Sea Water

A/c mech · Jul 17, 2019

After a brief google search, I believe The Aquarium of The Pacific filters the water and sells it.

The ABC’s of Filtration at the Aquarium

Whether you're maintaining an exhibit that holds 200 gallons or 200,000 gallons, filtration is an integral part of any successful man-made marine habitat. Recently, I mentioned that the Aquarium filters approximately 1,000,000 gallons of salt water per hour to support over 12,000 marine...

www.aquariumofpacific.org

Next time I buy it from my LFS I will get details...

Jamo7 · Jul 17, 2019

jaxredsoxfan said:
Not saying it can work, but years ago i had a 200gal fowlr in san diego. Scripps institute set up some filtration equip on a dock at their facility and invitedaquariststo bring buckets and get waterfor free. I had a bunch af show size tangs, Angel's, puffers etc. Was great for about 7 months, saved a bunch on salt and I thought it would be great to into real seawater with its biologics and trace elements. Then the day after a 30 gal water change, I noticed fish behaving strangely. Within 2 hours or so some of the fish started to have rotting flesh falling off of them, and 10 hours later the whole tank was dead. Turned out to be most likely some form of red tide. I was crushed. Just be careful.

True, in my line of work I’m well warned of any red tide in my area. I could be wrong but I believe red tide sticks to the shoreline, and if I harvest water it will only come from some sort of depth and also offshore. But I will also make sure with a separate tank that it is ok to make it to my display tank. But I do appreciate any and all concerns with this project! First water harvest takes place tomorrow around noon!

BadFish619 · Jul 17, 2019

JustAnotherNanoTank said:
The filtering part is the key there.. how do they do it? Have you had the water you get from them tested. I can’t say there is anything wrong with it. Your tank looks great.

Same thing here in SD. Its pumped into a facility where its run through sand filters. I fill up. It's a bit nutrient rich but never a problem. Filtration is the key

Ozzi-reef · Jul 17, 2019

jaxredsoxfan said:
Not saying it can work, but years ago i had a 200gal fowlr in san diego. Scripps institute set up some filtration equip on a dock at their facility and invitedaquariststo bring buckets and get waterfor free. I had a bunch af show size tangs, Angel's, puffers etc. Was great for about 7 months, saved a bunch on salt and I thought it would be great to into real seawater with its biologics and trace elements. Then the day after a 30 gal water change, I noticed fish behaving strangely. Within 2 hours or so some of the fish started to have rotting flesh falling off of them, and 10 hours later the whole tank was dead. Turned out to be most likely some form of red tide. I was crushed. Just be careful.

Holy crap! Really sorry to hear that. Well, I've scratched swimming from my list of things to do in California when I visit there.

BadFish619 · Jul 18, 2019

Ozzi-reef said:
Holy crap! Really sorry to hear that. Well, I've scratched swimming from my list of things to do in California when I visit there.

They actually shut the tap off now if red tide is in the area. I still get mine there, they've moved the tap but same thing

Rilo · Jul 18, 2019

The risk is to high imo. I plan on stocking my tanks with high end corals and want to keep risks to a minimum. Definitely a good experiment though.

JustAnotherNanoTank · Jul 18, 2019

For the amount of effort to do it and also have to live with the unknowns... RO/DI is the only way. I think it’s great people want to just use sea water, but if you’re not collecting the water from the Red Sea in front of a stunning living reef, don’t do it.

Jamo7 · Jul 19, 2019

JustAnotherNanoTank said:
For the amount of effort to do it and also have to live with the unknowns... RO/DI is the only way. I think it’s great people want to just use sea water, but if you’re not collecting the water from the Red Sea in front of a stunning living reef, don’t do it.

I’m not planning on adding it to the tank, just think it’s a cool experiment. I would have just added it if someone came along and said “oh yeah I do that all the time” but no one did. So now it’s an experiment to see what happens. Not in my tank, in a separate tank. I have 200+ gallons worth of salt on hand and access to rodi water for my DT but the 20 gallon I bought will be filled with straight of Juan de fuca water sourced via 15’ crabbing boat. By the way we didn’t go out today to windy (it’s a small boat) first water harvest will take place tomorrow around noon.

Chortanator · Jul 19, 2019

I live on the ocean in Nova Scotia, Canada, and have found my corals are doing a lot better since adding ocean water. I was advised by my LFS to go 2hrs before high tide, because that is when you get the most nutrients. Also, I'm not sure how much salinity varies, but it is 1.23 here, so I have to add a little bit of salt mixture as well.

Jamo7 · Jul 19, 2019

Chortanator said:
I live on the ocean in Nova Scotia, Canada, and have found my corals are doing a lot better since adding ocean water. I was advised by my LFS to go 2hrs before high tide, because that is when you get the most nutrients. Also, I'm not sure how much salinity varies, but it is 1.23 here, so I have to add a little bit of salt mixture as well.

Is your tank 100 percent ocean water other than the added salt? And what’s your water change schedule?

Jamo7 · Jul 20, 2019

I posted a new thread on this, not sure how to link it but it’s called “the natural water experiment”

paulojbsilva · Aug 11, 2019

It’s a bit far away from you guys, but I run my tank only on sea water, I change about 50% volume weekly and I never had so much success in keeping SPS.
Greetings from Portugal

Jamo7 · Aug 11, 2019

paulojbsilva said:
It’s a bit far away from you guys, but I run my tank only on sea water, I change about 50% volume weekly and I never had so much success in keeping SPS.
Greetings from Portugal

What’s the natural water temp in Portugal?