using seawater for water change??????

[danfish]

has anybody use this product, seems like a good idea saves alot of time and effort pls let me know your opinion on pros and cons. thx in advance.

http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?familyid=11884

http://www.catalinawater.com/index.html

[lcstorc]

Well anything Petco makes me nervous and sounds pretty expensive to me unless you have a very small system. A ro/di systen could save you money pretty quickly with a good salt and just a bit of effort if you have anything but a small system.
If you want to use prepared water then test each jug or each set of water change water. Make sure it is really in line first, I also recommend testing the new water if you mix it yourself. It is just a genearal good habit and I once caused a problem in my tank by not testing.

[danfish]

well the water isnt really a petco product, it comes from a company call catalina water in the west coast and they distrute it to petco but i do agree with you on the petco thing. lol

[BrothaWolf]

I use that water all the time. No problems with it so far. Makes water changes a breeze. The small cost is worth it for me but then I only change 3 gallons at a time. One of the petco's by me has an awesome saltwater setup and they actualy make and sell their own saltwater for about 1/2 the price of the catalina stuff but Im a little scared to try it...

[danfish]

brothawolf, what city and state are you in ?

[BoomerD]

I'd avoid using that product, it for no other reason than the cost. Catalina water is a good product, and we can get it in bulk out west for usually $.75-$1/gallon, which still makes it more expensive when compared to mixing your own, but almost affordable (making your own with IO and RO/DI works out to about 50 cents/gallon) You CAN use this, but it's an expensive way to do water changes. Probably OK for small water changes (like Brothawolf's ) but would be hella spendy for a large tank...

[BrothaWolf]

Originally Posted by BoomerD

Probably OK for small water changes (like Brothawolf's ) but would be hella spendy for a large tank...

Ya WAY 2 expensive for a big tank but perfect for me cause im LAZY!

Originally Posted by danfish

brothawolf, what city and state are you in ?

Im in Orange County NY the good petco is over in peekskill right over the bridge from me

[Gibeon]

That's what I use... $10-$15 per water change every week. I really should buy an RO/DI unit... It's pretty much the only fish-related Item I will buy at PetCo.

[BrothaWolf]

see for me its only $5

[Witfull]

for me it would be around $80 a waterchange~

for a nano, i would use it. but if you need more than one per change, not worth it. also, i would never ever have it shipped. cost prohibitive!

[flyline]

i live in ca and if i remember correctly i read an article a few years ago about catalina water company they have a dock in long beach harbor where they use water pumped out of the harbor and send it though a filter to clean it. im not sure if im correct on this but i think they supply water to alot of the major aquariums..

[BoomerD]

MOST public aquariums here in Kahleeforneeya have their own water processing plant, and use water from the ocean. Catalina MAY ship water to other public aquariums however. There are 2 separate "catalina water" providers...one from southern Ca, which, as you say, gets it's water from Long Beach, and one in northern Ca, which gets it's water from Half Moon Bay.
The actual quality of the water can change, depending on the season...during the winter, heavy rain dilutes it, and the s.g. can be quite a bit lower than during the summer.
I used to buy water from Steinhart Aquarium, and had to monitor s.g. constantly. It IS however pure NSW, and was heavily filtered and protein skimmed before you buy it.

Like I said, for a nano tank, the small containers from Petco might be ok, but certainly spendy for a bigger tank. Personally, I'd either buy a good RO, or buy RO/Di water, and make my own. That way, I have a bit of control over the water quality and specific gravity...