Thinking about collecting some wild sand today?

[Paul B]

You are correct, I have been to some of the places where they collect this stuff. Don't drink the water.

 

[cracker]

So today I didn't see any fish bitten in two & the water was nice & clear. We shall see ! As for the super clean environ or a " dirty" one, I can't say This has worked for me . I did add a cool little Robin Fish I caught. This was years ago, wiped the whole tank out in a week ! So out of many setups over the years I lost one. Not too bad. I am more aware of disease now. seems fish these days have more of these problems then back in past. I have lost more "new " fish in recent years .

 

[Pat Clark]

I live on the west coast of Fl Port Richey to be exact and I get my water from the gulf and collect my own pods from the shore. Im Starting a 150 gallon tank with dry rock and will be using gulf water for my tank. I been using it for years. A lot of us reefers do. I’ll be getting some mud from the estuaries. I actually looking forward to see what shows up in the tank. Those microscopic critters have to grow up. Be neat to see it.

 

[VR28man]

You are correct, I have been to some of the places where they collect this stuff. Don't drink the water.

Again, I get my live sand from IVO Tampa Bay (well, to be exact, Russ Kronenwether of liveplants.com/Gulf Coast Aquatic Systems does for me. He does not seem like a supermodel, but he may be as cool as you and have some in his employ. I definitely am not as cool. ).

You could not pay me to drink the water, say, 10 ft off shore of Tampa Bay. I've drunk sea water a few times diving, and have had enough. (though I think you and @XNavyDiver have probably drunk a lot more than I have)

I live on the west coast of Fl Port Richey to be exact and I get my water from the gulf and collect my own pods from the shore. Im Starting a 150 gallon tank with dry rock and will be using gulf water for my tank. I been using it for years. A lot of us reefers do. I’ll be getting some mud from the estuaries. I actually looking forward to see what shows up in the tank. Those microscopic critters have to grow up. Be neat to see it.

If I lived next to the ocean, I certainly would, and throw copepods and other random small sea creatures in. Especially if I lived near the tropics, as you do in Port Richey. Forget Triton testing - this is real sea water (again, assuming that the collection source is around 35ppt salinity and decently clean).

 

[jsker]

How does it feel going to the dark side?

 

[Paul B]

Especially if I lived near the tropics, as you do in Port Richey. Forget Triton testing - this is real sea water (again, assuming that the collection source is around 35ppt salinity and decently clean).

I started my tank with this water and you can see the bottom if you put it in a shot glass and mixed half of it with RO water and boiled it for 20 minutes. But the "dark" water is alive with life, tropical waters are basically dead.
If you look at a glass of tropical waters you will see nothing except maybe a pair of sunglasses or an empty tube of Coppertone. If you look through a glass of northern water you will see all sorts of life. (along with other things) In NY and other Northern places the water isn't dark because it's dirty. Well,,,, some of it is, But that darkness comes from mud. That mud is full of organics that feed bacteria, which become pods, fish fry and eventually sushi.
It is also dark because the tides here, in New York vary by as much as 8' every 6 hours. That means that water is moving very fast back and forth stirring up the bottom. The closer you get to the equator the less tidal movement there is.

All of the worlds great fisheries are in northern waters, guess why!

If I take NY water and let it sit for an hour, it becomes crystal clear and all you see is life swimming around trying to get out so they can go to Times Square on New Years day.

I don't worry about oil because that floats and you can see it. The hypodermic needles sink and you can pick them out.
This picture in the East River is called Hells Gate. Most of the water in the Long Island Sound go through here making it very rough and many times oil tankers crash here. I dove here and that was a big mistake. Before I went to the bottom I was hurtling and rolling around many times and emerged 100 yards from my boat. And the visability is zero.

 

[Pat Clark]

Again, I get my live sand from IVO Tampa Bay (well, to be exact, Russ Kronenwether of liveplants.com/Gulf Coast Aquatic Systems does for me. He does not seem like a supermodel, but he may be as cool as you and have some in his employ. I definitely am not as cool. ).

You could not pay me to drink the water, say, 10 ft off shore of Tampa Bay. I've drunk sea water a few times diving, and have had enough. (though I think you and @XNavyDiver have probably done a lot more than I have)



If I lived next to the ocean, I certainly would, and throw copepods and other random small sea creatures in. Especially if I lived near the tropics, as you do in Port Richey. Forget Triton testing - this is real sea water (again, assuming that the collection source is around 35ppt salinity and decently clean).

I do have to add some salt to the water where I collect from.. we have a lot of natural sprigs in the area that lowers the salinity

 

[Paul B]

The salinity is also very low here. Sometimes I could probably raise kissing gouramies in it.

 

[deedubz]

Man, I'd love to do this. I live in Annapolis so there's water next to the water which is surrounded by water. Water even overlooks said water.

My concern is it's all from the Chesapeake Bay... I feel I'd have better luck collecting from a puddle at Chernobyl.

 

[Paul B]

You never know until you try Chernobyl water.

 

[randy4083]

Yeah I live in revera beach really close to Annapolis about 20 minutes from there and I live right next to a beach which is what flows towards the key bridge and the bay bridge but I've never thought about really using the water I wonder if I could use it

 

[deedubz]

Yeah I live in revera beach really close to Annapolis about 20 minutes from there and I live right next to a beach which is what flows towards the key bridge and the bay bridge but I've never thought about really using the water I wonder if I could use it

That's near Dundalk and Essex, right?
It's pretty industrial up there. If I were to do it, I'd probably head to southern Anne Arundel or Calvert counties.

 

[fishybizzness]

This is where I collect my water. And to think that when I first started I was worrying about it having"bad" stuff in it!!! Lol

 

[fishybizzness]

Pic

 

[randy4083]

That's near Dundalk and Essex, right?
It's pretty industrial up there. If I were to do it, I'd probably head to southern Anne Arundel or Calvert counties.

No there about 30 minutes from me I'm closer to Glen Burnie and about 20 minutes from Annapolis

 

[randy4083]

That's near Dundalk and Essex, right?
It's pretty industrial up there. If I were to do it, I'd probably head to southern Anne Arundel or Calvert counties.

I can see the key bridge from the beach by my house

 

[randy4083]

That's near Dundalk and Essex, right?
It's pretty industrial up there. If I were to do it, I'd probably head to southern Anne Arundel or Calvert counties.

Dundalk and Essex is across the key bridge going towards 95 and everything towards new York

 

[randy4083]

I'm in Anne Arundel county and in Pasadena but it's also called Rivera beach also

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Great discussion!!

 

[deedubz]

I'm in Anne Arundel county and in Pasadena but it's also called Rivera beach also

I gotcha. Actually I ended up looking it up on Google maps because it did sound familiar. A buddy of mine lives up in that area off Ft Smallwood near that Mc Donald's and CVS