Ocean water from beach

[jonnyp]

So im going to school in orlando but on occasion i go back home to new smyrna beach. I'm curious if I can use the salt water from the beach. I would be getting it from the jetty where my friends and I used to catch sergent majors with a net bc the water was so clear. the indian river that flows to the jetty is an estuary as well, so I'm thinking this is a great way to save on buying salt for water changes.

[Mr. Fosi]

You can try it but generally you want your water to be from either off-shore or another place that has minimal human input. You also want it to be at least sand-filtered before use.

 

It's a risk but if it is one you are willing to take... It's your call.

[patrick1234]

So im going to school in orlando but on occasion i go back home to new smyrna beach. I'm curious if I can use the salt water from the beach. I would be getting it from the jetty where my friends and I used to catch sergent majors with a net bc the water was so clear. the indian river that flows to the jetty is an estuary as well, so I'm thinking this is a great way to save on buying salt for water changes.

Id be to worry about puting somthing you dont know about in to your tank even if the water is clear it can still hold harmfull stuff in it. I will try to find the artcile about collecting ocen water I guss they only do it at certain times.

[Mr. Fosi]

... I guss they only do it at certain times.

 

Usually high-tide because the water should be maximally from the continental shelf and is thus potentially less impacted by runoff or coastal effluent release.

[westcoastreefer84]

I have always wanted to take my refractometer to the beach, also take some home and test params

 

I live walking distance from the gulf of mexico, but I have heard its loaded with phosphates, I would never wanna use it though

 

I know the florida aquarium uses water from the bay but its filtered and quarantined in darkness till bacteria dies off, I doubt they use the same water for there Caribbean propagation project though

 

I also know of some local reefers who use collected specimens and keep gulf tanks, but never known anyone to use the water

[Diatome]

You would need to go out away from the coast for consistancy. There is a lot going on with the water on the coast and filtering it would be a necessity. This site http://esetappsdoh.doh.state.fl.us/irm00be...er/default.aspx kind of wakes you up to what's out there when just swimming. The chart on this page alone will show you how far the salinity and temps swing http://www.dep.state.fl.us/northwest/Ecosy...ity/outlook.htm . Interesting stuff though.

[westcoastreefer84]

The pollution probably doesn't affect florida coral like it would in our tank because of all the dilution and the beneficial bacteria and micro fauna that is found in the wild that doesn't survive in our tanks,

 

If you've ever been to the keys, you would know there is a variety of coral that lives directly on the coastline, some is even so close it is exposed during low tide like porite covered rocks, there is also a lot of macro algae and mangroves, but we could never create that kind of bio diversity in our tanks, well just not on that scale, I don't think using natural sea water from the coast would be cost effective though

[jonnyp]

welp i suppose it boils down to really not being worth it. a friend of mine told me he's using the water, but only when it hasn't rained lately and when the tide is coming in. i think i'm gonna play it safe on this one.

[Mr. Fosi]

i think i'm gonna play it safe on this one.

 

Probably a good idea.

[beachpig]

Probably a good idea.

 

Mr Fosi,

 

Hey, are you still using filtered Beach water from the coast? I have been using filtered beach water for some time now and everything has been doing fine.

 

Thx

[Mr. Fosi]

My water comes from an undeveloped estuary outside Georgetown, SC and my tank loves it.

 

That you have been using unfiltered water and not had problems doesn't mean that you won't have problems or that others won't if they follow your example. I'm a risk-taker, so I say go with it if it is working for you, but be careful about recommending it to others.

[Nick's Reef]

I use filtered nsw from my lfs which gets it from a turtle rescue and have no problems, use to get water from far offshore when i went fishin.

[wombat]

the indian river that flows to the jetty is an estuary as well

 

So the jetty is in an area where freshwater runoff flows into the ocean? If so, likely not a good spot for seawater collection.

 

We take water from a seawater well just south of the Golden Gate. As you can imagine the effect of the SF Bay draining the entire Central Valley's freshwater runoff has a pretty dramatic effect on water quality, but it is better water than some might think.

 

I would test it for all the biggies--salinity, N, P, calcium, alkalinity, pH. Seawater stored for any length of time will begin to drop in alkalinity and pH as bacteria and plankton die off, so it would be a good idea to filter it as best as possible and adjust these as necessary if you plan on storing it.

 

The upside is that if the salinity of the water is near 33-35 ppt you can be very confident that your water will have all the proper ratios of minor and major elements.

[coralcor]

some people on my local sight do that out here in new England. they go out on a peir with there car/truck and collect it. funny thing is that one time when they were doing it a big truck that could hold 1000+gallons of water pulled up and started collecting too. but i don't trust that my self.

[johnmaloney]

tips on collecting water -

 

buy a micron sieve, run the water through it and catch all the pests, larvae, etc... that are in the water.

stay away from the lagoon and get to some blue water. While the lagoon supports a ton of life, it does so because it has a ton of nutrients, and that doesn't help a wc. closer to the gulf stream > further from it - the lagoon also has a lot of tannins, especially in the summer when the whole thing is cooking.

[johnmaloney]

I use filtered nsw from my lfs which gets it from a turtle rescue and have no problems, use to get water from far offshore when i went fishin.

 

man they pump it out at the inlet, the story of how that water comes to be changes all the time. it used to be mixed water, because NSW wasn't safe, then it is NSW, but only the best from deepwater sources, now the turtle refuge gives it to them...? They (turtle refuge) are more inland to boot, near the mouth of two fw tributaries... and 3 miles from the PSL river so... That lady cracks me up high tide, jupiter intercoastal 2 days removed from rain and you are all set my friend, you may need to add fw though, water in the ocean and in the intercoastal right now is 1.033.

[vangvace]

The semi-legendary Paul B gets his water from the Long Island Sound fwiw. I don't have the stones to try it though.

[jm82792]

I didn't read the whole thread but here is my personal take from experience.

The past year I have used natural saltwater from the beach,

without ill effects other than one instance:

 

Once I got water near a multimillion dollar on the beach track of homes,

and poisoned my tank with nitrates and phosphates.

A water changed fixed it......

I should have known,only a couple sickly colonies of SPS,

a couple species of damsels and hardy blennys. (lots of algae)

 

I talked one of the master carpenters of the house I was working at

(got water since the house is 20 feet form the beach),

he said it's polluted and that that's as clean as they can keep it and it's a shame.

 

I feel extremely confident in the water I'm taking when I can walk up the the rocky or sand shore look out a couple feet and see SPS that are thriving.

Then I know that the water is clean,

if the SPS are brown or dead or there aren't any I go somewhere else since

more than likely it's slightly or very polluted.

[gulfsurfer101]

Isn't this hobby illeagal in hawiia for some reason or another. I've added water and sand from the beach here and it was nothing but trouble for me. I came across high nutrients, ugly hitchikers, unwanted algea and that's just the beginning. In the long run save your self some cash on waterchanges and medications and just buy a bag of salt.

[egloskerry]

I actually have a water bottle full of ocean water taken right on shore that I've been meaning to test. Will it being about 1 mo. old skew the results?

[FiReBrEaThInGCuTtLeFiSh!XD]

I actually have a water bottle full of ocean water taken right on shore that I've been meaning to test. Will it being about 1 mo. old skew the results?

 

yes it will

[lakshwadeep]

+1 (at least for some compounds) there are live bacteria and plankton that probably died.

[johnmaloney]

yeah it will be way off

[jm82792]

Isn't this hobby illeagal in hawiia for some reason or another. I've added water and sand from the beach here and it was nothing but trouble for me. I came across high nutrients, ugly hitchikers, unwanted algea and that's just the beginning. In the long run save your self some cash on waterchanges and medications and just buy a bag of salt.

No it isn't.

Can't take LPS and SPS from the water and there are some restrictions like no invert imports,

no taking of LR(aqua cultured mine from NSW and LS) and restricted fish imports.

(Now why do I get tons of people asking if it's illegal?)

 

I wouldn't worry about hitchhikers,

contaminated sand and such.

I know Hawaii is mostly pristine,

but if you see SPS 6 feet off of the shore,

your using 5 gallon bottles you should be able to know what your getting.

Most of the time you won't get invasive macros around SPS since it's too turbulent and nutrient deprived.

 

I just go to the shore,fill up my 5 gallon bottle and go on my way.

I'll see if I bottled anything without knowing,

haven't gotten anything but a nerite snail.

 

I wouldn't let NSW sit,

I use it within a day or sooner if I can.

Could get ammonia like that NSW Petco sells if you let it sit.

 

 

Now if salt wasn't 40% more and if the vending machines charged less than $.50 per gallon,

or I had RO I'd be doing that since 5 gallons 2X a week gets old.

But when I get my larger tank setup I'll invest in some food grade plastic drums and a utility pump.

[egloskerry]

I figured. I'll bring home another bottle next time I go to the beach and post the results, just for kicks.