beach/ocean water vrs RO water?

twistedimage92

twistedimage92

Large Fish
#1
Aug 23, 2005
203
0
0
39
Cocoa Beach
www.tiecc.net
#1
i have a RO system that puts out like 1/2 gal a day (well its really like 4 or so) and it is going to take me about forever to fill my tank up like this... LFS store charges 75 cents per gal or if i get like 100 gal its 50 cents... what do u guys thing about beach/ocean water? i live 10 mins from the beach...
 

OCCFan023

OCCFan023

Superstar Fish
#2
Jul 29, 2004
1,817
5
0
35
New Jersey
#2
Are you looking for beach water to put through your RO machine, or just use to set up the tank, and for water changes.

Using beach water is very risky because of impurities, and I dont think it would look that good...


If you were talking about putting it through your RO machine, youd end up spending just as much money on replacement cartridges because the sea water would proably kill the membranes.
 

lordroad

lordroad

Large Fish
#4
Sep 2, 2004
989
7
0
43
Shelby, NC
www.joshday.com
#4
Depends entirely on how clean your beaches/water is. I know Bowdy, who lives in Australia, uses beach water... he lives something like 100 meters away from the shore. But he also lives right off a protected reef, if I remember correctly.

If the water is clean, I'd go for it.
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#5
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
38
42
Colorado
#5
I think it'd be worth it to use all RO water the first time you set it up. Might take forever, or buy 1/2 from your lfs or something...but I think its worth it to get it started without trying to guess what might be in the beach water less likely to get algae blooms right from the get go using RO.

Maybe you could try using it for your water changes?
 

W

wayne

Elite Fish
#11
Oct 22, 2002
4,077
3
0
#11
I wouldn't call 55 gallons a time easy to haul around, but I don't know your setup.

I would be wary of doing it, but it is possible but it is risky if you don't think about it a bit, and it is totally dependant on getting decent quality, unpollutedwater a long way from human habitation and preferably somewhere with some wave action.

The risks of introducing dieseaes are real, but small, but introducing pollutants, both chemicals and tons of organic waste are far, far greater. I hve done it in small quantities , and my softies love it, but they love it for the excessive plankton caused by elevated organics - a tankfull would be an algae mess in a few days.


Where do you live?
 

You must log in or register to reply here.