Opinions on using natural sea water instead of salt mix

E

Enavin

New member
I'm able to get a steady supply of NSW that isn't just pumped from 20 feet out at the beach and was curious if as to who among you uses it in their tanks.

I know the scares the water can give, especially being in Florida.

It was an idea my father and I were mulling around as he just set up his 210g Euro style ( I'm jealous ) and was concocting a plan for harvesting, cleaning and storing NSW.

Any issues that have arisen from it? Did you end up switching to salt mixes?
 
Enavin said:
I'm able to get a steady supply of NSW that isn't just pumped from 20 feet out at the beach and was curious if as to who among you uses it in their tanks.

I know the scares the water can give, especially being in Florida.

It was an idea my father and I were mulling around as he just set up his 210g Euro style ( I'm jealous ) and was concocting a plan for harvesting, cleaning and storing NSW.

Any issues that have arisen from it? Did you end up switching to salt mixes?
Click to expand...

:fish1: I live in South Florida, and have been using Natural Sea Water, collected from the Gulfstream off Elliot Key to Islamorada, ever since I have been keeping Reef Tanks. This is where all our fish, corals and all the other wildlife we keep in our systems comes from, so why not use it. All the water changes are with NSW, so if you have a safe place to collect it from, it will be just fine. Storing NSW is not a problem either as I have stored NSW for over 6 months will no ill effects to my system. In my opinion, NSW is better then any salt mix on the market, and don't worry about parasites or other organism that some people complain about. One more thing, if you use the water shortly after you collect it, you will still have live plankton from the collected water introduced into your system. :fish1:
 
i know a guy in cape cod mass the use to use natural sea water on his tank .
and was very successful reef .
the only reason he stop and switch to salt mix was because here in the winter months was a pain collecting the water . but i hear no complain from him .
 
Green Chromis said:
:fish1: I live in South Florida, and have been using Natural Sea Water, collected from the Gulfstream off Elliot Key to Islamorada, ever since I have been keeping Reef Tanks. This is where all our fish, corals and all the other wildlife we keep in our systems comes from, so why not use it. All the water changes are with NSW, so if you have a safe place to collect it from, it will be just fine. Storing NSW is not a problem either as I have stored NSW for over 6 months will no ill effects to my system. In my opinion, NSW is better then any salt mix on the market, and don't worry about parasites or other organism that some people complain about. One more thing, if you use the water shortly after you collect it, you will still have live plankton from the collected water introduced into your system. :fish1:
Click to expand...
Green Chromis, I live in South Florida also(NMB) and I just started with a new 180g setup, I would like to collect NSW also, what kind of pump do you use, can you power it from a car?
I am using NSW all the time as I am buying it from LFS no issue at all
 
yoyoreef said:
Green Chromis, I live in South Florida also(NMB) and I just started with a new 180g setup, I would like to collect NSW also, what kind of pump do you use, can you power it from a car?
I am using NSW all the time as I am buying it from LFS no issue at all
Click to expand...

:fish1: Hi yoyoreef, I live in South Dade, near the Falls area. I have a boat and go out into the Gulfstream, from Elliot Key, South thru the Florida Keys to collect my water. I use a Rule 2000ghp pump submerged 20' or so below the water, connected to my 12 volt batteries. I pump the water into 55 gallon water containers in the boat, which takes about 10 minutes or so, and when I get home after cleaning the boat, I will do a water change, usually taking 30 minutes or less. While out collecting the water, I am also fishing, and more often then not catch a few Dolphin or other fish for dinner. :fish1:
 
Green Chromis said:
:fish1: I live in South Florida, and have been using Natural Sea Water, collected from the Gulfstream off Elliot Key to Islamorada, ever since I have been keeping Reef Tanks. This is where all our fish, corals and all the other wildlife we keep in our systems comes from, so why not use it. All the water changes are with NSW, so if you have a safe place to collect it from, it will be just fine. Storing NSW is not a problem either as I have stored NSW for over 6 months will no ill effects to my system. In my opinion, NSW is better then any salt mix on the market, and don't worry about parasites or other organism that some people complain about. One more thing, if you use the water shortly after you collect it, you will still have live plankton from the collected water introduced into your system. :fish1:
Click to expand...

Ahh very neat! I like the idea of stocking a tank with wildlife from its own natural ecosystem! I'll propose this to my wife.

Good to hear on the storage note I presume you just keep it on a cool dark place correct? ( the storage container )
 
Green Chromis said:
:fish1: Hi yoyoreef, I live in South Dade, near the Falls area. I have a boat and go out into the Gulfstream, from Elliot Key, South thru the Florida Keys to collect my water. I use a Rule 2000ghp pump submerged 20' or so below the water, connected to my 12 volt batteries. I pump the water into 55 gallon water containers in the boat, which takes about 10 minutes or so, and when I get home after cleaning the boat, I will do a water change, usually taking 30 minutes or less. While out collecting the water, I am also fishing, and more often then not catch a few Dolphin or other fish for dinner. :fish1:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Green Chromis, I dont have a boat (I wish I had) but I still want to collect NSW from a pier, so you connect the Rule pump to a hose and electric power cable and throw the pump into the ocean?Please explain
 
yoyoreef said:
Thanks for the info Green Chromis, I dont have a boat (I wish I had) but I still want to collect NSW from a pier, so you connect the Rule pump to a hose and electric power cable and throw the pump into the ocean?Please explain
Click to expand...
:fish1: Hi Yoyoreef, the pump I use is a 12 volt pump, on the end of the extended power cable, I connected a male plug, and on the boat I have a female plug connected to the center console, with a water resistant cap. I just plug the cable from the pump, which I extended about 25' into the female receptacle on the console, and drop the pump into the water, with the pump 20' or so below the surface. I don't know if the rule bilge pump, will have enough pressure to pump the water up to top of the pier, plus you would need to carry a 12 volt battery out to the end of the pier. If you could find a self priming pump, this would probably work a lot better, as I need to only pump the water about 4' above the surface, thus not needing a pump with a lot of head pressure. How much water do you need to collect at one time? Could you drop a 5 gallon bucket into the water, with a 1 or 2 pound dive weight attached to it, so it would sink. The only trouble with this is the water weighs about 40 pounds, so you would need to attach a strong rope to the bucket. And the containers I use to collect and store the water in are semi transparent, and stored in an A/C fish room. :fish1:
 
Sounds like a lot of work for salt water... I'm genuinely curious, what would be the potential benefits of NSW over synthetic salt mix? Other than knowing it is natural and therefore matches the exact water chemistry of natural reefs?
 
Yes I only use NSW. Never used premixed water before. Cant really say if its any better or not but I collect it from the same place where a lot of popular reef fish in our hobby live in the wild. I collect it all by hand in 5L bottles.

I filter it through a sock on both ends before putting it in my tank. Its a pain to do but I didnt get into this hobby because I thought it would be easy.

Its my opinion that if you can get it, and dont mind the labor involved it beats premixed water hands down.
 
Ebone said:
I have never used anything but and many other near me do as well...but we get it from a university research facility that with a rather impressive system http://uncw.edu/aquaculture/facility-seawater.html and what they really mean is not 1,000 gallon but 20,000 http://uncw.edu/aquaculture/facility-seawater-Photos.html
Click to expand...

I am trying to figure out the name of the facility in Florida that used to allow you to come collect sea water from them.. I think it was in on or around St Augustine? Can anyone chime in on this?
 
Enavin said:
I am trying to figure out the name of the facility in Florida that used to allow you to come collect sea water from them.. I think it was in on or around St Augustine? Can anyone chime in on this?
Click to expand...
:fish1: Was it the Marineland Aquarium, South of St. Augustine? :fish1:
 
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