NSW vs. Salt Mixes: The Ultimate Debate

reefer1024

reefer1024

New member
For many years I have been using Catalina nature sea water (NSW) for all my water changes. I have never had a problem with it.
http://www.catalinawater.com/
Recently some people have suggested to me that this may be risky. The claim is that the NSW may contain all kinds of pollutants and that it is much safer to mix your own saltwater with RO water so that you can control exactly what goes in your tank. This made sense to me, but after doing a little research I found this article.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1
As you can see all of the salt mixes tested have concentrations of heavy metals and other elements that are way above those found in NSW. In some cases thousands of times more. I am not sure If these levels are high enough to be a problem, but it does make me wonder.

I would like to know what everyone thinks about this. Do I have to be concerned about pollution in NSW or should I be more concerned about the heavy metals in the salt mixes? Assuming cost and availability were not issues what water or mix would you use?
 
I think its an interesting topic and would nice to see a study come out new brands being tested. I think using NSW is risky not only because you could get water that is polluted but also you might introduce parasites or disease or a a funky bacteria, i'm sure the possibliities are endless. I use Seachem Reef Salt and probably won't swith to anything else.

Ryan
 
Had I had a nice clean solution for NSW, I definately would use it. Alas Im about 1500 miles from the coast...

I cant comment on Catalina, but I would watch it closely as I have read about people that has said it has contained some pollutants.

Any salt brand now a days is going to be pretty good. For what we can test for I dont think there is much difference. Then the stuff we can test for we will just buffer it anyway. If your thinking about switching Id be concerned about the actual switch over to the salt as there are many threads of different salt mixes bleaching corals during a switch. Take it very slow with your mix...Find a brand that you like and is easy to locate locally, (unless your willing to ship it in) so that you can keep things pretty constant...
 
I use NSW that I pick up at UCSB with great results. I've heard the Catalina Water is just pumped out of LA Harbor, the Catalina Water web site above say's it's filtered and treated with UV and Ozone. Not sure what to believe here, but the UCSB works fine for me and it's deep sand bed filtered. I never tried Scripps, but would have not problem trying it.

For me NSW is much easier than making all the RODI and mixing with Synthetic salts.
 
this quote from the end of the article I posted worries me
"This study has demonstrated that the artificial sea water made using some common and popular commercial artificial salt water mixes is toxic to sea urchin larvae using a variant of a standard bioassay. Such water will also likely have effects on other animals." Shimek, 2003

Are there any pollutants in particular that one should look out for in NSW? Is there a way to test for them?

I would like to hear from people who have had experience switching from NSW to a mix or vise versa. Have you noticed any differences?
 
i know they sell catalina water here locally
there are always people in their w/ their jugs buying water when i go into the lfs...

i havent ever used it i use tropic marin
although i am not set on it and recently read a debate here on RC about if the this salt is as good as s'posed to be (and worth the xpense)... before i buy it again i will research it a bit more

i would never pay the asking price for the catalina sea water
(locally) but using nsw to me atleast might take away from the 'control' factor that i have over my marine 'environment' - why spend thousands on LR, equipment, livestock etc etc ETC... only to chance something (using nsw) that could have been controled had one mixed their own water...

sort of along the same lines as a quarantine
- why does one use it? to control or limit some other freak possiblity that 'might' happen and ruin all the time and money we have into it up to that point in time

just my .02 for what its worth and then some
and well thats my .02 after a few too may glasses of wine this p.m LOL

regards
 
I wouldn't use that Catalina Real Ocean Water if they were giving it away.

I kept a couple of their 5g boxes on hand for emergency use if ever needed, and when I ran numerous tests on the stuff it had an alk of nearly 20 dKH and other critical params were also inconsistent with NSW.

Like others, I have also heard rumors this stuff is collected in "less then pristine" areas and random samples have tested with extremely high levels of both lead and zinc, although I cannot verify or confirm firsthand if that's true.
 
I have used Catalina water for 7 years and never had a problem with it either. About a week ago I made the switch to Tropic Marin that I buy pre-mixed at a LFS. The only difference I have seen so far is it cost 3 times as much to buy water now, but I really need to give it more time to see if i notice a difference.

HowardW, you are correct about the lead and zinc. I did a little searching and found an article where they tested Catalina against NSW collected straight from the beach along with various other salt mixes. Catalina was the only 1 that had huge amounts of lead and zinc in it, but it had less of the other heavy metals than many of the salt mixes. Is it enough to cause a problem? Is it worse to have lead and zinc than to have the coper and other heavy metals found in many of the mixes? I have no idea. Hopefully somebody more knowledgeable can enlighten us.

heres the article
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2004/feature.htm
 
For NSW in SoCal we have basically three choices:

UCSB (no real harbor, Deep sand bed filtered)
Catalina brand (LA Harbor, different stories on filtering)
Scripps (no real harbor but part of the socal basin, not sure on the filtering but probably good)

UCSB and Scripps utilizes this water for Sea Urchin research studies amongst others. Good enough for them, works for me.

I think the only problem I see with NSW from SoCal is the calcium levels are a bit low.
 
If you are in Orange County you can get free research grade water in Corona Del Mar right off of Ocean Blvd. at the Kentmouth Research Institute. Up to 500g at a time. It's just south of Fashion Island, just north of Big Corona Beach.

I used there water for years and was stoked on it. Then I moved out of state. IME the salt mixes don't quite compare IME, to much time, to much effort, to much cost. JMO
 
paul b who has one of the oldest tanks on RC has been using NSW from the long island sound for I think 30 years...sounds good to me.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11004466#post11004466 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reef_doug
For NSW in SoCal we have basically three choices:

UCSB (no real harbor, Deep sand bed filtered)
Catalina brand (LA Harbor, different stories on filtering)
Scripps (no real harbor but part of the socal basin, not sure on the filtering but probably good)

UCSB and Scripps utilizes this water for Sea Urchin research studies amongst others. Good enough for them, works for me.

I think the only problem I see with NSW from SoCal is the calcium levels are a bit low.
Click to expand...

Scripps water is run through 3 sand filters. I've been using it for years, Never had a problem. Just don't collect it after it rains or a red tide.

If it's good enough for The Birch Aquarium. It's good enough for me.

Plus it's free!:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Old salt mix vs old salty reefer
Replies
3
Views
299
Jposch
J
T
Transferring Salt Tank to New Tank in Same Location
Replies
3
Views
107
griss
griss
T Diddy
SPS with softies??
Replies
12
Views
291
T Diddy
T Diddy
BuckeyeFish
Salt mix recommendation for a nano LPS dominant tank and simple dosing
Replies
4
Views
238
shred5
shred5
T
Need Help With this Bacteria
Replies
7
Views
225
Tanksanyway
T
Back
Top