Natural seawater

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garyfla

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Apr 23, 2010
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Hi
Anyone done this?? How do you collect, transport and store the water?? What preparations before use??
Thanks gary
 

Aquasteel

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Feb 7, 2012
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Cork, Ireland
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Caitlin
When i was a child my mothers friend used to use seawater. She collected it in a bucket everyweek. I dont remember if she did anything to it before adding to the tank but she deffinatly collected buckets of it.

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Bushkill

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Dec 1, 2011
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Bushkill, PA
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Angelo
I've read several accounts of people using it successfully. The key to success is the point of collection. The docks at a marina on an inland canal may not be the best place to collect, as an example.
 

garyfla

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Apr 23, 2010
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Hi
I used it for several years when I had a sw tank. I collected it from a boat during incoming tide. The MAIN problem
was getting the water home and storing it , in quantities large enough to be worthwhile lol. I used polystyrene barrels
adding temporary pumps to get it in the house.. Most I could get at once was around 50 gallons. Obviously you can't store the water outdoors and you certainly don't want it spilling in your truck bed
Was hoping someone had some ideas on this?? If you live close enough to the ocean to use a bucket why not just throw a pump line with appropriate filters ??
IMO if you can't get offshore (such as in a boat) it wouldn'r be worth the risk
I'm asking for a neighbor who is going down the "Darkside" lol I know it can be done but wasn't very happy with the methods I came up with for for collecting and storing, treating. Since their tank is over 200 gallons they have a truck and a boat. seems very worthwhile to explore it?? Thanks for the help!!! gary
 

Bushkill

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Dec 1, 2011
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Bushkill, PA
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Angelo
Heck, if he's got a boat and a 200G, He could get real creative with one of the bigger magdrives, and a whole lot of vynil hose. Just have to be careful to not get too careless handling the magdrive so the volute doesn't end up cracking.

Darn it, a boat, living near the ocean.............just typing those words makes living in the forest a little tougher this time of year.
 

Khemul

Sea Bunny
Oct 14, 2010
1,617
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South Florida
The aquarium maintenance services basically do that idea.

Big pump, hose, 100g+ storage container in the back of a pickup. I've watched them pull water from the inlets. They usually go right before high tide peaks.


I just drop a bucket in, put a lid over it and toss the bucket back in the trunk of the car.
 

garyfla

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Apr 23, 2010
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Khemul

Was thinking along those lines except when you think about 100 gallons equal 800 pounds lol Would also be a sizeable investment in the container plus another container when you got it home.Would also require a DC pump.
When you say "bucket " imagine you're referring to under 5 gallons. ?? Do you find that worthwhile??
Ever have a problem with diatom blooms?? I always micro filtered it and stored in 55 gallon barrels but was always worried about the storage time. Any suggestions on collection sites , I'm located in Palm Beach county
They have a boat and a 50 gallon bait box on board but if gas goes to 5 bucks a gallon the number of trips is going to be limited I'm sure lol Thanks gary
 

Khemul

Sea Bunny
Oct 14, 2010
1,617
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South Florida
Yeah, 5 gallon bucket. I work 5 minutes from the hillsboro inlet so it isn't much trouble to get the water.

Never really have any trouble with diatoms. And I use silica sand, so according to a lot of people I should have a diatom armageddon. :laugh:


Not sure about palm beach. I know there I boca inlet but I haven't really looked at it from the point of view of water collection. I don't go much further north then that.

As long as you get the water during the incoming tide (and well into it, for many reasons including ease of collection) there isn't a lot of things to worry about. The amount of water that flushes through those inlets is crazy so dilution takes care of most potential issues.
 

AquaticAustin

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Sep 29, 2011
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Orlando, Fl (UCF)
My grandfather used to work at the aquatarium that was actually on the beach and they did all of their tanks this way, they just had a pump that brought in new water and pumped out old water so they never had to "filter" it just replaced it. He ran all of his home aquariums the same way, except he didnt live on the water so he would have huge barrels that he would bring home from the aquatarium full of water. He said whenever something would happen like red tide they just stopped the pumps and ran off of reserves... granted they also only used fish/animals that were caught right out there in the bay and so did he.
 
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