making sea water or just buying it

[garas]

hi, ive been buying sea water from my lfs for ages now, and havnt noticed much info about it on the net, the sea water appears to have the right gravity & ph, no ammonia nitrite or nitrate, and a good amount of calcium. i havnt check it for phosphates or silicates but i doubt it would have a significate amount. it seems perfect and much easier than toying around with loads of additives. so then what are the advantages and disadvantages of buying sea water verses making it?

[gaubow]

I am with you. For about six months now, I have been buying it instead of mixing it. For me, it is worth the extra money for the ease of use. I continue to have great growth on all of my corals... possibly even better growth now than when I was mixing my own.

I am sure there will be some to quickly point out the downfalls... but not me!!!

[gaubow]

Welcome to Reef Sanctuary!!!!

[KimPossible]

How are they making it?
I think my lfs uses IO and RO. Not even RODI.
I make my own.

(No offence below...I wouldn't have known when I first started here )

IO = Instant Ocean
RO= Reverse Osmosis
RODI=Reverse Osmosis with deionization

[wickjr]

Are you buying water the LFS has mixed, or is it in the big plastic jugs?..can't remember the name brand. I have seen at some LFS "Live" Ocean water in 2.2 gallon jugs. I have been wondering if it is any good to use for water changes, maybe to have around for emergencies?

[daveat]

problem with my LFS is that the water they sell is also the water that is currently running in their system, they have a 2500 gallon holding tank that runs water through it constantly. the problem i see with this is that if they have a diseased fish then the disease might be in the water and get in your tank... basically the same reason you wouldn't add the water out of a fish bag into your tank

[reefjitsu]

A sythetic SW mix made with RO/DI is going to be better for aquarium use than natural SW. In an aquarium, certain elements are rapidly depleted, a good synthetic mix will help make up for this. Natural SW is often collected near shore and so is subject to variations in salinity and possible pollutants or disease. If using natural SW then you will have to make more frequent water changes, thus driving the price up further. IMO, natural SW is best left to those with large tanks who live on the coast and can afford to plumb their tank directly into the ocean. Some LFS mix water for their customers. This is fine if they store it in it's own container but I would not use water from their holding systems.

[gaubow]

I use the stuff that is supposed to be straight sea water. I don't happen to have any here or i would give the name. Noone carries it in the Chicagoland area except Petco. (that I know of anyway) This is the only thing I have bought from my Petco store in 2 years. I haven't noticed any ill effects of using it at all.

This is not made in the store... I believe it comes from Florida.

[garas]

All the aquariums around where i live (sydney australia) sell natural sea water supposedly taken off shore, almost all lfs have it (i guess an advantage of living next to the coast). there kept in large plastic barrels. which retails for a price of $3 au or about $2.25 us for25l i find it pretty good value but a headache to transport back and forth, to my knowledge no aquariums round here make there own.

[Frankie]

Sounds ok to me.
I was useing a product call nature ocean or nuti-seawater. worked awesome and i have to say its great for water changes. Here's a link. I have posted this before :P
http://www.naturesocean.com/nutri_sea_water.htm

[Witfull]

id go broke using it,,,lol

average water change is 40g.

[Yarr]

IMO there seems ot be no short term ill effects using naturally collected seawater. however, id suggest that any toxins and whatnot that may be present in the water. ie. toxins. detergants. fuels. chemical., pesticides etc.. will take time to accumulate in quantities large enough to affect your tank inhabitant. Thus causing a massive loss.

My LFS uses natural sea water in his tanks but i do not use it. I mix my own for the simple reason i can control exactly what goes into my tank. If i didn tcare about that id just use tap water for topups iunstead of RO/DI.

[Sweet Reef]

[quote=reefjitsu]A sythetic SW mix made with RO/DI is going to be better for aquarium use than natural SW. In an aquarium, certain elements are rapidly depleted, a good synthetic mix will help make up for this.QUOTE]

I agree!

I very recently set up my first SW (from a FW background). One of the first things I bought was my own 6 stage RO/DI. I have full intentions of making my own SW from day one. Simply for the fact of not having to drive to go get it and the and the savings over the long haul. Plus what if my LFS
closes up or I have to move? I may not have "the best" system out there but for the small investment the water is just fine. I must admitt though, filling my 120 tank and sump the first time with it was a hassle. Just spending the money to buy it and pour it in during set up would have made things much easier.

[Yarr]

not to mention u can use the RO/DI unit for your dirnking water aswell!

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by garas

hi, ive been buying sea water from my lfs for ages now, and havnt noticed much info about it on the net, the sea water appears to have the right gravity & ph, no ammonia nitrite or nitrate, and a good amount of calcium. i havnt check it for phosphates or silicates but i doubt it would have a significate amount. it seems perfect and much easier than toying around with loads of additives. so then what are the advantages and disadvantages of buying sea water verses making it?...

Some of the advantages and problems of buying water from your LFS have been noted by others. I see the big problem of LFS water as being one of control. You don't know what salt they are using, or how carefully they mixed it, or what else may have happened to it. Depending on the store the product could be very good or out and out garbage.

If I buy a bag of (insert favorite brand) salt, I know what I'm getting. That coupled with the use of RO/DI water give me a consistant product.

Also, if you need to add any kind of additive to a batch of SW you just mixed, you are using a bad brand of salt. Change to something else. A quality salt is going to mix to give you a SW that is not low in any of the important areas.

The only other factor I see here is the size tank you have. If you have a nano reef, buying water from a LFS could be the way to go. If you have anything of any size it will cost you a lot less to own your own RO/DI unit and mix your own, and IMHO you'll have a better product.