Thoughts on using natural seawater?

[xxkenny90xx]

Just curious who collects their own seawater for their reefs? I've always used sand from the beach but have never tried water. How do you collect it (from a dock or beach, or do you go way out in the ocean)? Do you put it through any type of filter? My other concern is that I live in Washington state where the water is cold and I would be using it in a warm water reef tank (but I can't imagine why that would matter)? Any tips from someone that has real world experience in this would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Michael Gilbreath]

I know #paulb use it maybe we can get him to answer.

 

[User1]

When I was doing this I would make it part of my dive day. I'm already checking water conditions before I go diving - it is pretty easy to widen the area to see how bacteria (lots of sea lions in the area) is and find a good source to pull from. Monterey so the main thing to remember is to collect outside a marine reserve or a state park. I just run a pump from a plug in the truck and pump it into a 50 gallon drum. When I get home just run it into the storage container. Let it sit and it is good to go from there. No filter, nothing.

BRS recently did a few videos on how long salt lasts with and without power heads and temp controllers. It is a good watch, recommend it. So basically just make sure you are pulling from a approved area (no parks or reserves) and be safe. Monterey obviously has great water for example but I would never pull from the San Francisco or Oakland bay.

Polyp extension after using NSW is epic.

 

[BadFish619]

I collect from the sea, however its filtered at a research center here in San Diego. We also have colder water. Not Washington cold but not reef warm. As long as you heat it up it works fine. The place I get it from runs it through huge sand filters so I'm confident its safe as its used in birch aquarium tanks and for research. Only problem I ever have is its very nutrient rich so cyano is a problem

 

[Sailfinguy21]

I wouldnt take any water from the west coast.. unless you like cesium 137 in your water..

Fukashima has perm polluted the pacific... and its still to this day leaking nillions of gallons of radioactive water in the oceon..

Think im paranoid ? Look it up online of the tests they hsve done on the water in california and so forth. Even the ground is contaminated with cesium 137... All the fruits veggies milk we get... No good, they even conducted tests of wine made in california and they have levels of cesium in it.. So does the milk... in fact after the disaster hsppened the fda secretly raised the (safe) levels of cesium.. funny huh ?

I dont buy any produce or foods from california anymore

 

[ZoWhat]

I would think the cost and hassle of collecting would be HIGHER than making it from a good salt mix.

let's look at the numbers....

* take a great salt mix like Fritz RPM, RS Coral Pro. let's take the high end of $70 for 200gal mix. that's 35cents a gal. it take less than 30mins to make a batch

* take collecting open water. first off you're prob limited on how many gallons. collecting even 20g would be a lot to handle. the cost of gas driving to the shoreline.... the hassle of carrying your collection containers....

i dont think you can not beat a 35cent per gallon convenience price of a salt mix. 20g of salt mix is $7. Could you beat $7 in the travel/hassle of collecting? I doubt it.

let alone.... what is the QUALITY of the open water collection? ppm of weird strains of bacteria? ppm of raw sewage and chemicals release into the ocean by Man? most Man made pollutants float right on the surface where you'd be collecting....

unless I lived on the shoreline with PRISTINE waters, it would be cheaper and more piece-of-mind to just use lab grade salt mix.



.

 

[DaveNJ]

I have collected here in NJ, but I need to run it through a diatom filter to get it clear. I usually collect in the cooler months because of all the beach traffic caused by all the northerners coming here. I make my own during the summer

 

[ectoaesthetics]

Reefers around here use it and filter it before use as the plankton doesn’t warm well (I’m in Monterey CA). Also I don’t recommend collecting it super close to shore as runoff contamination is higher. Since I don’t have a boat I just mix water. I do however use it when seeding new rock -unfiltered.

 

[User1]

I would think the cost and hassle of collecting would be HIGHER than making it from a good salt mix.

let's look at the numbers....

* take a great salt mix like Fritz RPM, RS Coral Pro. let's take the high end of $70 for 200gal mix. that's 35cents a gal. it take less than 30mins to make a batch

* take collecting open water. first off you're prob limited on how many gallons. collecting even 20g would be a lot to handle. the cost of gas driving to the shoreline.... the hassle of carrying your collection containers....

i dont think you can not beat a 35cent per gallon convenience price of a salt mix. 20g of salt mix is $7. Could you beat $7 in the travel/hassle of collecting? I doubt it.

let alone.... what is the QUALITY of the open water collection? ppm of weird strains of bacteria? ppm of raw sewage and chemicals release into the ocean by Man? most Man made pollutants float right on the surface where you'd be collecting....

unless I lived on the shoreline with PRISTINE waters, it would be cheaper and more piece-of-mind to just use lab grade salt mix.



.

Just depends on your location or what you do on the day you collect. In my case it is part of the dive trip. Other times I've just walked the beach. The fella who noted he collects from San Diego it is there for anyone to use. So the main thing is just how do you transport and store which pretty much decide how much you will carry.

Then there is of course the frequency of your water change which determines how much you need.

 

[road_runner]

Shore waters are not good and have bacteria and debris.
sea water for aquariums are collected deeper than the shors so you pull clean water.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Thanks for all the replies, I am still curious about this and will probably grab a bucket full at some point and do all of the tests I have on it just for fun. Tbh I have been mixing my own saltwater for years but have recently convinced my sister to start a tank and am just looking for ways to simplify the process for her. I also have eventual plans to do a pacific northwest Coldwater tank and would potentially use seawater for that.

 

[User1]

Thanks for all the replies, I am still curious about this and will probably grab a bucket full at some point and do all of the tests I have on it just for fun. Tbh I have been mixing my own saltwater for years but have recently convinced my sister to start a tank and am just looking for ways to simplify the process for her. I also have eventual plans to do a pacific northwest Coldwater tank and would potentially use seawater for that.

One of the reasons why I started was because I live in California and using a RO/DI system is pretty wasteful. Not that I'm Mr. Green or anything just that during the drought years one thing leads to another which then leads to metering, tier pricing, etc. Of course we could extend our existing damns and build new reservoirs but that is another discussion outside this one.

My point is that RO/DI is wasteful and if I wanted to try and do my part that means I need to either stop water changes (fine by me, I'm lazy anyway) or collect NSW. I sent out some emails to the State Water Resource Control board along with the Department of Fish and Game. I received a lot of interesting replies that honestly they didn't know how to answer but tried to never the less. The net of it is was basically not to collect hundreds of gallons, do not collect in marine parks and/or reserves, and do not collect in city, state, or federal parks. So parks, noted, are not to be collected from and keep it to personal use and not bringing a semi tanker truck.

They appreciated that I reached out as a hobbyist and didn't see any other negative effect other than pay attention to my collection point. As I said I'm already doing dives in the area in most cases so I know the bacteria levels (not uncommon in some areas of Monterey due to Sea Lions). The water will last with or without movement and I've never had any issues with temperatures such that a heater couldn't resolve.

I'm currently not using NSW but will be implementing it again shortly. The only reason why I'm not is because I haven't been diving this year which is when I usually collect it.

 

[Paul B]

I back my Jeep up to the ocean and throw a bilge pump with a hose on it in. Pump about 40 gallons and take it home. If it doesn't look to muddy or cloudy I just warm it up and throw it in. If it isn't clear I diatom filter it first. Been using it for fifty years, no problems yet. I am in New York.

Now my tank is 100% NSW but for most of my tank's life it was mostly ASW only because the stuff is heavy, and it's getting heavier.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I back my Jeep up to the ocean and throw a bilge pump with a hose on it in. Pump about 40 gallons and take it home. If it doesn't look to muddy or cloudy I just warm it up and throw it in. If it isn't clear I diatom filter it first. Been using it for fifty years, no problems yet. I am in New York.

Now my tank is 100% NSW but for most of my tank's life it was mostly ASW only because the stuff is heavy, and it's getting heavier.

That's awesome! While I imagine that there are all kinds of pollutants in nsw I also see all kinds of fish, inverts, and anemones thriving in it so I imagined it would be just fine

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Paul what kind of diatom filter do you use?

 

[ZoWhat]

I also have eventual plans to do a pacific northwest Coldwater tank and would potentially use seawater for that.

What's a Pacific northwest cold water tank?

a bunch of Canadian Canucks standing around in hockey jerseys saying, "pretty nice looking tank, aaaaaeee?"

 

[xxkenny90xx]

What's a Pacific northwest cold water tank?

a bunch of Canadian Canucks standing around in hockey jerseys saying, "pretty nice looking tank, aaaaaeee?"

Lol your exactly right! Jk something like this (and everything in it would be collected by me). Ive seen some very nice ones that use a ton of mussels in the sump for filtration.

 

[Paul B]

Paul what kind of diatom filter do you use?

An antique one. Vortex. I have 4 or 5 of them, some from the 60s. They are not built very good and are similar to a bucket of rust. :rolleyes:

 

[Jase4224]

I wouldnt take any water from the west coast.. unless you like cesium 137 in your water..

Fukashima has perm polluted the pacific... and its still to this day leaking nillions of gallons of radioactive water in the oceon..

Think im paranoid ? Look it up online of the tests they hsve done on the water in california and so forth. Even the ground is contaminated with cesium 137... All the fruits veggies milk we get... No good, they even conducted tests of wine made in california and they have levels of cesium in it.. So does the milk... in fact after the disaster hsppened the fda secretly raised the (safe) levels of cesium.. funny huh ?

I dont buy any produce or foods from california anymore

I certainly don’t think Fukushima leaking is good but it hasn’t exactly destroyed the Pacific ecosystems so I really doubt that collecting water from the west coast will have any measurable effect on your reef tank..

The Atol islands were repeatedly bombed with nukes and the corals and fish have recolonised and are doing great even though radiation is still high.

Wildlife in Chernobyl has returned and is thriving despite predictions that the area would not be survivable for a very long time. Turns out the presence of humans was worse for the wildlife in that region than a nuclear meltdown.

I’m not meaning to start a debate but it seems the effects of radiation on life is not as negative as predicted. Not collecting seawater in California because of Cesium137 to me seems a little extreme given the are actual coral reefs thriving throughout the Pacific.

Personally I collect my seawater at high tide off a jetty, no filtering just make sure it’s clear when you collect it. Lasts indefinitely in buckets I have tested after long term storage and ALL params were perfect.

 

[BadFish619]

here's my fill station!