Changing from premixed salt to seawater from the ocean?

[becic]

I discovered I can buy filtered sea water from a local business who deliver it as well for much cheaper then I can mix my own but I have a few question about it. it is a FOWLR so corals aren't of concern however I may be upgrading it to a reef system depending on I feel at a later date so that may be important.

I've heard changing salt you use can be bad should I avoid it?

To acclimate the system would I slowly change the water over the course of a few weeks?

Would I be able to store the water for a long time in a clean water drum?

Is their anything that I haven't considered from the use of natural sea water?

[Dkuhlmann]

How far offshore is this water collected and what is being done to filter it before they sell it?

One drawback I see is that you are going to have to do multiple tests on each batch you get and I'm going to say that no two will be the same results. For this reason alone I'd stay with salt mix. Have you taken into consideration your time and fuel expense to go get this water?

Edit: just noticed they deliver it to you.

[becic]

At Tranquil Marine Services we offer a saltwater delivery service, ranging from 10L to 1000L per delivery. Our salt water comes straight from the ocean at high tide to achieve the best quality water. Water collected is also filtered using 200 micron filter sock to remove excess detritus, organic waste, dust, and other particulates.

Quoted from the website. Now that I've read on how they filter stuff I've decided it's probably better to keep using the current method. thanks for the help though.

[Dkuhlmann]

Hey, always happy to help even if it's just helping you see it from another perspective.

Welcome to Reef Central!

[Coralreefer1]

You never know what you could be putting into your tank when you add natural seawater, especially if they are not collecting it from offshore and away from mouths of rivers.

[lllesley]

Hi. Although I live in a different country we have been using NSW ( natural salt water ) for about 12 months now. The water has consistent numbers with regards to alk mag & cal The thing you will have to test for on a regular basis is salinity. Our water is collected at 1.030. So we have to top up with rodi to bring back to 1.026. Salinity will also change with temp, so always check when water is up to temp your adding to tank. Tank has thrived, corals love it. We store. 2000lts at a time , it stores forever in a dark sealed enviroment. The water changes are so easy. You will love it.

[ericarenee]

Depending on how close you are from a industrial area I think close to the beach there are going to contaminates in the salt water you cant test for..... But of course where you live plays a good role in this as well. As i Seen someone say they collect it on a beach near new york.. I Would hate to see a FULL Water test on that water....
Anyway just my two cents worth..

[lllesley]

Depending on how close you are from a industrial area I think close to the beach there are going to contaminates in the salt water you cant test for..... But of course where you live plays a good role in this as well. As i Seen someone say they collect it on a beach near new york.. I Would hate to see a FULL Water test on that water....
Anyway just my two cents worth..

We are lucky here , we have a marine research facility that run it through all there filtering system before they use themselves for fish & coral studies & then sell to us. So it's not collected from the ocean by us. It's collected by them. They pipe 1.8kms out and at the sea bed not the surface. Probably why it's so consistent in parameters. The cost is the major factor here. Red Sea coral pro is $150 a bucket ( 3 changes for our tank ). NSW is $180 for 2000lts

[ericarenee]

We are lucky here , we have a marine research facility that run it through all there filtering system before they use themselves for fish & coral studies & then sell to us. So it's not collected from the ocean by us. It's collected by them. They pipe 1.8kms out and at the sea bed not the surface. Probably why it's so consistent in parameters. The cost is the major factor here. Red Sea coral pro is $150 a bucket ( 3 changes for our tank ). NSW is $180 for 2000lts

yea that is a lot better then say going to the beach and collecting it... I seen a Research program on tv not long ago about whales. I think it was in nZ. Where they were testing water around there beaches and where the most pollution was.. It seems there conclusion was beaches the ocean floor and Surface water was worse. and the further out the better the water would be they found chemicals that she claims has never been used in there Country. that washed into there beaches and water from Asia and the US..
its Terrible how we treat our oceans . The life of this planet

[bobbychullo]

we have a spot here in socal where people get it. I have never used it but you may be able to find some answers to your questions in the thread regarding it (see below). If i were to make a guess, you would be good if you slowly switched over. and if you keep it moving with a powerhead, you could probably store it for a while...

and yes, I believe you want it to be collected from offshore, like a half mile or so at least is what I heard if i remember correctly...

here's the thread regarding the NSW collection in Socal:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=541355

[lllesley]

NSW will store for months and months. You do not need to have movement (power head) for it to stay ok. Just sealed and darkness.
The end of a jetty is ideal for collecting, never at dusk or dawn as thats when the floating things come out to eat, eg jellyfish etc. Always try to collect at high tide and not after heavy rains. Run through a filter sock at collecting and when using in DT.
We used to collect our own before we found the facility that delivers for us.

And yes just swap over gradually, do each water change with the new water.

We have a couple of these IBC storage containers, each 1000lts covered in Black plastic so no light can get through.