Scripps Institution of Oceanography Seawater Tap
I'm getting back into reefing... really enjoying it! There's been some significant advances in the last 17 years.
I'm in San Diego, and live 15 minutes away from the free natural filtered seawater tap at Scripps. It's the same water used at the Birch Aquarium. I've started out my quarantine tank with it, and all water params test out perfect. I can't find my written test reports (oops) but tested Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate, Calcium, Magnesium, pH, Salinity, and Alkalinity. All came out perfect. 0 Ammonia/Nitrate. Between 0-2 nitrates (hard to tell slight shades of clear/almost pink water), very low phosphates, and healthy levels of calcium and magnesium. I remember Salinity/pH/Alkalinity being perfect as well.
Anyhow, my original plan was to do initial water and all water changes with actual ocean water. I figure the ocean can make better ocean water than some scientists mixing salt? or drying out natural seawater? or me dumping salt into RO/DI water testing salinity with a cheap refractometer?
However, a guy I trust at a very well established local fish store (seems pretty knowledgable, and not guided by $$$) doesn't recommend it. His point is that he doesn't know what's in it, that northeast pacific seawater (California) is much more nutrient rich than places like Fiji, and that he's had customers that had problems while using it that were resolved after switching to synthetic salts.
I can't find any recent threads on Scripps water. There are several from a few years ago, but nothing in the past 2-3 years that I can find with substantive info.
Right now I'm kicking off my main 160G tank with RO water and will start the tank with Tropic Marin Classic Salt, so that ship has sailed.
But going forward for water changes...
My main concern is that natural filtered seawater could bring in disease, which would make my quarantine procedures much less effective. The things I love about it are that it's free (no wasting RO/DI runoff water or buying salt), it's basically 'perfect' natural seawater based on my tests, that it get's me out to La Jolla/the beach every week or two, and that if it does have extra/random stuff in it that that stuff might actually be beneficial.
Thoughts? Recent experience with Scripps seawater?
I'm getting back into reefing... really enjoying it! There's been some significant advances in the last 17 years.
I'm in San Diego, and live 15 minutes away from the free natural filtered seawater tap at Scripps. It's the same water used at the Birch Aquarium. I've started out my quarantine tank with it, and all water params test out perfect. I can't find my written test reports (oops) but tested Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate, Calcium, Magnesium, pH, Salinity, and Alkalinity. All came out perfect. 0 Ammonia/Nitrate. Between 0-2 nitrates (hard to tell slight shades of clear/almost pink water), very low phosphates, and healthy levels of calcium and magnesium. I remember Salinity/pH/Alkalinity being perfect as well.
Anyhow, my original plan was to do initial water and all water changes with actual ocean water. I figure the ocean can make better ocean water than some scientists mixing salt? or drying out natural seawater? or me dumping salt into RO/DI water testing salinity with a cheap refractometer?
However, a guy I trust at a very well established local fish store (seems pretty knowledgable, and not guided by $$$) doesn't recommend it. His point is that he doesn't know what's in it, that northeast pacific seawater (California) is much more nutrient rich than places like Fiji, and that he's had customers that had problems while using it that were resolved after switching to synthetic salts.
I can't find any recent threads on Scripps water. There are several from a few years ago, but nothing in the past 2-3 years that I can find with substantive info.
Right now I'm kicking off my main 160G tank with RO water and will start the tank with Tropic Marin Classic Salt, so that ship has sailed.
But going forward for water changes...
My main concern is that natural filtered seawater could bring in disease, which would make my quarantine procedures much less effective. The things I love about it are that it's free (no wasting RO/DI runoff water or buying salt), it's basically 'perfect' natural seawater based on my tests, that it get's me out to La Jolla/the beach every week or two, and that if it does have extra/random stuff in it that that stuff might actually be beneficial.
Thoughts? Recent experience with Scripps seawater?
