Using ocean water?

[swlover]

Man you are all so lucky to be by the ocean. I have a question for you all. Next March I'm planning a trip back to Charleston SC. Can I collect sand and sea water and bring it back to use in a new tank setup? I have always used synthetic. The only problem I can see is the water changes, any thoughts on this?

 

[teen]

Originally Posted by swlover
Man you are all so lucky to be by the ocean. I have a question for you all. Next March I'm planning a trip back to Charleston SC. Can I collect sand and sea water and bring it back to use in a new tank setup? I have always used synthetic. The only problem I can see is the water changes, any thoughts on this?
i wouldnt use beach sand unless it was from a mile or two out from the bottom of the ocean. all the run off puts a lot of contaminents into the beach sand that is along most shore lines.
ive been taking ocean water from the inlet here during an incoming tide so the water is coming directly from the ocean.

 

[chipmaker]

I don't really think its going to amount to a hill of beans difference in not usuing sand if yur still usuing the water. FWIW thew average tideline is only about 3 miles out, so yur really pulling in and pushing out the same crap onthe surface which rolls on the beach in the form of waves........If I was confident enough to use the water using the sand would also not be an issue. Place a canfull of it in a bucketw ith NSW and swich it around and look for an oily film...odds are it won;t have one......true still can't see the bacteria, but odds are its more of a good bacteria thana bad bacteria.
As for Red tide, its really not a problem. Its not going to propagate in a tank. Just get the water etc after the red tide is over with......

 

[teen]

yea, but when all the water gets flushed out and it reaches 3 miles out, it gets mixed with fresh ocean water, so any pollutants are now less concentrated. the sand sits on the beach and gets all types of junk mixed in with it from whatever people bring to the beach and leave there, plus insecticides and other run off pollutants/minerals. all this doesnt get washed out with fresh ocean water, so therefore theres more concentrated "junk" in the sand. if you collect sand from say a mile out in the ocean, 75-100 feet deep, that sand is constantly being pushed and rinsed with ocean water, so it only makes sense that it would contain less "junk".

 

[blizz75]

I used natural ocean water for a while in one of my 29g with a pair of starfish and a dwarf lion and saw no bad effects at all. I stopped doing it because it was a pain to bring 5g buckets of water back from fishing trips

 

[h2offshore]

Originally Posted by blizz75
I used natural ocean water for a while in one of my 29g with a pair of starfish and a dwarf lion and saw no bad effects at all. I stopped doing it because it was a pain to bring 5g buckets of water back from fishing trips
You dont have any kind of well or fish box on your boat. What I'm going to do is get a garden hose attached to my 400gph water trasnfer pump straight from the boat to my holding tank. Then from holding tank to aquarium.

 

[blizz75]

My boat is stored in a marina so it would be more work to put it in my bait well then put it in a 5g bucket to bring home

 

[h2offshore]

Oh I see, that would make it a pain.

 

[swlover]

Originally Posted by teen
i wouldnt use beach sand unless it was from a mile or two out from the bottom of the ocean. all the run off puts a lot of contaminents into the beach sand that is along most shore lines.
ive been taking ocean water from the inlet here during an incoming tide so the water is coming directly from the ocean.
Ok just wondering..thanks.

 

[stonepilot]

watch out for red tide, this time of year you should be ok but you dont want that in your tank