Beach Sand and saltwater?

[Herby]

I live in Miami, twenty minutes from the ocean. Is it ok if I get sand from the beach and use it as live sand? While I am there can I get saltwater and use that to make my water changes? And if I plan to store the water do I have to oxygenate it or can I just seal it in a water tight container and use it when I need to?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in Advance.

Herby

[Vincerama]

I think that collecting beach sand without a license is actually illegal in the US!!

 

Having said that, if the sand is nice non-silica based sand then that's a pretty good deal! It's probably where licensed dealer get their sand anyway (If you get it from the ocean, rather than the dry sand on the beach...you will have Live Sand)

 

An LFS near me sells sea water (off the coast of San Francisco) that has been collected 15 miles from shore. The waters near the coast tend to be pretty polluted.

 

You can make that call though, since I have no idea what Miami is like!

 

V

[Herby]

Thanks for the info.

Wow, I had no idea collecting sand from the ocean was illegal. I am not going to do that : The beaches look pretty clean except for the women in g-strings everywhere :woot:

Herby

[seabass]

The water off the coast will vary from day to day. Some pollution and runoff are common on even the most pristine beaches; and it’s not practical to test for most of the pollutants. Some pollution in the Ocean is OK because it dilutes with the rest of the ocean; however, your nano will keep all of it. Also, there is a special way that you need to treat ocean water to make it usable, so I would just use RO/DI and a good synthetic salt mix.

[Crakeur]

I would imagine that taking a few pounds isn't going to get you in any trouble. I think they are more concerned with people taking large quantities. then again, NYC is now ticketing pregnant women for taking a rest on subway steps so you never know.

[dickwayne]

I thought about grabbing beach sand too, but have you ever noticed the foam on the beach, like a protein skimmer? There's no telling what kind of pollutants or garbage have washed up.

[Infiniti]

me and my bros took about 100lbs!!! didn't know it was illegal.

[Vincerama]

Well, I think the idea is that they don't want some people just devastating the beaches so they can sell sand by the truckful for whatever reason (construction?) But some sand form the beach can't be too bad. I sould suggest you do this...

 

1) Buy some mined aragonite (that is legally mined by places and sold to wholesalers like CarbibSea) I suggest stuff like CaribSea SeaFlor or Aragamax sand

 

2) Sneak a cup full of beach sand from off shore (snorkle, grab a cup full) and seed your tank with it. If you feel guilty, go toss a cupful of your pruchased sand back into the ocean!

 

NOTE: I understand that the purpose of the law is to avoid eco-damage, but I don't think one guy, or even a thousand hobbiests taking one cupful from the ocean at random times will harm the environment. Heck, there is more ocean than there is air and the gov doesn't seem to care about those smoky diesels that roll down the road with 50 tons of old growth forest wood on the back.... but that's not for this forum...!

 

Seawater can be collected legally, but might contain alot of weird stuff if not properly filtered....

 

V

[dreamweaver_gcotb]

I have heard from several local professionals that collecting natural seawater is ok for the tank. However, they suggest taking the water from an incoming tide only and at least 2 foot below the surface of the water. Do NOT collect from an outgoing tide. I've been doing this and it's been working fine.

[HogWinslow]

I don't do it but I know people that use natural seawater and have no problems.

 

Hog