Salinity 1.03 natural sea water.

I live in Jamaica and I only use natural sea water for my water changes. The odd thing is that my salinity has always been 1.03. I use a refractometer to measure the salinity and I made sure that it's calibrated with RODI. I also have a TDS meter that gives a reading of 2ppm so I know my water is pure.

The refractometer measures 1.03 when I carry it to the beach. It also measures 1.03 in my tank. ***? Isn't this a bit high?

On the same note I use salifert test kits and test the natural sea water. I get off reading for them as well. Like....

Calcium 320ppm
Alk 7.2
Magnesium 1100

Can anyone comment?

 

I'm not sure, but I know when I was doing research for my tank 100 yrs ago, they said not to use fresh sea water.

They said people swimming in it, boats or whatever actually change the PH and other levels of the water. They said you would have to go out really far off the shore to get water that haddn't been altered.

But I'm no expert.

 

I wouldn't use sea water either for the reasons stated above. However, salinity and trace elements vary from place to place - so it doesn't surprise me at all.

Recently on a trip to hawaii I noticed on one beach the water was florecent green - I was told it was run off from the rain that night.....eesh !

 

I believe you would have to go off shore to get decent and accurate water.

Anything close to shore would have contaminants in it from people and river run off

 

I've heard, like the other three, that the best seawater can be harvested by going a little ways out to sea, even if just to swim 10-20 feet from shore and harvest the water that way, though not a good idea for an inexperienced swimmer! If that's not an option, it seems like the best place to do it is to pick a site as far from the influence of humans and other bodies of water as possible.

How has the natural sea water you've harvested so far worked in your tank? Do your tank inhabitants seem happy, peaceful, and healthy?

 

In hawaii there is a natural sea water spout on land. A fish hatchery pumps water in from waaay out in the ocean, and anyone who can come and take as much as they like. And a lot of people do. The only issue is that the ph is a bit low, and the salinity is a bit high. 1 part RO/DI to 4 parts natural water seems to work, and 2 part dosing system that raises the ph also helps. I'm not sure if there's anything like that in Jamaica but i know it works great here.

 

That's cool - nice to see a company doing that. I googled Jamaica and I would not advise using the sea water - their problems with run off, sewage, solid waste ect. have bene plentiful.

But its a decent question that was just posted -- to the OP, how is your tank? I guess if its thriving you're in business !

 

the biggest concerns for me on this are
if the SG is correct
and the Calcium and Magnesium are correct

what are the other ions and at what ratios in the solution that are giving you such a high SG

if your SG was low, combined with those 3 tested levels, then I would just think water was diluted by freshwater run off from nearest river inlet to the the sea

but with a high SG , and low levels of major elements tested for
it means high rates of other major or minor elements beyond natural levels
and quite possible other ions dissolved in the salt water, that are not in actual fact meant to be there

just my opinion after considering the test results presented

Steve

 

well SG does vary, and for all I know it could increase as it gets closer in land.

I would check it with another refractometer to make sure its calibrated right.

 

When I use to collect ghostshrimp every week I would always test the salinity. It was often 1.030..,., and higher still.


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