salt for a 20000l reef pool

[Reefsystem]

I want to make a large reef pool in my backyard where it will receive full sun and will be open to the elements.
My only concern is water changes.

Could I use pool salt and mix it with RO/DI , to make my
water changes.

 

[liveforphysics]

That all depends on what you wish to keep in it. If you plan to keep corals, you will need salt which contains a correct balance to best simulate real seawater.

I always wanted to make a small swimming pool sized reef tank in a greenhouse in my back yard. I never figured out a way I could keep temperature stable enough to make a safe environment for coral. I always just planned on contacting a fish hatchery to drive one of there natural seawater collection trucks over when I needed to fill it or change water. Salt mix to fill a pool that large would cost around a thousand dollars. I imagine a fish-hatchery truck would make a 5,000gal delivery of natural seawater for only a few hundred dollars.

 

[Diatome]

I would not skimp on the salt. Too many variances and pool salts are not always dependable.

As for outdoor pools/aquariums, rain is the biggest factor as you woudl have a hard time managing salinity.

Here is the best attempt yet, for outdoor. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1095596

For a greenhouse, you shoudl just Google Coral Greenhouse. You would be suprised. Being in Florida, prop ghreenhouses are big. Prairiereef and seacrop have some interesting stories. Commercial greenhouses can do a lot for temp control but one idea I saw was the best for a greenhouse was a large amount of PVC buried underground to naturally cool the water. Big circulation pump to move the water and so the "geothermal" type effect basically kept the water at a constant temp. It was cooling it but that was what was needed for the greenhouse.

 

[Reefsystem]

Thank sfor all your suggestion when i start the project i will be posting progrestive pictures on the large reef tanks forum

 

[adamsaranluke]

I think the salt in pools is not salt at all but a saline solution. Not at all comparable to ocean water and will not support life. The point of a salt water pool is to eliminate the use of chlorine while still inhibiting algae growth.

 

[Bodacious]

There's a guy in seminole her in pinellas county with a 10000 gal pool he does water changes one time a year it runs him about 1200 dollars to do it

 

[JCTewks]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12557402#post12557402 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by adamsaranluke
I think the salt in pools is not salt at all but a saline solution. Not at all comparable to ocean water and will not support life. The point of a salt water pool is to eliminate the use of chlorine while still inhibiting algae growth.

WHAT???

Algea grow in SW too ya know!!! If your ultimate goal is just to avoid chlorine and not grow algea, use LARGE UV sterilizers and ozone....you could use the pool as a bathroom and not have problems :lol:

 

[JaredWaites]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12557402#post12557402 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by adamsaranluke
I think the salt in pools is not salt at all but a saline solution. Not at all comparable to ocean water and will not support life. The point of a salt water pool is to eliminate the use of chlorine while still inhibiting algae growth.

It will support a fish only tank. I've done it before with regular Solar Salt that's made for chlorine generators.

Also the point of a saltwater pool is not to eliminate the use of Chlorine...its purpose is to generate Chlorine in small amounts enough to prevent algae growth. The units I sell are able to put over a pound of chlorine in a pool a day while they are turned to 100% / Super Chlorinate. Once the salt passes through the cell, its turned into Sodium Hypochlorite a version of Chlorine...known as bleach

It makes having a pool easier, its just one less thing to mess with besides the rest of the chemistry.

 

[Hawks07]

So if the pool is large enough would the rain really have such a substantial effect on the salinity?

I say this because i was thinking that if the pool is 10 feet deep and say it was 95% full than the rain couldnt really cause such a dramatic change....and not only that freshwater is more buoyant than saltwater so the only water that would overflow from the pool would be freshwater right? I guess however that discards the harmful stuff the rain water could add to the tank however... just pondering, im probably wrong though.

 

[JaredWaites]

No rain would have an effect on the specific gravity.