Thoughts on "Natural Sea Water"

[asiankatie]

So i just found out today by calling my LFS that i buy my water from... i wanted to know the brand of salt they were mixing their water with turns out they dont.. its "natural sea water" thats filtered and trucked in..

 

I have never heard of this...

 

anyones thoughts on it? good? bad?

[dahliaheartsyou]

people that live close enough to the ocean do this, but i guess it depends where you are from.

i'm sure it's fine as long as it tests at proper levels =]

[asiankatie]

people that live close enough to the ocean do this, but i guess it depends where you are from.

i'm sure it's fine as long as it tests at proper levels =]

 

######.. fastest reply EVAR!

 

hmmm, yeah i do live coastal. I guess just because im having an algae issue and a lot of people are like bla bla bla if youre not using RO

 

but i dunno thats more towards issues of people using tap water..

 

so i guess my question is, are there any negatives to using natural sea water? one would think, no. that it would probably even be ideal.. but i dunno this place that i get it from is sketchy..

 

i have not and probably will not ever buy fish from them, the state of their tanks is enough to make any marine hobbyist cringe.. they're staff is semi retarded... their tanks are COVERED in algae..

 

So i dunno, i guess im just raising my eyebrow at their water.. but i mean it tests fine, a little high on salinity but.. other than that its fine.. i guess im just skeptical... they themselves dont even use it, because its apparently too expensive but.. i dunno.. theyre weirdos.

 

Thanks again for your reply

[Schwanson]

I use NSW I purchase locally. So far I have had no known issues.

[SmittyCoco]

Well I'll tell you this I have been running nsw on my pico for 8 months and have no problems at all. The only thing I would suggest is to keep a good on eye on s.g. Due to evap and top offs. It is completly convenient for to use nsw on my pico. I have a blue drinking water container that I bought at Walmart(7 gallons) and I go through it abouut once a month. I bought a koralia nano for my tank when I first set up my tank and it was just too much flow so now I just use it in my jug to keep the flow . My lfs store sells it for 99 Cents a gallon, but they just usually fill it up for me for 5$. I have tested params often and they are in good check. The water I use comes from Half moon bay. They suck it up filter it and use a uv sterilizer on it. So they say, but haven't had any problems yet. I bet your lfs gets it from the same place. I live in Modesto.

[dtfleming]

depends where they are getting it from. Are they collect sea water near runoff from freshwater? there will always be a risk. Why not just mix the salt yourself. What kind of water are you using for topoff?

[coreyt74]

I only use natural sea water and it’s great! It’s definitely a lot more expensive than making my own water, but it’s convenient and the tank is flourishing. Petco sells 5 gallon boxes of it.

[The Propagator]

Be leary of using NSW collected coastal peeps.

water close to shore is fubar compared to 1-3 miles out on the reefs.

[sam91]

Ive been using NSW on my 30g reef and it works great. Everyone else I know that uses NSW in there tanks has never had any issues either. I live in Australia though.

[fiction101]

I use water collected from half moon bay.

[The Propagator]

I dont know where every one gets their water.

I am just saying.. we are dealing with nanos here. Thing happen very quickly in a small tank. Thats why they always say the larger the better.

Mother nature could churn up some nasties in sister sea at any time near the shore line and you wouldn't know it until you fouled your tank with it.

 

Chances are Australia is pristine because of the barrier reef. But I wouldn't collect to near any major cities or beaches. Half moon bay looks to be lightly populated from what i saw of the actual bay area in the net that is.

You'd probably be relatively safe I would think as long as you randomly test it and stay away from marina's and docks.

[asiankatie]

depends where they are getting it from. Are they collect sea water near runoff from freshwater? there will always be a risk. Why not just mix the salt yourself. What kind of water are you using for topoff?

 

top off with RODI (storebought)

 

not sure where they get it from exactly i can ask next time im there.

 

Well I'll tell you this I have been running nsw on my pico for 8 months and have no problems at all. The only thing I would suggest is to keep a good on eye on s.g. Due to evap and top offs. It is completly convenient for to use nsw on my pico. I have a blue drinking water container that I bought at Walmart(7 gallons) and I go through it abouut once a month. I bought a koralia nano for my tank when I first set up my tank and it was just too much flow so now I just use it in my jug to keep the flow . My lfs store sells it for 99 Cents a gallon, but they just usually fill it up for me for 5$. I have tested params often and they are in good check. The water I use comes from Half moon bay. They suck it up filter it and use a uv sterilizer on it. So they say, but haven't had any problems yet. I bet your lfs gets it from the same place. I live in Modesto.

 

i wonder if mine's from HMB too... im in Emeryville, which no one seems to know where it is... you either tell people "ITS WHERE IKEA IS!" or... between Oakland and Berkeley.

 

its 95 cents a gallon here.. i have like 3 5g thingers that i rotate between, i bought 3 for when i first filled it up so i didnt have to go back and forth.

 

thats good to know about you saying its legit, i was worried for a second there..

 

i wonder if we use the same water @_@ thatd be neat

[Break]

Even if it's filtered, microbes and other things get through. This usually causes no issues in the short term but after a year or two can cause a mysterious tank crash. If you're going to use natural sea water it needs to have been kept in holding vats or something similar for a good while before using it.

[asiankatie]

I dont know where every one gets their water.

I am just saying.. we are dealing with nanos here. Thing happen very quickly in a small tank. Thats why they always say the larger the better.

Mother nature could churn up some nasties in sister sea at any time near the shore line and you wouldn't know it until you fouled your tank with it.

 

Chances are Australia is pristine because of the barrier reef. But I wouldn't collect to near any major cities or beaches. Half moon bay looks to be lightly populated from what i saw of the actual bay area in the net that is.

You'd probably be relatively safe I would think as long as you randomly test it and stay away from marina's and docks.

 

i would assume its tested and filtered to some degree though..

 

i mean its not like youre taking your jug to the beach and being like FILL ER UP YO!

 

i dunno though :\ ill find out some more info on it, like i said, next time i go which will be tomorrow prolly

 

Even if it's filtered, microbes and other things get through. This usually causes no issues in the short term but after a year or two can cause a mysterious tank crash. If you're going to use natural sea water it needs to have been kept in holding vats or something similar for a good while before using it.

 

hmm ill find out how long its in the vats, i know its poured from a huge vat at the store :\ but that doesnt really tell me much.. like i said ill see what i can dig up from the incompetent staff.. not making promises though ^_-

[johnmaloney]

I use it, it works fine if you collect it correctly from unpolluted waters. Most LFS near the ocean do this. Rather than pay them for water that may have gone stale, (it probably sits in the holding tank looks like a big plastic drum on its side), and had a ph fluctuation - too little oxygen ruins ph- get it yourself. Nothing like an excuse to go to the beach. Then again nothing like lugging around jugs of water.

 

+1 on staying away from marinas and docks though, oil contamination is a likelihood there. I would also stay away from bays and lagoons. Sandy bottom beaches are the best.

[The Propagator]

top off with RODI (storebought)

 

not sure where they get it from exactly i can ask next time im there.

 

 

 

i wonder if mine's from HMB too... im in Emeryville, which no one seems to know where it is... you either tell people "ITS WHERE IKEA IS!" or... between Oakland and Berkeley.

 

its 95 cents a gallon here.. i have like 3 5g thingers that i rotate between, i bought 3 for when i first filled it up so i didnt have to go back and forth.

 

thats good to know about you saying its legit, i was worried for a second there..

 

i wonder if we use the same water @_@ thatd be neat

 

Maybe I am misunderstanding the term "NSW" here or something then ?

When people say "NSW" and then give a location of collection I assume that they mean "Natural Sea Water" and those areas are where they have been collecting it directly from the ocean.

Call me a stickler........

 

I use it, it works fine if you collect it correctly from unpolluted waters. Most LFS near the ocean do this. Rather than pay them for water that may have gone stale, (it probably sits in the holding tank looks like a big plastic drum on its side), and had a ph fluctuation - too little oxygen ruins ph- get it yourself. Nothing like an excuse to go to the beach. Then again nothing like lugging around jugs of water.

 

+1 on staying away from marinas and docks though, oil contamination is a likelihood there. I would also stay away from bays and lagoons. Sandy bottom beaches are the best.

 

+ 1 billion as long as the beach your collecting from is not with in a mile of a marina ( most are or have heavy boat traffic past the bouy markers )

[mannyp1313]

My LFS sells "Catalina Sea Water" which is suppossed to be NSW collected near Catalina Island (near Los Angeles) and then filtered for impurities (see http://www.catalinawater.com). So, maybe it isn't NSW after all..... Anyway, the only issue I have ever noticed with this water is that it has very low levels of Magnesium so I usually have to dose after my water change.

 

I would mix my own, but my LFS sells this water at $0.35 a gallon - which is way cheaper than I would pay for RO/Distilled water at the store (sells for $1.10 a gallon). My LFS also sell RO water at $0.35/gallon, but I don't see the point of buying salt and mixing it when I can get it premixed for the same price.

[The Propagator]

That would be ideal as long as its actually filtered, and tested.

Catalina supposedly has nice clean waters due to how cold it is.

Its hard for algae spores to grow in cold temps like that.