Water from the ocean

[nicky11]

So I have a question regarding whether or not it is advised to get refill water for my marine tank straight from the ocean. I live in Lima, Peru and I'm quite close to the sea and basically my issue is that buckets of marine salt in lfs's are much too expensive compared to the US. So I was thinking of just buying a simple plastic barrel and going over to the beach every once in a while to pick up some water to be able to save money. Once at home I'd put in some kind of filter or powerhead to clean and keep the water circulated.

So does anyone have experience doing this or any advise as to whether it is ok to do this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mathieu914]

I heard about this and yes you can.
But, you will probably be forced to make very frequent water changement.. like about every 3 day.

 

[snyder810]

i'm sure you can, but it seems ill advised due to the risks of adding unwanted things to your tank whether it be parasites or contaminants

 

[knox_rbp]

I agree with snyder. If you do you ocean water, you wouldn't want to collect straight off the beach anyway. The water would be much less contaminated offshore, if you have a boat.

 

[kdrun76]

I have done that for years. I have a 75 gallon barrel for the back of a pick up truck and basement sump pump that I place in it to pump from the truck to my tank.

If you have native species, no worries. If you are keeping fish that originate in other parts of the world you are putting them at great risk for parasites and germs they have no immunity against. The best method for avoiding these types of problems is to have a UV filter/ sterilizer.

 

[Kevin8888]

Mite be a good idea to run it through a micron screen (no idea how small) to get rid of the larger wastes/parasites.

 

[Heathd]

A micron screen will help with some parasites but will in no way kill any viruses that may be present.

There is an article somewhere about adding regular bleach to the saltwater, and then agitating the water with a large bubbler for a few days to get the chlorine to dissipate, and the will effectively leave you with very sterile saltwater. I will try and find it.

 

[Kevin8888]

A micron screen will help with some parasites but will in no way kill any viruses that may be present.

There is an article somewhere about adding regular bleach to the saltwater, and then agitating the water with a large bubbler for a few days to get the chlorine to dissipate, and the will effectively leave you with very sterile saltwater. I will try and find it.

True enough viruses and small bacteria would make it through, but better then nothing.

 

[nicky11]

I have done that for years. I have a 75 gallon barrel for the back of a pick up truck and basement sump pump that I place in it to pump from the truck to my tank.

If you have native species, no worries. If you are keeping fish that originate in other parts of the world you are putting them at great risk for parasites and germs they have no immunity against. The best method for avoiding these types of problems is to have a UV filter/ sterilizer.

there's my problem, I have a juvenile clown trigger, clown fish, damsel and blue spotted jawfish, completely different water conditions then the ocean here....definately don't wanna risk just using the water....a uv sterilizer sounds like the key here....thanks for the advice

A micron screen will help with some parasites but will in no way kill any viruses that may be present.

There is an article somewhere about adding regular bleach to the saltwater, and then agitating the water with a large bubbler for a few days to get the chlorine to dissipate, and the will effectively leave you with very sterile saltwater. I will try and find it.

Ill for sure try to find a micron screen here, although I have a feeling they'll have no idea what that is here lol....any other filter type material recommended? if you find the article please let me know, it sounds excellent...thanks a lot

Mite be a good idea to run it through a micron screen (no idea how small) to get rid of the larger wastes/parasites.

like I said above, no clue whether ill be able to get the micron screen here, but do you have any clue what else can be used?? also,if I put my protein skimmer to run that water for various hours, you think it should take out a good amount of waste and unwanted stuff?

 

[kdrun76]

You need to kill the critters in the water, not filter them out. Micron screens and protein skimmer will not do the job. The bleach idea interests me.... that sounds cheaper than UV filter bulbs.

Both UV and bleach will kill the critters. Learn how that bleach method works.... its a brilliant plan. I am a little embarrassed that I never thought to do it. Dechlorinator neutralizes bleach, and on top of that bleach would dissipate out in about 24 hours.

You could add bleach to the barrel, put in a power head to keep the water moving. Wait 48 hours add some dechlorinator and be good to go. The question that remains is "How much bleach?"