To use or not use Natural Seawater

cornerjag

New member
How many of you use natural seawater? Has anyone found benefits or causes for concern? I ask because I live close to an inlet and would collect the water on an incoming tide. It would be cheaper than constantly buying and mixing salt.
 
I have read on hear about some people using it, and I have read where some people would tell you to stay far away from it..
 
I use natural sea water from deep water suction in Hawaii and love it. You really have to watch out with water from the surface. There are a lot of variables like rain, pollution, bacteria, salinity, and algae on the surface.
 
No experience with it, but I believe it will depend on where it is collected. Also, others take precautions to "sterilize" the water before adding it to the tank.
 
A lot of people on the east coast of Florida use nsw. I hear it is even sold at some LFS. I have at times used it when convenient for me. Actually my addiction started with collecting stuff off the beaches and using nsw.

You do need to be aware that nsw does occasionally come with stuff. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2407211

I would avoid getting it when the water is too turbulent, or after big rain storms (bacteria count usually goes up on beaches after big rainstorms)
 
I wonder what could be some good sterilization techniques. I'm thinking I would want to go beyond simply filtering it through a filter sock.
 
im in miami using NSW from the store, they collect at bal harbour, never had issues. i always run it thru a felt sock to catch any junk that may be in there, alk is around 7 but thats easily fixed, mixing is easier imo but unless i mix the whole bag, which i dont have space for a 55 drum, i get different levels of ca alk mg everytime i mix, so i went back to buying NSW
 
I wonder what could be some good sterilization techniques. I'm thinking I would want to go beyond simply filtering it through a filter sock.

I believe PaulB uses (or used) bleach, then aerated to drive off any residual bleach in the water. Please research this before trying it, I would not want you to hurt your tank based on this information.
 
On the contrary, here is a post I found. I also remember there being a more in depth discussion about it awhile back. I will see if I can find it.

I wasn't quite correct about neutralizing the bleach, but none the less..

...So far, only one person told me I crashed their tank and killed all their fish. He said, I told him to put Clorox in his tank, and he did. Now if someone told you to put Clorox, gasoline, anthrax, Campbells Chicken Soup, brake fluid or Kibbles and Bits in your tank, would you do it?

I told him that "I" sometimes use bleach in NSW if it looks questionable, then "before" I use it, I add chlorine eliminator and let the water sit for a few days. Then I "test" it on a snail or something "before" I put it in my tank. But he took that to mean to just add Clorox to his tank. I bet his fish had a nice fresh scent....

Edit* Here is this from 2006: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=892162
 
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NSW all the way, nothing better. Use a UV sterilizer and dose if need to change anything.

Yeah that is the way I'm starting to feel. The biggest challenge is just finding a good spot to collect and make it as easy as possible. I also wonder how much I'll be able to store to limit frequent trips.
 
Looks like I've got some collecting after I go surfing in the morning. I'll end of trying some different areas and test to see what the parameters are.
 
If I were to hold 30G in and have it connected to a UV sterilizer, would I want to leave the UV sterilizer running constantly before a water change or run it for a certain time to clean out the water then turn it off?
 
Is personally run that sucker in a closed loop in the container 24/7. But I have no basis for that statement other than my standard "excessive" thought process.
 
I've used nsw for years with my customers and it's sold at lfs around here. I'm in jupiter, you only collect on incoming tides about an hour before slack tide and only if it's looking good. Running it through uv , socks, carbon would be fine
 
I chose to not use NSW. i find it inconsistent collecting in the lagoon. its rather impractical to bring 4x 5 gallon buckets on a dive boat to collect from the open ocean.

its much much easier for me to mix 20 gallons in my house and get consistent parameters.

Go for it, give it a try....nothing to lose.
 
I've occasionally added some NSW that I collected from a clean area, primarily to add some new types of bacteria that might come with it. I never noticed any difference when doing a small water change with it. I did nothing to it to treat it.
 
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