real caribbean saltwater in tank???

[leewardislands]

Hello,

I have just started keeping saltwater fish a year ago, and i absolutley love it. I started with a 165 gallon tank, but I want to move up to something more substantial. Here is my thought: I live in Antigua, in the caribbean. If I build my new home right on the ocean, can I suck up the actual ocean water and use it for a 2,000 to 4,000 gallon aquarium. I think that if I have a neverending supply of water, pump it in and then have a dicharge that goes right back into the ocean, I should be exempt from protein skimmers, chillers, etc. It would be natural ocean water, which would always have the correct pH, salinity, nitrates, etc.

Would I need to filter the water on the way in? Are there any problems that I might be in for with this idea?? Any assistance I could get with this would be greatly appreciated.

Kevin

 

[fijiwigi]

I know that the aquarium in Seattle Washington near where I live does this exact thing. Extremely expensive I am sure. Here is their link you may just want to send them an e-mail and see what they say. Seattle Aquarium

 

[cmor1701d]

I believe that aquariums that use ocean water go through several filtration steps before it enters the awaurium. There are many pathogens and parasites present in the ocean that we do not want in our small tank environments. In the lng run you will probably be better off just making up sw from a mix.

The Monteray Bay Aquarium does pump raw seawater at night, so perhaps you can get away with it if go out far enough to avoid the pollution caused by runoff. That could be several hunderd yards depending on your location.

BTW, I can take a week vacation next winter to help out when once you've built it

 

[roka64]

I agree, getting water too close to the shore will probably contain a whole heck of a lot of pollution, run-off and nasties. If anything, maybe try a UV and run the water through there to try to kill off any types of bad things.

 

[Innovator]

Pretty much every institution that runs open-water systems pump the water through various filtration devices including wet/dry's, sand filters, carbon, and ozone before aging. You would have much better quality control in mixing your own salt mix.

 

[dskidmore]

I recall reading about someone that used seawater, but he aged it in the dark awhile before using it. Kills off everything inside...

 

[CatatonicBug]

I would love to have the facilities to even think about setting up taht large of a tank! Imagine the wildlife you could put in there!

 

[Innovator]

Many bacterias cannot be killed through the aging process nor can pollution be eliminated, which is why many measures are taken to thoroughly "disinfect" the supply water. It would be more cost effective to mix your own and not worry about outside contaminants.