Could Great Salt Lake water be used?

[Sperco]

I live near the Great Salt Lake in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah. What would happen if I watered down Great Salt Lake water to Ocean salt levels? I have always wondered if this could be done. Is this a really stupid idea?

 

[MattP725]

There are people by me that use Atlantic ocean water (cold I may add since I am in NJ) and swear by it. I would be very wary of it though and I personally would never fully trust it. Besides that you can't just go to the beach and get water because the beach is where all the scum from the ocean ends up. If you wanted to do it you would have to go out atleast a few hundred feet at a time when it hasn't rained recently to prevent collecting water that has pollutants churned into it. Now I cannot comment on the similarities of Salt Lake water and Atlantic Ocean water. I assume the chemistry is very different. Personally think it is more work than it pays off. If a bucket of IO can be had for approx $35-40 and it makes a few hundred gallons the time and effort doesn't make it worth it to me.

 

[Nels22]

doesn't sound worth it to me either, it is much easier to make saltwater at home, plus then it is always available, the Great Salt Lake might not have the best trace elements required for a tank either....buy a reverse osmossis system and you will be much more happy with the results of your tank, and you'll probably have less head aches.

 

[StrongBad]

I would think that a lake would have many more additives in it since it is a much smaller body of water and collects alot of runoff.

 

[MattP725]

Pollution would always be a concern to me... the people that use the Atlantic water swear by it and claim their tanks look better than with ro/di and quality salt. Salt lake is just that though a lake... My opinion is if the fish in your tank don't naturally live in that water they may not take well to it.

 

[krap101]

you could measure like.. how much water it takes to get the salt level to a certain level and mix the ro water in to make the gravity similar?

 

[HoopsGuru]

It doesn't solve the problem of the what trace elements may be completely different, nor what pollutants may exist.