Using salt water from a university facility

[AlexR]

Just wondering if anyone has successfully done this with a reef aquarium?
I have a UCF facility close by located at marineland aquarium in St. Augustine FL that has a reservoir of water taken from the ocean.

I would much rather go this route then using rodi water and mixing salt, if it's not a bad idea.

 

[AlexR]

I have seen many discussions about NSW vs Mixed.
Not many when it comes to university research facility water vs Mixed.

I would not go pick up water myself from the ocean and put it in my tank.
However as far as I know the university research facility pumps water from a couple miles out into their reservoir tank. And they let people come and collect water.

A lot of locals use this water, I'm just not sure if I should.

 

[mcgyvr]

I have a hard time believing that if a university is using said water that its not good enough for your tank..

 

[AlexR]

I've tested the water and found small traces of phosphate. Using an API test kit, which is probably not the best...

It's actually the University of Florida, not UCF. Just came back from there with a few jugs of water for a small water change.

I also use a GFO reactor, so hopefully this will be sufficient.

 

[Daddi0]

We have access to natural salt water and were using it until we tested phosphates at .4
Phosphate levels vary drastically in NSW which causes blooms in our local waters to the point some seafood is not safe to eat.
Cheers! Mark

 

[AlexR]

We have access to natural salt water and were using it until we tested phosphates at .4
Phosphate levels vary drastically in NSW which causes blooms in our local waters to the point some seafood is not safe to eat.
Cheers! Mark

Where were you getting the water from? Was it close to shore? I would not consider using water which was collected close to shore or from a known contaminated area. The waters off St Augustine are pretty good.

I've been told that their pipe goes a couple miles out into the Atlantic Ocean.

 

[AlexR]

The phosphates tested between 0 and .25.
The API tests are not great.

 

[Daddi0]

There is a guy that pump/filters the water and sells to the local stores. Beyond promoting algae growth, phosphate inhibits a corals ability to utilize calcium and grow.
Cheers! Mark

 

[Rafty]

I have been using sea water pumped form a line off shore in Western Australia Perth. Water quality excellent. Phosphates 0. In my case works very well and definitely superior to mixing RO and making my own. I do a 270 gallon change every 4-6 weeks so much easier this way.


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[AlexR]

I have been using sea water pumped form a line off shore in Western Australia Perth. Water quality excellent. Phosphates 0. In my case works very well and definitely superior to mixing RO and making my own. I do a 270 gallon change every 4-6 weeks so much easier this way.


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That's a lot more then I do.

I try to do 10-15% water changes in my 125g every month.
I probably should do more. There are months I miss too. I've been doing this for too long and know better, but just have too many things to do to always get to do water changes.

 

[CAPT_Dave]

I have been using NSW almost exclusively from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego for about 4 years.

A few things to consider:
- Do they use it in reef tanks themselves? Scripps uses it for all their tanks.
- Do they test it and will they share or post results? If not, has anyone else tested it reliably? Scripps doesn't that I've found so a couple people here that use it have sent it in to Triton. Alk is a little low so I boost it before I use it. We also don't use it for about a week after it rains due to run off contamination from fertilizers and bacterial blooms. That's not too often in San Diego but St Augustine is another story. If they are collecting from miles off shore then rain won't matter. I don't actually know how long Scripps pipeline is...we just wait.
- Are there other reefers in your local community that use it and can show good results. There are a lot of San Diego reefers that use Scripps water, including some very wealthy people with huge tanks, so I was pretty confident starting myself. After 4 years I think it's great and can't imagine how much money I've saved on salt.
- How do they filter? If you're worried about pests you might consider using a UV sterilizer. I did for a while but Scripps has a three stage filtration system on it so only bacteria is going to get through and I figure what little is in the water is ok so I don't bother with that anymore. Add baking soda for Alk, heat it up, and in it goes.


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[Rafty]

My effective tank volume with sump and two external tanks is 750G so effectively a 30% change


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[AlexR]

I have been using NSW almost exclusively from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego for about 4 years.

A few things to consider:
- Do they use it in reef tanks themselves? Scripps uses it for all their tanks.
- Do they test it and will they share or post results? If not, has anyone else tested it reliably? Scripps doesn't that I've found so a couple people here that use it have sent it in to Triton. Alk is a little low so I boost it before I use it. We also don't use it for about a week after it rains due to run off contamination from fertilizers and bacterial blooms. That's not too often in San Diego but St Augustine is another story. If they are collecting from miles off shore then rain won't matter. I don't actually know how long Scripps pipeline is...we just wait.
- Are there other reefers in your local community that use it and can show good results. There are a lot of San Diego reefers that use Scripps water, including some very wealthy people with huge tanks, so I was pretty confident starting myself. After 4 years I think it's great and can't imagine how much money I've saved on salt.
- How do they filter? If you're worried about pests you might consider using a UV sterilizer. I did for a while but Scripps has a three stage filtration system on it so only bacteria is going to get through and I figure what little is in the water is ok so I don't bother with that anymore. Add baking soda for Alk, heat it up, and in it goes.


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I wish I had answers to all this. To be honest I just don't know. I don't know anyone who works there. I was hoping maybe others in the area may see my post and chime in.

I found out about the facility from a friend. But no other information.

I've heard they use the water for all of marineland's aquariums. That's the local aquarium that has dolphins you swim with and also some reef and sea horse tanks.
But again, I am not sure how accurate the information I was given is.

Basically right now I am taking a risk using the water, however I can't justify making my own when it's freely available. Currently my tank is mainly FOWLR, with some soft corals here and there.
If I can confirm some of the questions you raised then I may go full on reef since I only have reef safe fish and a couple hundred LBs of well established Fiji/Tonga LR.

 

[CAPT_Dave]

A Triton test costs $45 and will tell you just about everything that's in it. That's about half a bucket of salt if you're counting pennies.

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[AlexR]

Ok so found out they actually get the water from an offshore well point that is 150' below the ocean floor so the water is as pure as it gets. It is also filtered, although not sure how.

It's called the Whitney Laboratory for marine bioscience.

 

[AlexR]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=884281

This exactly where I go...