buying actual ocean water

[mb167204]

Moved to south florida and i stopped by a pet store and they sell water from the ocean for 60 cents/gallon. its also 60 cents/gallon for ro/di water.
Im staring a tank (red sea max 34 gallon) in about a week.
My question is do you think it would be ok to start with this ocean water. Im from cleveland so buying ocean water is new to me but maybe it's not that odd. Or do you think i should just mix my own salt water up. Thanks for you input.

[Brent RH]

Would make my own salt h2o if I were you. Is their water from from the beach or what? Make your own. Writing is on the wall, that both are the same price??? That or do an experiment with the situation. Would be cheaper! Oh wait, maybe not.

[jc-reef]

I live 5 miles from the ocean. NSW is in all sense the ideal water for a reef tank.....HOWEVER!!!!.....you assume IMO...GREAT added risks. You could end up contaminating your tank with diesl/petrolium from a boat, unwanted pests, bad algae (red tide) etc. When you make your own salt water, you at least KNOW what is in your tank. There are some people whom use NSW and swear by it. I personally, would not want to take that added risk...

[Brent RH]

this is were my mind was too. Those that swear by using water off the coast are flirting with disaster IMO. At least without digging out the test kits. 500 miles off shore 1000 ft under and opening your container. I can see this water being healthy for a tank. maybe they run it through a filter? I'm from MN. Guess I'll never know.

[reefermad619]

I live in San Diego. Here we have the scripps institue of oceanography. I have access to free NSW. It's the same water they use for the Birch Aquarium here in San Diego. Lots of local reefers use it. I have tested it myself and everything comes out all ZEROS! If I had to pay for it, I wouldn't use it and would make my own water. If you live I. An area that has a large public aquarium, they might have a tap somewhere that give the public access to theri water. Chances are this is where your LFS is getting the water from anyway. Goodluck either way.

[tperk9784]

OP I would go to the FMAS or PBMAS website and ask the opinions of the local reefers on the quality of the water from that store. Anyone who has not used water from that store is just speculating on it's quality and collection methods.

[Threelittlefish]

As previously stated the bennefits just aren't aren't worth the risks.

[jpruitt]

Also most corals are aquacultured and you would have to really acclimate to nsw.

[PDAlber]

I collect water at Boynton Inlet near the end of incoming tide or offshore when I'm fishing or diving. I've been doing it for years and never had a problem. Lots of people use NSW and I frequently see the aquarium service trucks filling their holding tanks at the inlet. I would venture to say most LFS's in the area are selling NSW. The calcium and alkalinity levels are a little lower than some reefers prefer, but can easily be adjusted.

[KafudaFish]

You are going to find out a few things:

1. People get water from the ocean either for free or by paying.
2. Those that use ASW will state there are risks.
3. Those that use NSW ignore #2 because of costs and because those people believe that their tanks are actually healthier than ASW tanks.

[BeachBumm]

If I did not go out and get the water myself I would not use it .I have gotten some ocean water as I live on the coast but I got it 4 to 5 miles out .