Seawater

[Biotoper]

I've read a little about pros/cons of using seawater, and I'm still unclear. I'm not looking for the cookie-cutter response of "use RO/DI water with salt mix - it's a known factor." Anyone out there with some experience using seawater? Apart from the obvious "don't use polluted water", what other issues are there? I've read you should store it in dark trashcans to kill off parasites, but 1) this will kill off plankton and other microbes that might be a benefit to your tank, and 2) have people had parasite problems from seawater? - any evidence that LR/LS isn't a greater source of potential fish diseases?

Another big question is about using tropical vs temperate seawater in a tropical tank. I live in NE, so it would be temperate.

Thanks for your advice, Ryan

 

[got bait?]

They say the biggest problem is there is just so much plankton in the water that it will not all get consumed and therefore die off. I used NSW from a LFS for 1+ year and no problems, but it is filtered three times prior to delivery. Be nice to see other responses to your question.

 

[JPloman]

I took ALL my tanks starter water from the ocean. I saw no problems with it and still see no problems with it. Sure there was a lot of die off, but it was great to get my tank to cycling.

The water temp will only make a difference in salinity from my understanding. Please correct me if I am wrong. The colder the water, the higher the salinity. You might just need to add a bit of top off water to change the salinity level.

The only thing I would do different now if I could do it all over again is that I would have had a skimmer to start with. The skimmer could have cleaned up more of the waste that was left in the water from die off leaving me with higher levels of nites that ended up causing me cyano and hair algae. Then again, I am really glad I had the problems early. It made me love my tank even more.

 

[gpguerrette]

Hey Ryan,
I have talked to a gentleman from down the cape who takes the ocean water right from his backyard into a big dark plasitc trash can and runs a uv sterilizer, protein skimmer and a powerhead (from the bottom) for a week and then heats it up and adds it directly to his tank. It was just a conversation in passing but he seemed extreemly knowledgable and had been in to SW for years..... Justed seemd like too much $$$ on extra equipment if your weekly water changes were not huge????
Interested to hear if anyone else from the new england area was using water from the atlantic????? Good luck and let me know if you give it a try........