looks awesome thanks for the feed back
Was there any good tide pools around that area to collect critters from ?

 

[Zionas]

What is the risk of introducing infectious disease from natural seawater though?

 

[paul01609]

I’m in the uk and been using natural sea water for a few years I had no problem with it.
just collected 200ltrs last night

 

[Zionas]

Wow that’s quite a bit. How did you do it? And does water from temperate regions have to be heated?

 

[Paul B]

I have been doing that for 50 years. Now where I live the ocean is a 100 yards from my house and I drive there and pump water right from the sea into my Jeep. Warm it up and throw it in my tank.

 

[paul01609]

I just put on my fishing waders and go in with my drums,when I get it home I heat it up check salinerty
when it’s ready I just run it through a filter sock

 

[leptang]

Looks awesome thanks for the feed back
Was there any good tide pools around that area to collect critters from ?

No the water is too cold to take critters from the tide pools, they won't last long in 78°f tank water. Plus i do believe all the critters are protected under law in the US of poaching and one would probably get a heavy fine and or jail time without proper permits/license.
I never collected native species other then some bacteria in the substrate.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Of course you can lol

 

[leptang]

What is the risk of introducing infectious disease from natural seawater though?

Less risky then getting some live rock at your local fish store they tend to get lots of live stock around the world without proper quarantine.

 

[Paul B]

Here in New York I can take any "critters" from the sea as long as it is not a food animal like lobsters, clams or crabs unless you have a $5.00 permit. I can take all the hermit crabs, grass shrimp, seashorses, pipefish, sea urchins etc with no problems.
I also can't take the young of food fish.

I used to have a sea urchin collection business where I would SCUBA dive for them. I went to the dept of envirmental conservation to get a permit. The lady said : "Whats a sea urchin" so I figured I didn't need a permit.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes , which I plan on doing in florida. I've been told by collectors to catch the water at high tide as it is flushed of impurities and most purest. I plan on grabbing a quart and testing it first on site to see if it meets the parameters of tank and then move forward.

 

[ReefBeta]

When I lived by the ocean, there are couple institutes provide filtered sea water, for hobbyist and sea food restaurants. Not sure how it was filtered, but many use it in their tanks and work well. If you do it yourself you will probably need to filter it really well. Ask your local public aquarium, they probably know.

 

[rubertoe93]

I just put on my fishing waders and go in with my drums,when I get it home I heat it up check salinerty
when it’s ready I just run it through a filter sock

Where abouts in the uk are you?

 

[paul01609]

I’m in Northallerton
i drive 30mins over to Redcar to collect

 

[rubertoe93]

I’m in Northallerton
i drive 30mins over to Redcar to collect

Wow! I’m in Bridlington! It’s on my doorstep! Your only a 1-30 away from me! Small world isn’t it!
i had no idea yiu could use it!

 

[Paul B]

Where do you think your creatures came from?