Real sea water

[delfin]

I'm considering a sw reef tank.
I live in the Caribbean. So I'm close the beach.

Should I use real sea water or should I make my own?

My experience is a 55g planted FW community tank with discus for over 10 years.

I also bought tons of books on reef tanks. That I just looked at them over. But nothing on real salt water.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[delfin]

Never mind guys. Just found this. Might be useful for those who had my same questions. http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/challenges-of-collecting-natural-sea-water-for-marine-aquarium-2751/

 

[ImACoolguy]

My dad has told me stories of how he had a saltwater tank back in the 80s when he was stationed in Guam. He said he would just go out and get a couple 5g bucket full and go change it. Never had any problems.

I don't know how well it would apply in today's world but I would imagine that mixing your own will give you more stable readings.


Caleb

 

[delfin]

Thanks for the info Caleb. Btw nice tanks.

 

[Sniperhank]

You do not want to gather saltwater for your tanks from any shoreline. The amount of pollutants that gather there would be detrimental to your system...it not right away, over time. People that gather water for their tanks from the ocean or sea do so by going out in a boat by several miles and usually let it run for several days with something like a UV sterilizer to ensure nothing is coming into the closed system that would be harmful.

 

[delfin]

Thanks for the tip sniper. I'll keep it in mind.

 

[Andy Sager]

Here in FL in the stores and wholesale houses I worked at, we only used natural water so when done properly, it's okay to do. To be a bit more specific, you have to be careful where you get the water from. It's best to get it on an incoming tide not outgoing. If your water typically carries a lot of pollution from trash or business, I would suggest not using any water and do the artificial. If the area is not pristine where you collect the water or is filled with overwhelming algae, I'd be hesitant to collect there. You will be bringing in more than just water ( in the form of free swimming diseases and parasites) so if you are not using any type of sterilization or filtering for these things, I would not do natural water directly from the ocean. Which brings me to never get water from a bay but from the ocean itself. Offshore is better than inshore and when a current is running is better than slack tides. If you do have the opportunity to collect good water, I'd collect enough to have extra in a container to use at a later time. Keep it aerated for best quality. Lastly, you always want to check salinity prior to using the water. After times of little rain, the salinity can be higher than normal so you need to know this before you use the water.

It sounds like a lot but it's pretty simple. You just need to be aware that water is not always good water even tho it comes from the ocean.

Hope this helps.

 

[delfin]

Yes. It helps very much. I'm so impressed with this knowledgeable forum. Thanks guys. I'll try to start it this month.

 

[delfin]

I forgot to mention that I plan to use the natural seawater to start the tank. After that then I am planing to use the artificial salt water for maintenance. And occasionally using the NSW for the extra nutrients.

 

[Andy Sager]

I forgot to mention that I plan to use the natural seawater to start the tank. After that then I am planing to use the artificial salt water for maintenance. And occasionally using the NSW for the extra nutrients.

Even so, the damage would already have been done if you use bad water to start with.