Reef808 Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 I have a question,Do anybody use ocean water or sea shore water?i live in hawaii access to sea shore water is easy,but a dont know if its safe for the tank.I did talk to its guy who goes out in the open water to fish to rubb me a ocean water when he go fishing. Link to comment
rbaby Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 I asked the same question before as I was curious. The response I got was mixed...but mostly no. I'm sure if you go way way out in the ocean where humans don't contaminate it, it would be fine but what do I know. But I'm pretty sure the water close to the shore is a nono... Link to comment
Reef808 Posted February 16, 2005 Author Share Posted February 16, 2005 Thanks rbaby,thats what i think too.Now my work is to ask local fisher men to take some water for me out in the open sea.I think ocean water is the best if you can get it out in the open because you dont have to dose with supp. only cal. Link to comment
10" Red Devil Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 Reef808, Uh one thing to be aware of with natural seawater taken from the ocean, can contain parasites and a huge number of organics that can and will polute your tank if not filtered properly first. I would get it from a reputable company that filters it with UV etc. Link to comment
divemaster Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 i use ocean water, never had a problem, ppl say its full of parasites and whatnot but have u ever seen anyone actually get infested with parasites form ocean water? Link to comment
Aussie-Reefer Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 Also i have heard that sea water PH drops quickly, this is just what i heard not my actual experience. Link to comment
EtOH_is_good Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 the san diego reefers have access to filtered sea water. lucky reefers. Link to comment
10" Red Devil Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 divemaster, Yeah I have heard of people getting parasites. I wasnt speaking out of my ass. Also just because you havent got any parasites yet, doesnt mean you wont in the future. Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 Actually, ocean water is great if you do frequent water changes. The levels of certain elements in the water, are, well, perfect of course. Link to comment
10" Red Devil Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 I agree with BK, however if unfiltered there is a possibility of introducing parasites. Link to comment
onthefly Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 The thing to remember is he is in Hawaii......... I say go for it.....don't take water after a heavy run off!! As for parasites....how do you know you don't have them in your tank now? Maybe came in on the LR? Most (but not all) parasite are opportunistic organisms, meaning they attack when something is stressed or already sick. Scripps water Rocks!!! Can't wait to move back to SD.... Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Oh man, I'm hoping I to go SDU for college! Scripps water would be great to have around. Link to comment
fungia Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Natural seawater is fine to use and can often be better for your tank because it contains micro-crustaceans and phytoplankton (FOOD!). The thing to be careful about, as others have noted, is where you collect the water. Our natural seawater comes from directly off of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, and is "poor" in quality as far as corals go (low salinity, low pH, low calcium and alkalinity) yet I have been using it successfully for weekly 10% water changes on a 600 gallon SPS and clam tank- it drops the calcium from about 425 to 400, but the calcium reactors will quickly replenish that. Locally we also have "Catalina Water" available, and many use this with success. The threat of parasites coming in through natural seawater is overblown. There are already parasites (e.g. Cryptocaryon) in your tank just waiting for your fish to be stressed. They will not reach epidemic proportions unless your fish are stressed by a big temperature change or something like that. The real threats for parasite introduction come from new fish that are not passed through QUARANTINE and unstable water chemistry. I cannot emphasize this enough. If you have a good source for natural seawater, then by all means, USE IT. It's cheaper and easier than mixing artificial salts, and has the added benefit of being NATURAL: not some approximation constructed by mixing multiple chemicals. Most public aquariums operate on natural seawater, and many of them have nicer reef tanks than some of those that you see online ;-) !!! Link to comment
Sushi Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Originally posted by onthefly Scripps water Rocks!!! Can't wait to move back to SD.... haha... yes it does!! i use natural filtered ocean water for water changes ever since i started my tank... i try to avoid it after rains when there can be heavy run off and nasty build-ups, but for the most part, the scripps institute of oceanography in SD provides problem free h2o... just keep in mind it is "filtered." never had to pay 1 penny to buy salt ever! Link to comment
melcolm Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Reef808, Waikiki Aquarium has a club. Join up and you get filtered sea water for free (minus the yearly member fee). Link to comment
BKtomodachi Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 So thats how you afford to pimp your tank, uchiha! I knew you had a competitive edge.... lol Link to comment
Sushi Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 haha, well every little penny helps right? Link to comment
10" Red Devil Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 I understand that our tanks can get parasites from live rock, and it is almost impossible to completely keep them out of your tank, but I would rather not introduce more then is nessacery if I can avoid it. I wasnt offering a lesson in Parasite control. Just wanted him to know the possible risks. Oh and btw the levels of phytoplankton and other microverts could pollute the tank with too much organics if your not careful. Link to comment
10" Red Devil Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 I say go with a source of water that is filtered. I used C-pure for quite a while and it was great. They pre-filter it heavily. Link to comment
10" Red Devil Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Also I will say this about commercially available Seawater, one of the ways in which they filter the water is through the use of UV Im not sure how effective this is. Parasites do get through. Imagine a giant hallway with no doors and only a few low light resessed fixtures, you notice dark spots now you could easily walk around the light if you had to. This is somewhat how it is when parasites pass the UV bulb. Link to comment
onthefly Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Actually, UV sterilization is quite effective......when done correctly. It depends on flow rate not necessarily wattage. those dim lights still yield a ton of UV-C....which is very harmful to DNA (the mode of action of UV sterilizers). As a commercial venture, I'm a former user, and all the peeps out there saying it works for them.....I'm going to make the assumption that they do it right. Besides, a 4 month old box sealed seawater on a store shelf that was poorly sterilized and "had" live organisms in it would be "foul" when you open it! Catalina uses UV and filtration to remove particulates. Anyway, back to Reef808's question. Being in Hawaii.....you are not as effected by the run off issue as us mainlanders are. Pollution in HI would quickly be washed away be the prevailing currents. I still would not collect water after a heavy rain. If you can get it from the waikiki aquarium (assuming you're on Oahu) go for it...otherwise, find a spot with as little sedimentation as possible and "bucket away"! Link to comment
10" Red Devil Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 I taught her full Indian Dinner....the rest is up to her! Link to comment
Reef808 Posted February 17, 2005 Author Share Posted February 17, 2005 Melcolm im not from Oahu area im from Maui.Sorry if only now replying cause im been really sick cough,running nose,fever and headache until now im sickl.Thanks for everybodys opinion and i respect all opinion.Thanks again. Link to comment
nalbar Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 those of us in san diego are lucky to be able to get free local sea water from the scripps institute of oceanography. its triple sand filtered. i had my doubts about it at first but the local boys convinced me (there is a thread somewhere around here about it). now its all i use. went there today and got 15 gallons. nalbar Link to comment
reefsrule Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 what are you planning on keeping in the tank anyway? if its FO I would say go for it Link to comment
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