water idea

[raymond2688]

i was about 60 miles offshore yesterday tuna fishing and i had an idea. has anyone that lives around the ocean ever thought of bringing water back to there tank. i go offshore just about every weekend so this would not be difficult for me. i brought back 10 gallons yesterday and tested it. crystal clear and perfect in everyway. i am going to put it in my 10 gallon tank.

is there any cons to this idea.

 

[Lorna]

the problem with using ocean water is that you are not sure what else is in it. Unless you are testing for these then I would opt for making your own using ro/di and a good salt mix. Yes it may be cheaper but you are never 100% sure what you are getting.

 

[TRe]

ive been using it for the past few years! i dont collect it myself but pretty much all the lfs' around here sell it for about .50/gallon ... you dont even have to go all the way out to collect it either! you just have to make sure you get it when the tide is coming in rather than going out.. i know some people who dont even go out on a boat to collect it! they just pull over to the side of the road by the inlet with 50-100' of hose and pump it into ther big containers... theres even a delivery service which most people use around here when starting a new tank. they chagre like $100 and will bring you as much as you want in that single trip! some people have a couple hunderd gallon storage container on the side of the house that they fill every few months for water changes

 

[raymond2688]

as far as it being cheaper it isnt. it cost me about 90 gallons of gas @2.35 but i go out so much that it will not be a big deal

tre i think the water quality is different here than in florida on our beaches anyway due to the jet stream. our water near the water shed is very brownish but the water offshore is just like the caribean.

 

[TRe]

theres a guy on RC that has had his same tank going since the 70's and has always used nothing but water he collects in long island! btw where do you live?

 

[Lorna]

must be nice.......I think someone on another thread said that in San Diego they have a piped outlet that you can go to and it pumps ocean water out of a spigot...go figure.

Tre how does this water check out in a param test?

 

[raymond2688]

i am in delaware about 45 min from ocean city maryland.

 

[TRe]

the water checks out fine lorna! a little high as far as salinity but other than that no problems

 

[Lorna]

wow that makes life so much easier.....no mixing and buckets of salt etc.....