using the real stuff

If you guys lived next to beatiful clean sparkling atlantic ocean would you use it in your tank?????

 

If you live in Bermuda I think you could. It's far off from the main land and the water there is beautiful.

 

Thanks for the fast response.I do think the water here is cool aswell.Am having some really bad algae issues.RODI is not an option here(too much waste water).I do have a small unit for top offs.Should I run the water through a UV sterilizer first?

 

I wouldn't collect it from the beach though... that's where all the nasty will wash up... I agree you have a better shot at it in Bermuda than I do on the Gulf Coast - but that water does mix...

Try to get on a boat first and go a few miles out if possible...

I don't know if I'd do it or not though to answer your question... I might setup a separate tank to experiment with it first... if that works out, then maybe in my main tank...

just my 2 cents.

 

IMO I wouldnt do it. To many varibles for failure. Plus here is California, its felony, mabye a misdimener (sp), if you are caught taking water/sand/inverts from the beach. {in the bucket full anyways}

but setting up a control tank is a good option. You could always buy ro water from a good water store.

 

Jah is a MIGHTY god!! Sorry I saw your sig and couldn't resist....
I wouldn't do it as there is so many pollutants in the water... and in a small glass box they would be amplified. BUT on the other hand if you can't use RO water then yes I would at least attempt it for a while. I would and wouldn't filter it and here is why.
I would as there is a chance for small planktonic hitchhikers to end up in the water... is their chance of survival high in your tank, doubtful but there is always that chance that you add some pathogen or whathave you in the tank unwillingly.
I wouldn't as the ocean is SOO full of various phyto and zoo plankton that if you kept corals they would potentially fluorish under the new found live food.

If it was me, now that I think about it I would use the water, as far from any develpment possible, and I would do weekly or twice weekly water changes. Heck I would get as aggressive with the w/c's as possible. Thats what they do in aquaculture facilities in Asia.

Good luck and happy water theft!

 

I'm so jealous, Bermuda. But like Dr Fragenstein said, I would just do lots of water changes. If you can get good clean water, then it would be cost efficient, for us its not, I know people that dont run any filtration on large tanks, cause they do huge water changes. Good luck !!

 

There is a guy in Portugal, Machado de Sousa, who runs a massive private propagation system using water from the ocean. He filters it through a 1 micron sock and then runs it through UV sterilizers with ozone for 3 days before using it. Of course different parts of the ocean might better/worse for this depending what's in the local water.

This is only part of the system so I know it CAN work.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i192/pedro2001reef/Machado de Sousa/SNC00004.jpg

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=HmPavjZKUcs

 

If you try it I agree with everyone else dont collect it from the beach. Ever notice all the foam on the beach thats the oceans protein skimmer EEWWWW

 

I was just in the Monterey Bay and San Francisco bay yesterday. I believe that the ocean does have a perfect design and filtration system, but I've noticed it throws back what humans throw into it

Some of the stuff I saw washing up on the shores yesterday.... I'd be frighted to touch it let alone use it in my tank.

-Gavin