mixing salt water vs. buying it

[ravernat]

I was just wondering what people are doing. If more people are buying their salt water or mixing their own salt water. This just came up cause some guy gave me a lecture about buying my water, but i havent had any problems with it and it has been 3 years. Let me know what you are doing.

[seapug]

Most people mix their own simply because of cost considerations, but if you have a convenient supplier, your tank's doing fine, and don't mind paying for it, by all means, buy it! I used to buy all my water when I lived on So Cal. Here in Colorado it makes much more sense to make it yourself, especially if you have a rigorous water change schedule as I do.

[edwing206]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10078942#post10078942 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seapug
Most people mix their own simply because of cost considerations, but if you have a convenient supplier, your tank's doing fine, and don't mind paying for it, by all means, buy it! I used to buy all my water when I lived on So Cal. Here in Colorado it makes much more sense to make it yourself, especially if you have a rigorous water change schedule as I do.

Ditto.

[ionredline0260]

Easier for me to just stop by the LFS and pick up 5 gallons of SW pre mixed for the $4. probably could've bought a RO/DI system by now but I don't have the time or desire to mix it my self.

[tdchicago]

I make my own, and it is kinda fun.

No more lugging water from the LFS, just pump it in from the brute!

[samsfishnchips]

lol,

its all relative, when I do 30g changes, I don't think much of it,

I just can't imagine going to LFS to get 30 gallons of water and bringing it home, lol, now thats funny

now someone with a desire to do even larger water changes, what a pitta that would be

I filter my water, mix it, and test it myself, I know the quality of it, that I like

sam

[DurTBear]

I used to buy salt water from the LFS but I started mixing my own water a few months ago. There wasn't really any specific reason why I changed because my tank was doing fine with the LFS water. But I had the salt so I just decided I would use it all up. I guess you could categorize that as a cost cutting measure. BTW, I use Reef Crystals salt.

[HBtank]

I have gotten by with three awesome LFS here in HB. All are cheap and one has NSW.

I will be switching to my own very shortly for various reasons stated above. Cost is not really a driving force, but will be nice. I might still grab the NSW sometimes.

I really kick myself in the arse for not getting an RO/DI sooner... Mainly because getting top/off water from them on random nights when I am always tired annoys me the most and really is wasted $$...

Plus, those 5 gallon jugs NEVER pour right. I hate that :mad2:

[Sarcophyton874]

LoL ya those 5 gallon jugs suck. Some LFSs sell a little nozzle that you can screw on to the jug. The nozzle alone costs like 3 bucks plus 8 bucks for the jug though. The cheapest place for SW here is Jeff's Exotic at 40 cents/G.

I mix my own ro-di saltwater in a Rubbermaid trashcan with IO. I couldn't imagine lugging around the 5 gallon jugs for very long. I would need seven of them to do my water changes. I don't know how some people do it with the jugs. They must like going to the hospital/the doctor's office.

Also, you save more money in the long run when you mix your own water vs. buying it for the years you have your tank. Now it only makes sense to make your own if you have a large tank. People with nanos should just buy it mixed.

[HBtank]

I don't mind lugging the jugs. I played defensive end in college ;)

Now the fact I never saw the nozzle attachemnt really makes me mad :mad2: Really mad :mad2:

Oh yeh.... another downside is that everytime you get water, I bet you will leave with more than just water.. that $15 zoo frag or something will grab your eye...

[ravernat]

yea i had a 10 gallon nano, now i am upgrading to a 20gallon. It is hard to find a place in san diego...when i lived in huntington beach there were LFS everywhere, now i have to drive...also scripps oceanography institute filters out saltwater for free.

thanks everyone

[kuoka]

I too used to buy from my LFS but for the same reasons (lugging, costs, inconvenience - didn't have any, etc), I invested in a RODI and started making my own. I even asked the owner of my LFS what he thought. I was surprised that he even mixes his own for the animals on display! And to think I was expecting some lecture about it being bad and that I should continue to buy water from him.

[pledosophy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10079458#post10079458 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ravernat
yea i had a 10 gallon nano, now i am upgrading to a 20gallon. It is hard to find a place in san diego...when i lived in huntington beach there were LFS everywhere, now i have to drive...also scripps oceanography institute filters out saltwater for free.

thanks everyone

Kentmouth Research Institute in Corona Del Mar off of Ocean (Just North of Big Corona)also gives away free research grade salt water. 405 Tropical fish off the 405 and the Goldenwest exit about 1/2 mile south of the 405 just the other side of Bolsa also sells NSW. From CSULB that's about a ten minute drive with no traffic, so ya like an hour for you. :lol:

mixing your own water is a PITA. I would way rather pay a buck a gallon (used to pay .33 for NSW) then have to keep making my own. i have to filter the water, I have to store enough. i have to aerate it for 24 hours, which means I had to buy another powerhead and the RODI. I also had to get a refractometer because my hydrometer was .008 off, expensive lesson. Geez after the cost of buying a refractometer, a powerhead, an RODI unit, the salt, and the three hours or so I invest in making it, I think I'd pay two or three bucks a gallon so I can do my weekly 5g WC. :D

Go Beach!

[ravernat]

i used to get my water there at tropical fish, cause i used to go to micheals all the time, or i went to the LFS on beach and atlanta, cause i lived rite there. its only 2 bucks for 5 gallons

[pledosophy]

I got screwed by Seaside, the LFS off Beach and Atlanta, those guys are hella shady. Based on my experience I would not shop there. JME Out of the 20 or 30 LFS's I have been to it is the only one I would say not to shop at. Bunch of lying crooks.

The guys at 405 were way cool. Don is the Man. Tong's a few exits down is pretty cool to. Cheapest water in O.C. was at Window to the Sea when I lived in Cali, don't know if it is still the same.

Doesn't CSULB have a marine biology department? I got rots from them when I was working with seahorses. Might be worth looking into since your already on campus.

[joeycadre]

paying a buck or a buck 50 for a gallon of salt water is silly. just throw down the cash for an ro/di unit with a trash can and do it yourself. so much easier.
i certainly don't miss going to get water.

[HBtank]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10079699#post10079699 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pledosophy
I got screwed by Seaside, the LFS off Beach and Atlanta, those guys are hella shady. Based on my experience I would not shop there. JME Out of the 20 or 30 LFS's I have been to it is the only one I would say not to shop at. Bunch of lying crooks.

The guys at 405 were way cool. Don is the Man. Tong's a few exits down is pretty cool to. Cheapest water in O.C. was at Window to the Sea when I lived in Cali, don't know if it is still the same.

Doesn't CSULB have a marine biology department? I got rots from them when I was working with seahorses. Might be worth looking into since your already on campus.

Lol at seaside. They are actually the cheapest for equipment, they run the website ww.fishsupply.com (which is pretty well stocked with good stuff) and you can get their online prices if you make a printout and bring it in.

As for the shop itself. Makes me sad every time. The topper was the time I saw a 3 foot shark remora in a 3 foot tank... ***. Their tanks are horrible and they consistanly sell species (especially inverts) from mexico that die in reef tanks within weeks.

I no longer go there. I like tongs the best, by far. I need to check out 405 and OC Aquatics though. Pacific Reef I can never decide if I hate or like .. lol

[Jutta]

guess it also depends on how much water you actually need for a water change, I cant see me carrying all the water to the house/fish room. Rather mix it up at home and also have some "spare" water for emergencies.

[InLimbo87]

I mix my own because :

1. Its cheaper
2. I know where the water's coming from
3. I don't have to leave home to make WC water

Plus the added benefit of having an RO/DI unit handy in case of any late-night emergencies.

[fsn77]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10080044#post10080044 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by InLimbo87
I mix my own because :

1. Its cheaper
2. I know where the water's coming from
3. I don't have to leave home to make WC water

Plus the added benefit of having an RO/DI unit handy in case of any late-night emergencies.

Those are the reasons I bought a RO/DI unit right from the start. There's a LFS < 5 minutes from our house that sells RO water and is open until 9pm everyday buy Sunday, so timing and location weren't so bad if I wanted to buy water.

[old salty]

There is a large research laboratory where I work that performs research on salt water animals. I can assure you that although "research grade" salt water sounds like it's a concoction available to the very few, it is nothing more than the stuff that any consumer can produce (Ok, the 18 mega ohm resistance water requires additional DI filters).

I make my own water because it puts me in complete control of my tank. I know the RO/DI unit filters are changed on the proper schedule, I know the output to be zero prior to adding salt. I control the specific gravity, the amount of contamination in the tank, the type of salt used, and know that the mixing container is cleaned on a regular basis. I also know all of the parameters of the water before putting it in my tank. Though I am in the habit of testing all parameters before using any salt, the results have been quite redundant; they are always the same. If a store mixes one batch at 1.026 and another at 1.024, the parameters are going to be different. This may require you to add suppliments and add them in different amounts according to this weeks specific gravity.

I guess I am just too anal retentive about water quality to trust someone else to it.

[pledosophy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10079780#post10079780 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HBtank
Lol at seaside. They are actually the cheapest for equipment, they run the website ww.fishsupply.com (which is pretty well stocked with good stuff) and you can get their online prices if you make a printout and bring it in.

As for the shop itself. Makes me sad every time. The topper was the time I saw a 3 foot shark remora in a 3 foot tank... ***. Their tanks are horrible and they consistanly sell species (especially inverts) from mexico that die in reef tanks within weeks.

I no longer go there. I like tongs the best, by far. I need to check out 405 and OC Aquatics though. Pacific Reef I can never decide if I hate or like .. lol

Who cares how cheap the equipment is if it is broken, they don't honor there warranty, they lie over the phone, they give me a false name every time I call, and when I go into to talk to him for the third time I found out that the guy who I have been talking to for weeks has been giving me a false name, some things happen and they call the police on me. Still had to pay to buy a new tank from a different store, would have been cheaper straight off. :D

405 is O.K. for some stuff, not so impressive really but good people, Coral oasis by the airport is good, the Reef & Fish Collector by South Coast Plaza was also pretty good. I miss living in Cali for no other reason the the LFS's. Was so spoiled, never knew it.

I would rather buy good water then make it, but up here, i kinda just have to make it. What can I say I'm lazy.

[AnimaliA]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10087280#post10087280 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pledosophy
Who cares how cheap the equipment is if it is broken, they don't honor there warranty, they lie over the phone, they give me a false name every time I call, and when I go into to talk to him for the third time I found out that the guy who I have been talking to for weeks has been giving me a false name, some things happen and they call the police on me. Still had to pay to buy a new tank from a different store, would have been cheaper straight off. :D

405 is O.K. for some stuff, not so impressive really but good people, Coral oasis by the airport is good, the Reef & Fish Collector by South Coast Plaza was also pretty good. I miss living in Cali for no other reason the the LFS's. Was so spoiled, never knew it.

I would rather buy good water then make it, but up here, i kinda just have to make it. What can I say I'm lazy.

Strange, I have had a different experience with www.fishsupply.com. I have purchased several things from their Huntington beach storefront and even processed a return without any problem. I have found their staff to be helpful on equipment, although the fish advice has been a little inconsistent. All in all, I would recommend them...of course it is helpful to look online and get the prices and then call to make sure the items are in stock.

[jmack]

I am buying my water..however, I did try an rodi and it seemed to waste a LOT of water (it's very hard water and water bills are outrageous here). I can't imagine that it's cheaper for me to make r/o when I can buy it for 64cents a gallon.

[Icefire]

Got a 25gpd RO for 20$, water = near free
Coralife salt = 0.30$/Gallons locally

I make 5g water, dump 2.75 cup of salt in it, mix for 10 minutes and dump it in the sump.

The sump mix any undissolved salt for me.