Risk vs. Benefit of adding natural water from ocean to your tank?

[Frogspon]

A buddy of mine is in Florida and knows I have a reef tank so he asked if wanted him to bring back a few jugs of natural sea water.

Is there any benefit to this, or is the risk not worth it?

Thanks!

 

[JumboShrimp]

I guess the Atlantic Ocean isn’t the Atlantic Ocean no matter where you go. I was on Jekyll Island, Georgia, recently. The water looked like what I’m trying to skim and filter OUT of my tank!

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Environmental scientist with 20 years experience in water quality monitoring and environmental cleanup here.

Dude, no.

End of discussion.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I live on the coast in Florida. You must be very careful where the water comes from.

the waves, and the sand on the beaches are nature’s skimmer. Oils, Pollutants and solids of any kind imaginable rise up the water column where they float on the surface and are pushed to the beaches with currents then eventually down into the sand with massive amounts of oxygen by the waves.

that oxygen then percolates up through the sand creating foam. This is what comes out of the skimmer collection cup in your reef tank.

if the water is collected coastal and in a high traffic area…. It’s probably not worth using. If the waters are relatively free of boats etc, you are probably safe.

 

[ReefRusty]

Depending on your collection site, I have used water straight from the ocean for over 9 months now and other than the fact its free it has all the natural elements you require. However the salinity for me sits at around 1.027 but its easy to adjust with each waterchange with some RODi water to achieve my desired salinity of 1.025- 1.026. It has lots of beneficial bacteria that will help. I do filter my water through a 5 micron sock.

Also my 2 local aquarium places have all there coral in water straight from the ocean and adjust for a lower salinity of 1.025

Why pay for something when you can get it for free. I've saved roughly $10 per water change using it.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Environmental scientist with 20 years experience in water quality monitoring and environmental cleanup here.

Dude, no.

End of discussion.

My wife is a hydrologist in industrial water quality. I showed her your post and she laughed so hard she snorted. She agrees with you.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, I've collected and used water near me from a rather clean area (Rockport, MA) for the intent of adding microbes of various sorts. I don't know if it did anything good or bad. I've also collected various seaweeds and copepods/amphipods to feed the fish and these always came with water.

 

[CMMorgan]

I live on the coast in Florida. You must be very careful where the water comes from.

the waves, and the sand on the beaches are nature’s skimmer. Oils, Pollutants and solids of any kind imaginable rise up the water column where they float on the surface and are pushed to the beaches with currents then eventually down into the sand with massive amounts of oxygen by the waves.

that oxygen then percolates up through the sand creating foam. This is what comes out of the skimmer collection cup in your reef tank.

if the water is collected coastal and in a high traffic area…. It’s probably not worth using. If the waters are relatively free of boats etc, you are probably safe.

That's an image for you...

Hey kids ... let's take a vacation to the world's largest protein skimmer cup!

 

[Forty-Two]

My wife is a hydrologist in industrial water quality. I showed her your post and she laughed so hard she snorted. She agrees with you

What a sad state of a affairs where we've turned the largest source of water on the planet into what amounts to be an over used toilet bowl.

 

[Little c big D]

FWIW, I've collected and used water near me from a rather clean area (Rockport, MA) for the intent of adding microbes of various sorts. I don't know if it did anything good or bad. I've also collected various seaweeds and copepods/amphipods to feed the fish and these always came with water.

Would small amounts of water added, possibly help with adding microbes? I live near the coast of FL, but live directly on the salt water marsh. I used small amounts of mud during cycling. If not using it to supply water for the tank?

 

[jfoahs04]

I started my 3rd reef tank a few weeks back using only natural sea water (NSW) collected locally (Winthrop, MA). I just got back from filling a water change bucket this morning.

The jury is out since the tank is brand new, but the coral that came on my live rocks and my CUC (no fish yet) are thriving. I have wanted to do an NSW tank for over 15 years. @Paul B was the inspiration and the VAST majority I’ve accounts I’ve followed doing the same have reported mostly great success (hey, it works for the fish/coral in the ocean, right).

That said, YMMV. Location matters. Not just region, but even the collection spot locally (a few hundred yards on the same beach can make a difference). Avoid collecting from near drainage pipes or from areas with big crowds (busy beaches). Marinas, boat ramps, and areas with moored, docked, or moving boat traffic are no-go’s. The more open ocean, the better (don’t collect from a River mouth) and if you can get offshore, it’s best. If you’re collecting from shore (like I am), go when the tide is coming in, and see if you can find rocks or jetties to take you out into the water a bit. Don’t collect right after a heavy rain. Don’t store the water without heat/circulation for longer than a day or two (the little micro organisms that are a perk of NSW will die and cause problems). Definitely make sure salinity is on par with what you need - my collection spot is generally good. Others in the region have reported that they need to either dilute or add salt. This can vary by the day, so check each time. You don’t need to go nuts, but filter macro stuff (seaweed pieces, larger hitchhikers, etc) out before adding the water to your tank.

So far, so good for me. But honesty, I don’t think there’s a real benefit to a jar or two of NSW. I doubt it’ll have much of an impact, and if it’s been sitting in a jar for a week before it gets to you, the stuff may be more problematic than good.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Would small amounts of water added, possibly help with adding microbes? I live near the coast of FL, but live directly on the salt water marsh. I used small amounts of mud during cycling. If not using it to supply water for the tank?

It certainly adds many types of microbes. Whether that is any benefit (or detriment) is a more difficult question to answer. But my intent was for it to help.

 

[Forty-Two]

I started my 3rd reef tank a few weeks back using only natural sea water (NSW) collected locally (Winthrop, MA). I just got back from filling a water change bucket this morning.

The jury is out since the tank is brand new, but the coral that came on my live rocks and my CUC (no fish yet) are thriving. I have wanted to do an NSW tank for over 15 years. @Paul B was the inspiration and the VAST majority I’ve accounts I’ve followed doing the same have reported mostly great success (hey, it works for the fish/coral in the ocean, right).

That said, YMMV. Location matters. Not just region, but even the collection spot locally (a few hundred yards on the same beach can make a difference). Avoid collecting from near drainage pipes or from areas with big crowds (busy beaches). Marinas, boat ramps, and areas with moored, docked, or moving boat traffic are no-go’s. The more open ocean, the better (don’t collect from a River mouth) and if you can get offshore, it’s best. If you’re collecting from shore (like I am), go when the tide is coming in, and see if you can find rocks or jetties to take you out into the water a bit. Don’t collect right after a heavy rain. Don’t store the water without heat/circulation for longer than a day or two (the little micro organisms that are a perk of NSW will die and cause problems). Definitely make sure salinity is on par with what you need - my collection spot is generally good. Others in the region have reported that they need to either dilute or add salt. This can vary by the day, so check each time. You don’t need to go nuts, but filter macro stuff (seaweed pieces, larger hitchhikers, etc) out before adding the water to your tank.

So far, so good for me. But honesty, I don’t think there’s a real benefit to a jar or two of NSW. I doubt it’ll have much of an impact, and if it’s been sitting in a jar for a week before it gets to you, the stuff may be more problematic than good.

There's someone locally here in Israel who also does a NSW tank...but his is 30 000 L....No I havent spoken to him.

 

[jfoahs04]

There's someone locally here in Israel who also does a NSW tank...but his is 30 000 L....No I havent spoken to him.

That’s a LOT nicer than my nano. The New England Aquarium here in Boston uses natural water pulled directly from the Harbor. Their filtration is obviously better than what most hobbyists are running, but it just goes to show that NSW isn’t really that novel of a concept. But I totally understand why many are hesitant to use it - lots of factors that are out of the hobbyist’s control.

 

[fishybizzness]

This is where I collect money! I only collect on an incoming tide on weekdays when no one really goes out on their boats. I reverse down the ramp, hook up my bilge pump and can fill my 50 gallon tank in about 10 minutes or less. I run it through a 10 micron filter sock and store it in a 45 gallon brute with a Koralia powerhead running.

 

[fishybizzness]

Collect mine, not money.

 

[Cool tangs]

No harm in NSW, make sure its from a good souce. Usually salinity is a bit higher, so just need to dilute.

I use it and swear by it! Always had better success then mixing up salt and its a heck of a lot easier as well!

 

[a.t.t.r]

Now this was 12 years ago however the LFS I used to manage switched to natural sea water and the tanks never seemed happier. We bought our seawater from a guy who would collect only on incoming tide after waiting about an hour after the tide change started. We did not use UV on the reef tanks but did use UV and copper on the fish only systems.