using ocean water????? PLEASE ANSWER !! :)

[oxkisses12ox]

i have a 14 gallon biocube and i live in key west.... on the water so the ocean is pretty accesible...

i am having some amonia problems in my tank and my nitrates are high.. i want to go to the ocean and test the water (to make sure there is no amonia and low nitrates..nitrates PH etc)

if the water is perfect, can i let it sit in my room for an hr. until it is room temp. and then replace 25 % of my tank water with that ... and do it a few times until my whole tank is completely ocean water??

is this silly?

[AndyB4784]

i'd avoid using water from the shoreline. if you have access to a boat you could go out into the ocean a ways and collect it.

[wrott]

It sounds good, but I would go out a 1/2 mile or over a reef and collect the water there in new 5g gas cans--so it doesn't evaporate.

[reefshadow]

i'd avoid using water from the shoreline. if you have access to a boat you could go out into the ocean a ways and collect it.

Totally agree with this, testing probably not going to show you much, it's the diesel, pesticides, all kinds of chems you can't test for.

I do have an idea for you, if you can't access a boat like wrott suggested, if you have a public aquarium nearby, they often sell water, usually collected offshore and filtered. Might be worth a try. The Seattle aquarium does, and it's cheap, like 5 or 10 cents per gallon.

[dogstar74]

If you do decide to use the ocean water, (which I highly suggest due to where you live.) I would run it through a series of mechanical filters, 10um, 5um, and 1 um filters that would take out most of your biological stuff and leave the mineral traces intact. Chemicals would leach through , but you'd be pretty safe not to contract any biological threats such as parasites or worms or stuff. Good luck.

[mbbuna]

if i lived in the Keys, and could collect my own sea water, i would do water changes all the time :)

try to get it as far away from land run off a you can.

[John Q Reefer]

I know im gonna get flamed but...

I been using FSW for a couple months now right off the shore. I have some 2 liter bottles with the bottoms cut out that I stuffed filter floss and a thick layer of carbon in it. I pour all the water thru this makeshift filter into a bucket circulating a bag of chemipure. Always goes in crystal clear and ever since I started using FSW my algae is gone! i had some diatom dusting and a small amount of green but now my tanks cleaner then its ever been. ON a side note I didnt mind saving the 30$ per water change on salt and RO/DI becuase im a poor man and havent bought a ro/di unit yet 8( and 60 cents a gallon ro/drinking water was killing me but my corals/fish deserve fresh water so I did this out of need and after reading a couple articles on heavy metal buildup over time using salt mixes i decided to try it and im very happy. I have a frogspawn/shrooms/xenias/toadstool leather/false percs/cleaner shrimp/sally lightfoot and all seem to be happy.

Ok I hear the screams now "WHAT? heavy metals in my salt!!?"
I didnt make this up here check this out thread and maybe using FSW may seem like a good idea!

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1

(puts on his flame retardant suit and braces himself)

(thanks god he doesnt have a tang in his 40 no suit can save a man from that)

[flfirefighter13]

Im with John, Ive been useing natrual salt water for around a year now with no problems. I gather from near an inlet on incomeing high tides only, Ive been doing a small change in one of my smaller tanks first to enure no die off before dumping it into the larger tanks but to date no problems, corals love it to. I pump the water into 55 g drums, then transfer from that to drums at my house. While transfering at home I run it trhough a sediment filter or som filter floss, or a sock just to get any debris out. It si stored in sealed jugs, which I aerate and heat 1 hr before putting it into the tank. Ive heard of disasters happening but havent had problems myself, just dont harvest the water if it looks nasty and you will most likely be fine!