comercial coral prop system

[Reefsystem]

my freind has a 10 acre property by the sea (unpoluted water)
Central Coast NSW Australia. I was wondering if the sea water could be directly conected by a pipe to a large coral propagation system after being heated to 25 degress celcious. running 24 hours a day (except for feeding time).
This would cut out the need for: chilling (because the sea in that area is always cold), water top off, calcium inrichement (and other minerals), filteration, protein skimming, and other equipement.
And the system would be outdoors in the sunlight, under a very large greenhouse with the sides cut out so only the roof remains alowing free air movement and no heat build up (because it gets very hot in this area) heating will not be a problem.
would such a system work?(coment mostly about the water conected to the sea with the pipe)

Thanks

[1DeR9_3Hy]

Isnt that how large, public aquariums near oceans maintain their water quality on large displays? Via constant waterflow to the nearby body of water?

My only concern is seasonal run off, and run off type pollution. I dont know anything about the area (obviously) so these fears could be unfounded.

[Reefsystem]

ye that is how comercial display aquariums do it. but is there a way to test for polutents or run off in the water before it is pumped. and does anyone know how display aquariums deal with this problem?

[Reefsystem]

would this system work are there any aspects i am not thinking of or any problems.
would this make very large profits if done ?
coral propagtion and clownfish breeding

[1DeR9_3Hy]

ye that is how comercial display aquariums do it. but is there a way to test for polutents or run off in the water before it is pumped. and does anyone know how display aquariums deal with this problem?

Other than hobbiest test kits, i dont know how to test for pollutants.

[1DeR9_3Hy]

would this system work are there any aspects i am not thinking of or any problems.
would this make very large profits if done ?
coral propagtion and clownfish breeding

If it went exactly as you described it, it would work.

But what about business licenses? Government permits? Theft? Vandalism? Property taxes? Employee costs? Maintenance costs for pumps, monitoring equipment for the water, and other misc costs can sink this idea....PLAN it all out and think about everything that could pop up.

Good luck!

[Reefsystem]

thanks for the advice, anybody else have any other inputs.

[ctenophore]

Your biggest problem would be seasonal blooms of various algae and critters in the nearby seawater. If you get a nasty dinoflagellate bloom (red tide type) you could wipe out all of your stock in a matter of hours. I think you'd need to treat the water in a holding system with ozone or bleach first. You could also design the holding system to bring the water to the correct temperature. Even with that overhead, you could easily design for a ~10% per day flow through and do very well.

Why not run a pipe out as far as you can, and sample water for a few months and see what you get? You could probably ask a public aquarium for advice with getting the water professionally tested.

[Reefsystem]

ye thanks that what i will do i will ask my pubic aquarium (sydney aquarium) how they specificaly do it. and i will get the near by water tested.

but with no filteration or skimming at all would a 10% water change per day be enough to keep the water perfect?

[H20ENG]

Along with what Ctenophore mentioned, I have firsthand experience with raw water pumps. The ocean EATS pumps very quickly- marine growth in the ocean is 10 fold that of your aquarium, so expect to unclog your piping and clean replace your pump every 6 months or so.

Ozonation is a great pre-treatment, as well as as settling.

One thing I did not see discussed is if you will be returning the water to the ocean after using it. This is most likely illegal, for worry of contamination. ...Which you would be doing if you raised anything but native coral species in your farm. This is a huge no-no.

Dont be discouraged, as this would be a great way to run a farm, but definitely be informed before you begin a large venture.

[Reefsystem]

ye thanks for bring that up i was going to pump the water back into the ocean but i will find out if it is legal. and u are right about the pumps being EATEN very quikly by the sea water.

Is there anything else im over looking.

[ctenophore]

You should be able to pump used water into the ground, sort of a reverse well. Any coral pathogens would be killed by traveling through a few thousand meters (or kilometers) of sand, depending on your location. But that would be up to the local authorities I suppose :)

You might look into drilling straight down and making a saltwater well, that way you would avoid most if not all of the marine growth/fouling issues. Use the bedrock as your seawater filter. There are a few places in the US that have had success that way.

[mnemonix]

Hey Louis,

I love the way you're thinking but legally you're up against a million and one pitfalls.
A friend of mine with coastal property in lake macquarie got fined $12,000 for having a permanent pumpline drilled from their property to the channel for water access for their tank. I don't how you'd go about getting permission to legally pump the water for your proposed setup.
As well as the permits required to return water, as generally it's considered grey water once it's been used in a closed system.

Our part of the coast is susceptible to planktonic blooms each year as the East Australian Current pushes down. You'd need a suitable stock of water on hand in tanks for usage during this time of year.

Not to mention the multiple seabound seweage outlets around Newcastle and the Central Coast.

I love the idea, but logistically and legally I can't see it being a goer. Plus, is there really a suitable demand in our region for an endeavour of this scale to be profitable?

[Reefsystem]

hey thanks for opening my eyes louis.

I will find out if i can get a permit for such a pipeline and dumping of the water.
as for the plankton blooms at certain times of the year, i did some reserch on sydney aqaurium in darling harbour, and found out that they are pumping water from the harbour and filtering it to supply there display tanks.

as for the demand i was planning to supply all the aquarium shops in sysdney and saroundings of australia and maybe even over seas if its legal.

thanks for making me think about the legal part of the project.

[Marchingbandjs]

Seems like you really dont have any idea what you wanna do. You have no idea about permits, whats legal or illegal, or where your going to sell. It sounds like it just popped into your head one day. Even if you were to get the permits they are gonna cost some coin. Not to be negative but i feel you have a lot to plan before you even get close to starting.

[Reefsystem]

thats why im asking chump

[cutnup]

lol
:spin1::spin2:

[Marchingbandjs]

I meant more like goals, and knowing where the business is going to go. But ok.