Nooby question !

[Jermain]

Hi,

Im super new to this amazing hobby i live in curacao willemstad my first question can i use the water and live sand dircetly from the ocean ?

 

[Reef_Chief]

You could do. But personally i wouldnt want to risk introducing anything unknown (bad) from the sand or pollutants from the sea (that gain depends on your local area). I would prefer more control on whats in my tabk. But on the flipside, you can't get any more natural than natural sea water and sand.
I have heard of people succesfully doing it. That is just my opinion, maybe somone else who does this themselves could help you abit more


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[Green Chromis]

:fish1: Hi Jermain, yes it is alright to use water, and sand collected from the ocean, just make sure you collect it from as clean an area as possible. I use sand and water collected from the ocean all the time, and so far I have never had a problem, but the area's where I collect the sand and water are pristine area's. :fish1:

 

[Diana A]

you would need to collect the water a few miles out. The water at the shore will be heavily polluted. Same with the sand

 

[Jermain]

Thank you all for the reply and the valuable information.
Ill make sure i collect the water and the sand from A clean area i would like also some information about liferock and dryrock and how to prepare it to put ut un my tank

 

[Sk8r]

Put it in a warm tub with circulation in the dark for about, I think, 6 weeks. If it is legal in Curacao to take rock from the ocean, that could go straight in, but I'd observe each piece for a few days in a bare glass tank to be sure no crabs or eunicid worms come with it. A bottle trap and bait can often lure these out.

 

[Jermain]

Thank you Sk8r it is legal here in curacao to take rock from the ocean next weekend ill go to get some rock from the beach can some one help me with a simple filter maybe a modefy hang on the back or a simple sump ?

 

[Sk8r]

In modern marine tanks esp those with corals we don't use filters: just cycle your water through a sump, past a skimmer (like the surf, it removes amino acid waste) and back to the tank. Bacteria in the sand and live rock breaks down nitrates into nitrogen gas which floats up as bubbles.
A reading of the sticky how-to's atop this forum will outline this in greater detail. The only piece of equipment you really need besides the pump, heater, autotopoff (to add fresh water to keep salinity even with evaporation) and lights is a skimmer, which froths the water like surf, to clean it up.