PETCO Real Ocean Water

[JT101]

Has anyone ever used this stuff?

It's only $11.99 for 5 gallons. I could use this for "instant" water changes and not have to be bothered to travel down to the beach which I have been doing but I realize may become a bad idea if we get a lot of snow and then I have to worry about hyposalinity from melted snow etc...

Thx
John

 

[lcstorc]

I haven't used the Petco brand but have used a similar product. It was fine. No problems but nothing exciting either. Expensive and heavy in the long run. It is easier to get a RO/DI and mix yourself.

 

[Cal Native]

EXPENSIVE! my lfs makes it with RO and top brand salt mix made for RO for only $5. OUCH!

 

[AQTCJAK]

John I have sold Real Ocean water as well it is not worth it in a large tank in a nano 12 gallons or less it is worth it. It seems to work beteer in small tanks tan the larger IME

 

[ragvette]

Expensive I would say. :bugout:

 

[jnohs]

i use it a lot. Not the petco brand but it is nsw in a 5 gallon container. Nice and easy. I mostly use this just because I like to use differnt salt mixes and different waters. i feel it is the best way to get what all the salt mix companys want and that is avrage sea water. now that i now petco has it to i will most definalty use it once and a while.

 

[mosdojaf]

It is good for those when you dont have time to mix and need to do your water change. i would say one out of 3 changes i use it. Two 5 gallon containers i have tested the water and found
0 amonia
0 nitrate
0 nitrite
1.024 salinity

8.2-8.3 PH

It is cheaper to buy from the lfs, but i usually have to give them 3-4 days notice. But i decided to get a purifier unit, will save me cash in the long run.

 

[zeus_roush]

i had bought an ro/di and for some stupid reason it totally quit working in two months. it needed everything right down to the membrane. so rather then spending another 150 i just go to my lfs and get water for .50/gal. then i found out i could get saltwater for 1.00/gal. but i dont think i will ever use petco water, or for that mater anything from petco till they realize, they need to either quit selling fish or train there employees better. just my two cents

 

[Tru2nr]

i agree i hate how the corporate places that sell fish 99% of the time don't know jack

 

[amc78cj7]

i dont think i will ever use petco water, or for that mater anything from petco till they realize, they need to either quit selling fish or train there employees better. just my two cents

That is a generalization, but I can understand your viewpoint.

There are two Petco stores near our house. One is very clean, tanks are spotless and the fish look healthy. The other one has cyano in every tank, dead fish, sickly starfish. I haven't bought anything from either as I also have 3 LFS in my immediate area that specialize in corals - but I wouldn't have a problem with anyone buying stuff from the first Petco I mention. They seem very responsible. It would be nice if corporate had some training though to enforce adequate husbandry across the stores.

 

[AQTCJAK]

i agree i hate how the corporate places that sell fish 99% of the time don't know jack

Very true statement 99% dont know me

 

[lcstorc]

Also be sure to test the ph, alk, mag, and calc if using the prepared water. We make the mistake of using it with just the basic testing and are now dealing with very high alk as a result.

 

[mosdojaf]

I dont even look at the fish their, because it does make me mad, the way they treat the live stock, i just by pass them, and go to the spot were they keep all the consumable supplies and such. yesterday i just bought RO water from my lfs, only 36 cents a gallon. This makes it so conevientat to do water change. Last month wasnt fun basement flooding, cars dying, you name it i had to do it last few weeks. Up at 5 next thing you know it is 11pm lol.

 

[Octoman]

Expensive, and I would be concerned about quality. Water sitting on the shelf can change over time, even if it is balanced to begin with, chemicals inside can interact with each other while it sits there. I get 150g of salt for $45 and it costs me (guestimating) about $10-15 for that much RO so I'm paying about $2.00 for five gallons.


I'd be worried about more than hyposalinity from the water you collect at the beach. You never know what is going into the water around there. Even a pristine looking beach could have severely degraded water quality because of a release of some sort that is many miles away.

 

[HowardW]

Petco Real Ocean Water (Catalina brand w/Petco label) I bought a box of this stuff just to test out and keep around for emergencies and was very disappointed and wouldn't take that stuff for free.

I tested a 5g fresh unopened box and was shocked to find the alkalinity off the charts at over 20 dKH (tested with 3 different accurate kits). I also tested specific gravity at 1.0245 and calcium at 380PPM.

I contacted Catalina Water in CA. and their 'head scientist' denied it was possible to have that alk and then he later admitted they do buffer their water using soda ash in 10,000g batches among whatever else they do, and rather than apologizing for a defective product, he said to just dilute the stuff and it shoud be ok, LOLOL.

Had I unknowingly just used this water in a smaller or nano tank for a big water change I probably would've crashed the tank or at least highly stressed everything. I've also heard from others who did more extensive testing that this water also contained sky high levels of both lead and zinc, but this is second hand info.