were to collect nsw

[CORALFISHG]

hay guys i have been doing some reading on nsw, and really like the results that people are having (paul b).. my question is where in our area whould you guys collect without a boat.. i was thinking somewhere around one of the bridges by lovers key..

jason

 

[wizsmaster]

i'd go down to naples area ... water is much more clear, and less affected from the river.

 

[shaw]

Are you going to disinfect the water in any way before you use it?

 

[CORALFISHG]

i really don't see the need.. you go out and collect, do water test just as you whould in our tanks, if it looks good then take it, if not then wait for another day.. i can understand having a worry about taking water right off the beaches but i whouldn't take it from somewhere like that..

if i was to disinfect the water, how whould you suggest that i did it..

jason

 

[shaw]

Well, I know there are many protozoans, larvae, and bacteria that you do not want.
I would recomend using ozone and then replenishing with various elements that you want in your water (iodine, trace, etc.)

 

[CORALFISHG]

wouldn't the nsw have plenty of the trace elements that we need for our tanks.. or is it that the ozone removes most of them.. im really nervous about using ozone on my tank, i have read way to many horror stories about it.. could i just run uv and clean the water up as good as running ozone..

 

[shaw]

We use ozone in high concentrations on our incoming seawater, and then let it sit for a day so that the bromine levels will decrease.
After this, then it is used for aquarium exhibits.

There are countless little organisms that you don't want in your tank from nsw. Even after using ozone, some animals can still survive through cyst form

Yes, ozone does take out many elements.

 

[wizsmaster]

interesting .. i'll look forward to hear about this tomorrow.

thanks,

marco

 

[deschlayer]

I have used nsw water befor, my 75 in the garage is full of it. when i was setting it up i did not feel like buying any salt so I just took a van full of buckets to the beach and filled them up, took a couple days to get clear but the tests read that it is fine, all I have in there is 700 nass snails, an urchin, ~150 hermit crabs, and 3 baby puffer fish.

 

[ConcreteReefer]

Isn't the beach the Oceans Toilet- Regardless of what the water looks like, this is where most dying/dead animals end up.

If you were to do it- I would go at least 20 miles offshore and collect, not worth it unless your going fishing or collecting enough where you could sell & recoup some of your fuel cost.

Cheaper just to buy a bucket of salt & a decent RO/DI IMO

 

[Paul B]

wouldn't the nsw have plenty of the trace elements that we need for our tanks.. or is it that the ozone removes most of them.. im really nervous about using ozone on my tank, i have read way to many horror stories about it.. could i just run uv and clean the water up as good as running ozone..

I have been using Ozone continousely in the same tank for over 30 years, no problems yet.
I have also been using NSW for almost 40 years, still no problems. If I lived in Florida I would only use NSW.

Filter the stuff and use it. If you are worried about paracites which you may with tropical water, there are a few things you could do. You could filter it a few times with a diatom filter, You can heat it to 125 degrees for a few hours.
Or you can treat it with chlorine. One teaspoon "regular" chlorine bleach to five gallons of water. After 24 hours neutralize the chlorine with chlorine eliminator at twice the recommended dose.
(regular" bleach must be used or you will kill all of your fish in a few minutes (don't ask)
If you do not quarantine your fish and corals you probably have paracites in there anyway and you do not need to treat the water.
I don't usually treat it but I live in NY and I don't think the paracites here would live in a tropical tank. So far at least I have never had a problem with them, but you live in Florida and I would not recommend just dumping the water in.
Paul

 

[Timothy McCandless]

I have a friend that used to have a 400 gallon in Orlando area. they would at NSW one to two times per month without sanitizing it and never once had a problem. Only broke down their tank because they moved.

Good luck.

 

[bgdiving]

I've collected buckets of live sand off shore usually in about 50 ft of water. Figured as long as I was adding live sand from the Gulf might as well use NSW as well. If you do not plan on sterilizing it be sure to keep it "live" watch your temp and keep it aeriated. I allways used it fresh in the tanks shortly after bringing it ashore. I haven't collected Sea water for quite a few years now and probably wouldn't add it to my well established ($$$) tanks but wouldn't hesitate to use it with collected live sand to start a new tank or replace water on a fairly young tank. Although there are probably a lot of things in the water to worry about, I never had any problems with it, the biggest thing to worry about in my opinion is the early stages of a red tide out break. Back when I was using NSW, MOTE Marine pulled in a batch of water with red tide organisms and wiped out quite a few of their system evan though they were studing red tide, they still got hit.

Many years ago BC (Before Corals) I use to wade out into the surf and collect water off the beaches of Siesta Key from waste deep water on the end of an incoming tide. Seemed to work fine for the fishes.

It's a judgement call but I think there are some real advantages to using unfiltered untreated NSW they have to weighed against the risks. Most or a good share of the members of FMAS in the Miami/ Ft Lauderdale area use NSW but they get it from companies that collect, filter and deliver it. Possibly even comes directly from the Gulf stream???