Natural Seawater?

[plum70rt]

Anyone use Natural Seawater in their tanks?
right from the ocean, Ive been talking to many people in fla that use ocean water in their tanks, I tested some and its perfect
I know that Polution is a concern ,but I have access to a nice part of beach the water is very clean, any users out there?

 

[hairtrigger]

Hey Plum, ask fishkiller specificallly. Because he used to live in Miami and I believe his mom used to have a tank she used regular seawater in.
But, I hear nowdays you don't want to do that. There are a lot of pollutants from boats, humanity in general, and other things that tank fish might not be capable of growing accustomed to like wild fish.
I have no idea, cause Atlanta is landlocked. Oh yeah, I have heard that using natural seawater from waaaaaay out, past the canals, shipping lanes, and Intercoastal Waterway may be sufficient.

 

[plum70rt]

What Beach? Where at?

 

[hairtrigger]

Quickly... let me just say... I HOPE you people have to keep exerting the effort to mix saltwater. Why? Because I used to live and work at a beach and miss it so unbelieveably much. And since you people are sooo lucky to live at the beach... you deserve to pay for it with STRESS.

 

[plum70rt]

HT, I dont get it? I recently found out that a local SW water supply co. gets it right from the ocean at high tide, I know all the LFS use it and many homes, I was shocked,

 

[hairtrigger]

Jackie... Panama City huh? One of my old friends lives in the "Summit" there. Cool.
Plum... wait... you don't get me being a wiseguy or the supply co getting the water from high tide?
Because, that is shocking. I can't believe they would sell it to people when the hobbyists could just do it themselves that way.
UNLESS:
The supply co heats it or something like that to get out parasites, bugs, pollutants, etc. Maybe they have some kind of process for making it concretely safe. Because that's just sketchy. Hmmm.
And hey, your tank looks great as is. Keep doing what you're doing. If it aint broke... dont fix it. Oh yeah, Im going shooting this weekend to test some ARs. When I figure out what fits my needs best I'll email you for that advice.

 

[ozadars]

I live in Turkey and water is very very very clean, also semi-tropical but i dont use it . Because ,its not excectly as warm as tropical water and when u heat the water then all the bacterias and planktons bla bla will die and what u have is going to be a nitrate-ful sea water. For example, when u brin something (a fish or an invert) first u should put it in a quarantine tank in its natural water, then u ll start heat the water by one by like everyday one degree and then your fish is going to be OK in tropical water so u should do like that to your water too and thats very hard

 

[plum70rt]

This is the story, when I set up at the Aquarium show they had SW there to use for the show, 1500 gallons were delivered, more was to come,I found out thats its straight from the ocean, NOT filtered NOT Heated, Just pumped into a truck and delivered, and this Co, supplys to a large portion of South FLa, the same water lots of people paying 50 cents a gallon are getting this same water, My nano is set up with 100% that water is it bad? well see
I also was at the Beach yesterday saw a football field of polups, and it looks like a 12 foot section was perfectly cut out by someone, you never know what your getting,and from where

 

[ophiura]

I would use it in a heartbeat if I had access to reliable source. Not straight from beach or pier...but if the LFS' use it maybe they can supply it? It is far better, IMO, again assuming a reliable source.

 

[bonermeister]

I completely agree with Ophi. If you know of a reliable source it will be as good if not better than bought sea salts. Even if boats and people are in the water regularly it is completely safe to use in the tank. Keep in mind of the proportion of pollutant in a beach with a few hundred people peeing and God knows what else in the water on top of sun tan lotion and beer is nothing when you're putting it into a few hundred trillion billion gigaliters of water that is constantly being recirculated back out to sea and fresh sea water coming back in. However, collecting at the peak of high tide would be the best time to ensure the cleanest water. Do not get me wrong, I am not undermining pollution. I am a big time environmentalist, the real things polluting our waters is unrestricted industrial waste, large-scale farm run off, and deforestation. Sun tan lotion, beer, and pee pee are not even a drop in the bucket. If you live near an industrial plant or a location that is channeled for farm run off that dumps its waste in the ocean, I would not gather the sea water no closer than within 100 kilometers and would be reluctant at that distance. When beaches post for safe water conditions they are talking about "red tide" or any of numerous minute, chiefly marine protozoans of the order Dinoflagellata, characteristically having two flagella and a cellulose covering and forming one of the chief constituents of plankton. Some species include bioluminescent forms that produce red tide. These guys eat fish and pollute the water until they run out of food and die out.
Sorry for the long post.
Conclusion: In most cases, sea water is as good if not better than mixing packaged sea salts.

 

[plum70rt]

Thanks for the replys, I was asking around today at the show, usally they filter it when sold to LFS, but this day it was not,
I may try it out, hell my nano is 100% NSW right now