Store Bought Ocean Water

[nyyankeees]

Does anyone use the pre-mixed "ocean water" that's for SW tanks that you can buy from stores? I've been out of the hobby for awhile but I'm gonna be setting up a 10g nano reef soon and if this stuff is all it's cracked up to be I might just buy this to start my tank and for water changes. Any opinions?

 

[ninjamini]

I buy water from the LFS that was pumped out of the ocean. Which is easy to do here in Florida.
Go Mets.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by NYyankeees
Does anyone use the pre-mixed "ocean water" that's for SW tanks that you can buy from stores? I've been out of the hobby for awhile but I'm gonna be setting up a 10g nano reef soon and if this stuff is all it's cracked up to be I might just buy this to start my tank and for water changes. Any opinions?
Im sure its fine, possibly pros and cons from others who have used it, there is another post that states once you use natural sea salt you cannot switch to synthetic and vise versa.

 

[ninjamini]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Im sure its fine, possibly pros and cons from others who have used it, however once you use natural sea salt you cannot switch to synthetic and vise versa.

Why cant you switch?

 

[lconte17]

Originally Posted by NYyankeees
Does anyone use the pre-mixed "ocean water" that's for SW tanks that you can buy from stores? I've been out of the hobby for awhile but I'm gonna be setting up a 10g nano reef soon and if this stuff is all it's cracked up to be I might just buy this to start my tank and for water changes. Any opinions?

i used the Nutri-Sea water that most LFS sell.
Nutri sea water by natures ocean
i loved it, pretty much almost gave my tank an instant cycle. I plan on setting up another tank, prob a 55g bull nose and ill use that stuff again for sure.
as far as water changes, i used stuff i mixed for water changes. and it worked well for me

 

[yosemite sam]

I'm always skeptical about the packaged natural seawater. There was a study floating around from a few years ago that found elevated zinc and lead levels in one brand, much higher than in any synthetic mix. Just something to think about.

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by Lconte17
i used the Nutri-Sea water that most LFS sell.
--edited link--
i loved it, pretty much almost gave my tank an instant cycle. I plan on setting up another tank, prob a 55g bull nose and ill use that stuff again for sure.
as far as water changes, i used stuff i mixed for water changes. and it worked well for me
Please don't post links to competitor sites, it's against the policy here. Thanks.

 

[teen]

Originally Posted by m0nk
Please don't post links to competitor sites, it's against the policy here. Thanks.
who died and made you mod?
i just got back from the beach. i collected 12 gallons of water to do a water change in my 30 gallon. been doing it for awhile now and havent noticed any probelms, if anything, things look better than synthetic mix. i wouldn't hesitate to buy pre packed water from your LFS. and you can always switch between synthetic mix and natural.

 

[lconte17]

Originally Posted by m0nk
Please don't post links to competitor sites, it's against the policy here. Thanks.

fixed. sorry.
i used the link to the actually company site since i couldnt find it on SWF.com

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by teen
who died and made you mod?
i just got back from the beach. i collected 12 gallons of water to do a water change in my 30 gallon. been doing it for awhile now and havent noticed any probelms, if anything, things look better than synthetic mix. i wouldn't hesitate to buy pre packed water from your LFS. and you can always switch between synthetic mix and natural.

Just trying to help, that's all. They certainly have plenty on their plates.

 

[teen]

lol, just bustin ur chops.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by teen
who died and made you mod?
i just got back from the beach. i collected 12 gallons of water to do a water change in my 30 gallon. been doing it for awhile now and havent noticed any probelms, if anything, things look better than synthetic mix. i wouldn't hesitate to buy pre packed water from your LFS. and you can always switch between synthetic mix and natural.
Ok let me go back.. You can switch between the 2 however there are serious things to consider before you decide to use natural sea water in your system.
The strongest point against real seawater is that it "dies", both biologically and chemically more quickly than synthetics. You must change part of the water more frequently. Many mixes should be changed just as frequently, but often, especially in terms of appearance (yellowing) you can "cheat" more than with natural water.
Another issue with natural water is that it comes with micro- and macro-organisms. Even if the water is filtered, diatomed, U-Ved, ozonized etc// many organisms will survive. Natural sea water is excellent, but depending on the source it has the potential for contaminants. When you consider the work involved in preparing natural sea water for aquarium use, as recomended. (not many people do that) you may be better off with a good brand of synthetic salt mix.

 

[teen]

first, can you define more frequently and what the side effects of not changing tank water "more frequently" would be when using NSW?
if im using water off the coast of new york, taking into consideration all the dumping that goes on in NJ and whatever flushes out of the hudson, im sure i would be the first to experience these so called contaminants. so far, i can say ive eperienced nothing that has had a negative affect on my tank.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by teen
ok. first, can you define more frequently and what the side effects of not changing tank water "more frequently" would be when using NSW?
Of course not, it would completly depend on the tank size, bioload, feeding schedule filtration set up and type etc etc... I not giving personal opinions here I am refering to articles written by people who have reasearched this and written about the pros and cons.
Originally Posted by teen
if im using water off the coast of new york, taking into consideration all the dumping that goes on in NJ and whatever flushes out of the hudson, im sure i would be the first to experience these so called contaminants. so far, i can say ive eperienced nothing that has had a negative affect on my tank.
Im sure there is also a margin from the carribian to the hudson that would introduce these contamiants where taking the chance of not properly preparing natural sea water could hurt you somewhere along the way. I am not saying what your doing is wrong but research and study has shown that this can be very damaging to systems if precautions are not taken.

 

[teen]

what type of precautions might you take if you were to introduce NSW into your system?

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by teen
what type of precautions might you take if you were to introduce NSW into your system?

I cant tell you what I would do because I have never nor do I ever intend on introducing NSW to my tank but I can tell you whats recomended.
Place the water in a dark place for a couple of weeks before using and or treat the water with copper salts, permanganate, formaldehyde, chlorine, etc. and remove the poisonous effects of the treatment before using. Again this was what is recomended and of course the source of the water is going to greatly sway your decision to do one both or none of these things.. IMO seeing as though the only luck I have is bad luck, I would stick with synthetic salt.

 

[teen]

thats crazy. i cant imagine anybody actually doing that.
i can tell you ive always just heated my water up and then added it to my tank.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by teen
thats crazy. i cant imagine anybody actually doing that.
i can tell you ive always just heated my water up and then added it to my tank.
I agree that is insane....

 

[stdreb27]

Doesn't the San Diego aquarium have some sort of system that flushes their tanks with Natural Water from the bay every night?

 

[stdreb27]

Isn't "ocean water" just a brand name anyway?