Natural Sea water in aquarium?

[Timpon]

Hi all. I was thinking about starting my first saltwater tank.

Wanted to know if I can use natural sea water (I live next to the beach) in my tank instead of mixing my own saltwater? If I was to set up a tropical tank, would there have to be anything done to the water before it can be used, for example letting the water sit for a period of time etc ?

What if I was to start a native tank, putting fish I catch myself? Can they be kept in this collected water?

Also, I heard that in salt aquariums, you don't need to change the water as much or often as in fresh. Is this true, and what is the correct regime for water changes?

 

[rottbo]

i actually know of a guy that lives down on the gulf coast of florida and he has plumbed his tank to the sea so it just constantly pumps fresh seawater in he only has to clean the glass and vaccum thats it a perfect reef setup......

 

[jrwagner]

i know lots of people that use natural sea water.. just putting in my two sence...definately use a uv so that you can kill anything that you dont want in a fish tank...ex. baby jelly fish? etc

 

[justjonx2]

YEah i knew a friend who did that. He would go to the beach and collect a few jugs every week or so. As long as theirs no pollution i dont see the problem.

 

[davo]

i think a lot of coastal shark keepers do that, it would cost a lot in water amd salt if they didnt

 

[davo]

water changes from a river system (for example) to keep fish you caught from that river will be fine too.

 

[Timpon]

Thanks everybody for the replies. Think I will give it a go.

What about water changes, how much and how often? Less than freshwater tanks?

 

[grmanrocks]

i myself im currently doing a native tank and ya i used some natural sea water...... but when i redo it in a month (there were some complications) im using a mix. the thing is the bacteria and other unwanted organisms u put into your tank with the collected water thrive out of controll in a cantained enviroment, or so i think, i think ists safer to use a mix to avoid umwanted pollution of bacteria. just my $0.02

 

[DeLgAdO]

i think using natural sea water would only be good if you keep native fishes from the same water.

if you where to set-up a tropical reef tank and use local sea water.

well.... you get the idea.

most local water are too heavily polluted for this use anyways.

native is the way to go

i think ists safer to use a mix to avoid umwanted pollution of bacteria. just my $0.02

yes

 

[Hakon]

Yup I know many people who use natural seawater and also one who mix it with FW into brackish.