Local NSW

ErosJN

New member
For those in the tarpon-port richey area that use NSW in their aquariums, where are the best place to collect at without having access to a boat? I know right before high tide is the best timing and when I occassionally use NSW, i go out to Fred Howard. Im leaning towards transitioning into using NSW more religiously while the temps are warm out but only really know of Fred Howard. Any hidden gems in the area for collecting water?
 
Although I would never use local NSW, if I had to, it'd be as far away from land and the any boat ramps as possible, also keeping in mind how close boat traffic is. You should probably also consider the roughness of the water (more suspended particles).
 
No chance I'd use local NSW without access to a boat. I would run a good 15 miles off shore before even considering.
 
Im usually a little skeptical however, after reading what the ARCs data.. I feel better about. Heres what they had to say ragarding NSW collection "We conduct water sampling every week so I thought I would also chime in again on that as well.
2 days ago an old sewage pipe burst in the Miami River dumping thousands upon thousands of raw untreated sewage into the river right where it exits to Biscayne bay. The water literally was completely brown. This was an excellent opportunity to show you the literal WORST CASE scenario. I also took a water sample 400 yards away and it was almost normal.

Temp 85
Salinity 1.026
Ph 8.1
Alkalinity 135
Phosphates 0.021
Nitrates 1.82
Nitrites <0.1
Ammonia <0.05
Iodine 0.3
Calcium 385

So I'd like to assume that most people would not collect brown water for their tank BUT in the case you did, you're fish would actually be ok. The nitrates and phosphates were the highest that I've ever tested in Natural Seawater BUT might be lower that what's in your tank right now. Nature does a really great job at maintaining good seawater. Whether you collect it in the bay, off a dock, or from the beach you will be just fine.

Best tips:
#1) Collect only at high tide. Salinity was 1.025 at low tide and 1.026 at high tide. I have seen calcium at 221 right outside the Miami River on low tide, and at 400 on high tide. So tides do affect the water chemistry quite a bit.
#2) Don't collect water from a river. Considerable more chance for chemical run off and that the water is brackish.
#3) Make sure to put a good sealing lid on it. Water containers in a car have a lot of momentum to them and if it gets out will start to rust your car out.
#4) If you use a DC pump and a car battery jumper box like I have for years, make sure to put a sock over the hose inlet. This will keep your pump working longer and the water you suck up free of debris.
#5) Don't store the water, put it in your tank within 24 hours. Raw seawater will go bad if it sits with no circulation.
#6) If you do this often, remember you will need to add freshwater still to account for evaporation. Otherwise you would be increasing the salinity every water change.

Good luck! ARC Reef"
 
Yeah, minus the boat gas and run off from local yards.

I've never tested my water out back, but will do full test tomorrow and post results.
 
Awesome. I look forward to the results Bryan. I had tested water I collected knee deep at Fred Howards last summer and the parameters were perfect. This was only using a simple test kit that checked for Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites, and PH. The ARC had also posted some data prior to the one i copy and pasted.. let me see if i can find it and ill post it up aswell.
 
Okay I found it.... "Hi Jeff and thank you for that amazing article. You really got people thinking outside of the box on this and my hat is off to you sir! We seam to be conditioned that ASW is better than NSW but how can that be true, and why are we made to believe that?
I hope maybe I can shed a little further insight to this. My name is Tom I am a marine biologist with Atlantic Reef Conservation https:ARCreef.com (ARC Reef on social media) We are a state and federally certified aquaculture facility located in Miami, FL. (close to many of you guys). We do much Off-shore, Near-Shore and Inland water testing, reef conservation, creating artificail reefs, and A LOT of data collection. Here is a comparison of our last test dated April 4th. 2016.
Sample 1 will be called NSW (Nearshore Water) it was taken in Biscayne bay, 1 mile north of the Miami River, on the inland side of the bay 7 ft from a seawall, at a depth of 3 ft. from the surface.
Sample 2 will be called OSW (Offshore Water) it was taken 3.75 miles off shore from key Biscayne lighthouse in Miami, at a depth of 3 ft. from the surface.

Salinity: NSW 1.026/34PPT OSW 1.027/36PPT
Phosphates: NSW 0.006 PPM OSW 0.005 PPM
Alkalinity: NSW 139 PPM OSW 131 PPM
Iodine: NSW 0.3 PPM OSW 0.3 PPM
Nitrate: NSW <0.1 PPM OSW <0.1 PPM
Nitrite: NSW <0.1 PPM OSW <0.1 PPM
Ammonia: NSW <0.1 PPM OSW <0.1 PPM
PH: NSW 8.175 OSW 8.25
Calcium: NSW 380 PPM OSW 400 PPM

Conclusion:
NSW is a great viable option if you are located near an ocean, If not then ASW is an excellent alternative to NSW, and both are probably at better levels that whats in your closed system right now. In our tests it is evident that water taken near shore or within a closer proximity to rivers or sewer run off you will have very slightly lower salinity, PH, and Calcium levels, but well within range. Salinity in most major bodies of water can range from 1.024/32 PPT to 1.028/37.5 PPT, Alkalinity, PH, and other perimeters will differ but only slightly, and not enough to make a difference. So really anywhere in the world, if you live near the ocean, you're pretty much good to go. My only suggestion is to test for nitrates and phosphates if you live downstream from farmland as the fertilizers they use are almost straight nitrogen, if that seeps out to rivers it can escalate those levels, and my second suggestion is to just take your water at high tide if you can.
Hope this helps a little. We test for more perimeters but I just posted up what I thought people would be most interested in. Most other tests were only marginally different or involved fecal coliform, which I don't think most people would be too interested in lol. Cheers and happy reefing everyone! Looking forward to your next article."
 
Now that you mention it, I remember it being slightly off. Not sure if I diluted with water or added a small amount of synthetic salt but I adjusted it and used it.
 
I don't think nitrates, phosphates or ammonia would be an issue. Wouldn't you be more worried about bacterial, fungal or other type of pathogens.
 
I think the biggest issues would be silt and petroleum by-products. In the summer, we do have various algaes suspended in the water column as well. Then there's always the potential for introducing red tide to your tank.
 
Thanks for the chart Bob. @irishtang, I personally wouldnt be too worried about it.. Im not saying its never happened but I've yet to come across an article or story of someones tank crashing or all their fish dying from using NSW... we take these fish from the ocean with an abundant amount of assorted bacteria, pods, microorganisms, critters, algaes, etc.and put them in an aquarium where we take fresh water and synthetic salt and REPLICATE ocean water, then say our synthetic saltwater is better than NSW. There are concerns for red tide and I certainly wouldnt go collecting if the water didnt look pristine. I can say that when I did use local NSW in the past, the fish seemed to be more alert, and corals were perky. I only used NSW for a short period of time because of the hauling of 5 gallon buckets is quite a pain. Im now looking into getting larger barrels to make it easier to transfer the water.
 
Opps. Eros got the idea from me a few years ago. I did use nsw from howard park for years and my tanks had never looked better. When i switched back to rodi things started to go down hill "plus i moved and was lazy" i did not mention it here because I knew the negative response. First off fred howard is an island so it is out about 1/2 mile. There is little to no boats there "dont know why" i only took water on the incoming tide before high tide. Never after high tide. Never when there was any threat of red tide or when the water got to hot. Over 85. Also keep the water moving and use it within 2 hours of collecting. This gives you the good bacteria and all the plankton. Also i always collect from about 1' under and not from the surface.
I know this is not for everyone and i started with doing it to just one of my systems. When that system was out performing my other 4 i started doing it to more until i was doing it to all.
I never did more then a 10% water change with nsw. My sps and clams loved it!

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Awesome! How often did you do water changes with the NSW and what did you find to be the best method of transportation? Im wanting about 50 gallon changes weekly. Might be overkill but I want a constant supply of new water and microorganisms.
 
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