"Water Changes" how often do we really do them?
- Thread starter BucNtears
- Start date
Paul B
Premium Member
No, I diden't say that. We have winters here in NY where the sea is iced up. Water is also heavy so I don't use 100% NSW. I wish I had the energy to collect that much. I use mostly fake water and in the summer I collect NSW and use about half of that and half ASW. In the winter it is all ASW.
I sometimes take it when I am out in my boat in the Long Island Sound but I would rather take it here on the Atlantic beaches. I wade out with a bucket. It doesen't get any better than that.
Jcohen9999
Overkill Reefer
Hey Paul,
I am a south shore boater and have considered pulling water out of the GSP as change of pace for water changes...which, just to stay on topic, I honestly only do 30 gals 3x a year from an approx 200 gal system. I even went as far as to buy a bunch of buckets and tops and collecting about 25 gallons but I stopped myself from using it because it was from the bay not the ocean. What's your thinking on the difference between the two? I hardly ever go out the ocean but what if I made a trip to the inlet would that be that much better than the bay? Also, what prep other than temperature adjustment do you do.
TIA
Jeff
Paul B
Premium Member
The ocean would be better because of all the organic matter you have there from those dying reeds but the inlet on an incoming tide would be fine. I sometimes take it from the Coast Guard Station near there. I am a north shore boater but I like the ocean beaches better but I do take it from the Sound as well.
I like to strain it through a coffee filter as soon as I can to lose any tiny jellyfish and floating organic matter, then I just check the salinity which is usually low so I may have to add salt.
The temp changes in a few hours then I dump it in. If you keep it longer than about a day it may cloud up from the bacteria growing on the sides of the container. If that happens it is still safe to use but if you wait a couple of days it will clear up and any organic matter will be taken care of by the bacteria. There may be slight nitrates depending on how well you strained it after you collected it. When I take it from the Sound I sometimes diatom filter it because the Sound is loaded with life which will die in a tank. If you hold up a glass of Sound water you can see with just your eyes all the tiny organisms. I sometimes add that just for the life.
If there is a red tide in the Sound I bleach the water but that is for another thread.
This is the Sound out near Montauk
I like to strain it through a coffee filter as soon as I can to lose any tiny jellyfish and floating organic matter, then I just check the salinity which is usually low so I may have to add salt.
The temp changes in a few hours then I dump it in. If you keep it longer than about a day it may cloud up from the bacteria growing on the sides of the container. If that happens it is still safe to use but if you wait a couple of days it will clear up and any organic matter will be taken care of by the bacteria. There may be slight nitrates depending on how well you strained it after you collected it. When I take it from the Sound I sometimes diatom filter it because the Sound is loaded with life which will die in a tank. If you hold up a glass of Sound water you can see with just your eyes all the tiny organisms. I sometimes add that just for the life.
If there is a red tide in the Sound I bleach the water but that is for another thread.
This is the Sound out near Montauk
Jcohen9999
Overkill Reefer
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15009137#post15009137 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul B
The ocean would be better because of all the organic matter you have there from those dying reeds but the inlet on an incoming tide would be fine. I sometimes take it from the Coast Guard Station near there. I am a north shore boater but I like the ocean beaches better but I do take it from the Sound as well.
I like to strain it through a coffee filter as soon as I can to lose any tiny jellyfish and floating organic matter, then I just check the salinity which is usually low so I may have to add salt.
The temp changes in a few hours then I dump it in. If you keep it longer than about a day it may cloud up from the bacteria growing on the sides of the container. If that happens it is still safe to use but if you wait a couple of days it will clear up and any organic matter will be taken care of by the bacteria. There may be slight nitrates depending on how well you strained it after you collected it. When I take it from the Sound I sometimes diatom filter it because the Sound is loaded with life which will die in a tank. If you hold up a glass of Sound water you can see with just your eyes all the tiny organisms. I sometimes add that just for the life.
If there is a red tide in the Sound I bleach the water but that is for another thread.
This is the Sound out near Montauk
Thanks. I'll probably swing by the Jones Inlet on my way to/from (tide dependent) Zachs this weekend and grab at least a couple of buckets worth and give it a try. The Diatom filter sounds like a good idea but doesn't that remove a lot of the critters (I'm thinking plankton) that might be good food for the tank?
Paul B
Premium Member
Most of those critters that are floating in the water are free swimming plankton which will die in a short while in your tank.
They do make good food if you have something like tiny fry that will eat them but as soon as the water warms, they will start to die. Also many of those animals are living on the edge of their oxygen demands, the swirling cool sea gives them enough oxygen but they have almost no capacity to be in a lower oxygen envirnment like your tank.
They do make good food if you have something like tiny fry that will eat them but as soon as the water warms, they will start to die. Also many of those animals are living on the edge of their oxygen demands, the swirling cool sea gives them enough oxygen but they have almost no capacity to be in a lower oxygen envirnment like your tank.
