Using ocean water in Maine?

[Overland04]

Hey Forum,

I have recently move to the beautiful coastline of Maine and after 4 years without a tank I've decided to build a 70g rimless
Since I have all really good equipment and rock from my old set-up I'd like to start seeding my rocks in the meantime while I build and setup the tank.

Can I use some ocean water to start the cycle of my rocks?

They have been dried out for almost 4 years and I don't have a LFS within 80 miles of me. I figure I can at least start the cycle this way by using 5 gallons of sea water and the rest from salt mix.

Also this wont be in my display tank, I will be doing this in a 100g tub with just a skimmer for 4 or 5 weeks to get the rocks started then they will go into he display to start the tank cycle.

Thoughts?

 

[seapug]

You're not likely to get much "biological seeding" from simply using local ocean water. The bacteria you want are not really free floating, but rather living on/in substrates like rock and sand.

While having a local source of clean ocean water can make water changes much easier and cheaper, you would be wise to either mailorder order or make the drive to the LFS for at least couple good live rocks to seed the tank.

 

[RedM3]

If you want to do it for the purpose of starting your cycle, I'm not sure there is really any benefit. There are very few free-floating bacteria in the water - at least not the kind you want in your tank. Even if there was, I'd guess the bacteria that thrive in the tropics wouldn't be the same strain as in the cold Maine water.

 

[cakemanPA]

If I had that access, I would be using that water for everything I did with my aquarium. You should still seed with some live rock/sand from an established system imo.

 

[Overland04]

Thanks for the reply's
I'll try to see if I can find a local reefer to lend some sand or a rock for the cycle.

I'm super excited to get back into the money pit!

 

[Fire_Urchin]

A friend of mine tried to put ocean water (granted it was Pacific) in his reef tank, and he said that it was the worst thing he ever did. It triggered an algea bloom that caused major blooms that lasted for weeks. He said that is tank never really was the same after that.

Perhaps it was a fluke, but this is just an experiance that I know of.

 

[username in use]

I only use ocean water in my tank, from the start to now, no salt mix has ever been in my tank, and I have no algae issues what so ever. just be smart about where you collect from. Stay away from any heavily populated areas and try to collect on the end of an incoming tide and it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I have a public aquarium near me that uses ocean water in their reef tank as well, so it can be done successfully with not problems.

 

[heckfire]

i use ocean water to,, a few feet from shore,it allows me to do 20 percent changes weekly

 

[Overland04]

For the guys that are using ocean water in your tanks, are any of you in a cold water climate or are all of you tropical?

I haven't done my homework about cold water and tropical water parameter differences.

Thoughts?

 

[heckfire]

For the guys that are using ocean water in your tanks, are any of you in a cold water climate or are all of you tropical?

I haven't done my homework about cold water and tropical water parameter differences.

Thoughts?

im way down in south florida ,i would have to think Maine's water is clean and "pure".. for me, its a cost saving issue,and it allows me to swap out 20 % of my water weekly,, i can drive to the beach 15 mins away,, bring a ton of jugs and fill em up, its a sunday ritual for the misses and me

 

[Overland04]

Id love to be able to walk out the back door to do a water change, maybe I'll grab a bucket and test to see where it stands.

 

[rysher]

A friend of mine tried to put ocean water (granted it was Pacific) in his reef tank, and he said that it was the worst thing he ever did. It triggered an algea bloom that caused major blooms that lasted for weeks. He said that is tank never really was the same after that.

Perhaps it was a fluke, but this is just an experiance that I know of.

it's always from a friend of mine, no first hand accounts.

i used ocean water to start my cycle, i got it from waist/chest deep, no live rock and only a cupful of live sand from an established tank. put in raw peeled shrimp on the first day of cycle which has disappeared, ammonia spiked on the 2nd week,
i'm currently on the 4th week, ammonia = 0, nitrite=0, nitrate=0,salinity = 1.026, ph = 8.2...
i got a gazillion copepods.

we are trying to mimic NSW itself in our tanks, why not use NSW itself rather than mimic it by using artificial mixes?

WARNING: am a noob, with zero experience on tanks fw/sw,,,this is my first tank.

 

[Overland04]

I think once I look at the water in a clean container and run some tests I'll have a better idea. I will probably agree that grabbing a cup of sand and a live rock from a LFS will be best to start the seeding process but maybe after week 2 I can used the NSW to do the water changes during the cycle process of just the rocks, not the tank cycle.
I still have about 2 months before the tank shows up so I want to get te rocks in the best shape before I fill the display tank.

 

[Bloodritual]

It may look like a no brainer to use NSW in our tanks after all that's where all our little critters come from. Problem is most places may be too polluted to even use. And like the reason we use RODI water we are trying to control what chemicals go into our tanks. Also there might be parasites that come from the wild that we do not want going into our tanks. So unless you are sure that the area you are collecting NSW from is ideal you really have to think twice about using it.
Not saying it can't be done, just that you should really research the place you are collecting from.

 

[wmdick_2007]

I would get a bucket of sand too ! Nice !

 

[username in use]

I live on long island. In Maine, you should be golden. In all honest, I do absolutely nothing to the water. I scoop it into bucket and put it right into the tank. If its really cold, I heat it up but that is it. No filtering, no UV, no anything.

After a water change, my water is clearer than any salt mix I have ever used. The only real issue is the salinity is a tad low, so you can add a little more salt, or just top off with some salt water which is what I do.

I do dose BRS 2-part, as cal and alk are low, but nothing terrible.

 

[liverock]

Cushing

Cushing

When I lived there I used ocean water with great success. I had tropical tanks, and also a cold water Maine reef tank, never an issue.

I collected water from my lobster tanks that was pumped from about 200 feet offshore of Cushing.

There are some beautiful cold water critters on the lobster cars there in Cushing

Richard TBS