synthetic & natural sea water

[brians4671]

im hoping one day to have a reef like some i have seen here on rc. a couple things weigh on my mind first is this. i use synthetic salt to make up all of the water in my tank. my concerned is what my mix is lacking in comparison to nsw.

[kar93]

Synthetic seems to work just as good as NSW does so i assume it doesn't lack much. As you live in Miami, i cant see any problem collecting NSW. I too hope to have one like i have seen on here.
I think people that live in rich marine life countries etc. use what they feel most comfortable with. many people use synthetic over NSW because of the parasites and organism that could come with it.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Most folks here use synthetic mixes, and if you use a big name brand it is likely fine. I discuss natural and synthetic seawater issues here:

The “How To� Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 1: The Salt Water Itself
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php

[brians4671]

exactly why i use it kar. yes i am in miami and have a boat. commiting to gathering nsw is something i really dont care to do. nor does trusing what i get elsewhere. i will be boosting via bulk suppliments. this is another thing weighing on my mind am i selling myself short by resorting to bulk supply? granted i will find my limitations and go from there. there is a wisdom found in alot of these older salts.

[brians4671]

thanks randy i have touched on this article of yours. I will be review it for the sake of its fundamentals that i havent grasped yet.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

this is another thing weighing on my mind am i selling myself short by resorting to bulk supply?

Depends on what you mean. Which ingredients and which suppliers?

[danceswithfish]

I don't understand why people are concerned about organisms comming from ocean water. Many people add live rock to their tanks. Would these organisms not be on the rocks.

I just don't see how one could say they are worried about organisms from ocean water and then add a bunch of live rock. dosn't make sense.

[kar93]

Think about the size of the ocean, It has the stability to harbour this amount of organisms and parasites and they have marine life to filter water etc. Where as our tanks dont.





















I think.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I just don't see how one could say they are worried about organisms from ocean water and then add a bunch of live rock. dosn't make sense.

Well, I'm not claiming there is a big risk, but in theory it does make sense to me. You add some live rock at the beginning of a tank set up. Yes, we all know you get some organisms that you want and some you may not want. But the process ends there.

if you do continuous water changes for the life of the reef tank, you are continually adding more and more water with the potential to bring in something undesirable.

if we are talking about free swimming parasites, then the live rock might harbor very little, where 5 gallons of salt water could possibly harbor a lot.

So while I am not saying it necessarily is any problem, I do not think you can dismiss the possibility with the argument involving live rock.

IMO, the primary concern for folks living in the US is pollution, both chemical and bacterial.

[brians4671]

Originally posted by Randy Holmes-Farley
this is another thing weighing on my mind am i selling myself short by resorting to bulk supply?

Depends on what you mean. Which ingredients and which suppliers?

All of my ingredients aside from the baking soda and epsom salt. Currently getting from bulk reef supply. Excuse my indecisiveness its just in this hobby the options seem endless.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The Dowflake and MAG flake from them should be fine to use.