Sea water for aquariums

Shaker nemo · 07/16/2013, 03:44 AM

Many people say sea water is not safe for aquariums. I had an idea. Can't I boil seawater and take the residue and mix it in my de chlorinated water? Thx :3

Jshafer · 07/16/2013, 04:13 AM

What size tank do u have, I think it would take so much sea water to get what you need out of it alot easier getting a bag of synthetic salt

dava6711 · 07/16/2013, 05:25 AM

Boiling it would take far too long and would be an extremely labour intensive process, not to mention it wouldn't work anyway as all the extremely pure water you've boiled evaporates away and you're left with everything else (think the distillation process)!
However, if you have access to clean seawater then you're good to use it. I know that if I lived near a coastline that had clean seawater, I personally would use that rather than synthetic seawater everytime!

jorda9095 · 07/16/2013, 05:30 AM

i live near the beach and unless youre going out on a boat, its pretty annoying and sandy to collect from the shore.

Fishphish69 · 07/16/2013, 05:35 AM

You can use it. I am using it for my pond. Unless you have a easy way to transport it it will problaly not be worth. The water by the shore is nasty. You might want to go into deeper waters.

Shaker nemo · 07/16/2013, 06:06 AM

I live near a beach but it's horribly dirty

so I can't use it. I have a 10 g tank. I live in srilanka and reef salt is super expensive here. See my idea is not gonna work

Shaker nemo · 07/16/2013, 06:10 AM

How far from the shore is the water ginna be clean?

ggsteve · 07/16/2013, 06:17 AM

Collect it in buckets and let it sit for a couple days. All the sediment should settle to the bottom, then skim from the top with a water pump. Or, do they have Aquaclear filters in Sri Lanka? Put the sea water in a spare tank and filter it with an Aquaclear. That should clear it up.

ganjero · 07/16/2013, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaker nemo

Many people say sea water is not safe for aquariums. I had an idea. Can't I boil seawater and take the residue and mix it in my de chlorinated water? Thx :3

It depends on you location and type/levels of contamination that the shore water might have.

There are plenty of reefers in the coasts including New York city that use water collected at the shore.

IMO it's far better to use natural sea water than synthetic salt.

MondoBongo · 07/16/2013, 08:49 AM

recently i visited Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, FL.

i was fortunate enough to be able to talk to one of the aquarists about their tanks.

he mentioned that they pump natural sea water from the bay for most of their tanks, with the exception of reef tank. he said they would use for the reef as well, but that their local water happens to be very high in phosphates.

i also was able to spend a day at the Florida Aquarium in downtown Tampa. one of their exhibits had a good amount of information on how they get most of their water from the ballast tanks of container ships from a certain company from out in the Gulf of Mexico.

plus there are numerous hobbyists that use ocean water.

long story slightly longer, as long as your local water quality is good, and it is convenient to collect and transport, it should be perfectly fine.

Shaker nemo · 07/16/2013, 10:11 AM

Thx for all the help guys

07/16/2013, 03:44 AM	#1
Shaker nemo Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Sri Lanka Posts: 263	Sea water for aquariums Many people say sea water is not safe for aquariums. I had an idea. Can't I boil seawater and take the residue and mix it in my de chlorinated water? Thx :3

07/16/2013, 05:25 AM	#3
dava6711 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: England, UK Posts: 140	Boiling it would take far too long and would be an extremely labour intensive process, not to mention it wouldn't work anyway as all the extremely pure water you've boiled evaporates away and you're left with everything else (think the distillation process)! However, if you have access to clean seawater then you're good to use it. I know that if I lived near a coastline that had clean seawater, I personally would use that rather than synthetic seawater everytime! Last edited by dava6711; 07/16/2013 at 06:09 AM.

07/16/2013, 04:13 AM	#2
Jshafer Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 163	What size tank do u have, I think it would take so much sea water to get what you need out of it alot easier getting a bag of synthetic salt

07/16/2013, 05:30 AM	#4
jorda9095 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 325	i live near the beach and unless youre going out on a boat, its pretty annoying and sandy to collect from the shore.

07/16/2013, 05:35 AM	#5
Fishphish69 Registered Member. Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 31	You can use it. I am using it for my pond. Unless you have a easy way to transport it it will problaly not be worth. The water by the shore is nasty. You might want to go into deeper waters.

07/16/2013, 06:06 AM	#6
Shaker nemo Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Sri Lanka Posts: 263	I live near a beach but it's horribly dirty so I can't use it. I have a 10 g tank. I live in srilanka and reef salt is super expensive here. See my idea is not gonna work

07/16/2013, 06:10 AM	#7
Shaker nemo Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Sri Lanka Posts: 263	How far from the shore is the water ginna be clean?

07/16/2013, 06:17 AM	#8
ggsteve Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: North Central MA Posts: 372	Collect it in buckets and let it sit for a couple days. All the sediment should settle to the bottom, then skim from the top with a water pump. Or, do they have Aquaclear filters in Sri Lanka? Put the sea water in a spare tank and filter it with an Aquaclear. That should clear it up.

07/16/2013, 08:49 AM	#10
MondoBongo Obligate Feeder Obsessed Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 4,061	recently i visited Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, FL. i was fortunate enough to be able to talk to one of the aquarists about their tanks. he mentioned that they pump natural sea water from the bay for most of their tanks, with the exception of reef tank. he said they would use for the reef as well, but that their local water happens to be very high in phosphates. i also was able to spend a day at the Florida Aquarium in downtown Tampa. one of their exhibits had a good amount of information on how they get most of their water from the ballast tanks of container ships from a certain company from out in the Gulf of Mexico. plus there are numerous hobbyists that use ocean water. long story slightly longer, as long as your local water quality is good, and it is convenient to collect and transport, it should be perfectly fine.

07/16/2013, 10:11 AM	#11
Shaker nemo Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Sri Lanka Posts: 263	Thx for all the help guys