Natural Sea Water Vs Artificial Salt Water

Reef Builders · Nov 18, 2019

If you’re lucky enough to live by the sea, you may have found yourself trying to decide between using Natural Sea Water (NSW) or mixing your own Artificial Salt Water (ASW). And for the hobbyists living too far from the ocean, are you really missing out on anything? Both options undoubtedly work and why a […]
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Nicholas Dushynsky · Nov 18, 2019

I used store bought from my lfs for over 10 years then took the plunge and went to nsw, yes it is labour intensive if you have a massive tank and do very frequent big water changes. I only have 3 nano tanks. All 3 are running on it, a 7 gallon,13.5 and a 24 I wish I had done it sooner. I collect 10 x 10litre containers and 2 x 25litre, the beach I go to is a 2 and a bit hrs round trip including pumping into the bottles and loading the car back up.
The only reason I go to that beach (even though there are beaches 10mins away) is because there are no rural farm runoffs or sewage outlets or estuaries.
I try and time it with tides and go with the wife and kids and dog, we have lunch and maybe do a bit of shopping to make it justifiable to travel that far. Plus If I had bought that much from my lfs which is still 40mins away, 1 x 25litre container would nearly be the price of the fuel I need (plus he sells corals so it could cost even more)
I only do water changes when my tank needs them, even though the water is technically free I find I dont need to do them every week or 2 so I stick with small ones every 6-8 weeks and the amount I collect lasts me nearly 6 months for all 3 tanks. I don't filter it I just collect, leave about an inch in the bottom if a little sandy, then I warm what I'm going to use. I test the day after collection if I need to adjust any levels, but so far nearly 3 years on, I just run it as it is.
7 gallon