sea water questions?

[Alfredo De La Fe]

Actually not much of a difference along the coastal areas where our corals come from and even along the coast of the Eastern United States down as far South as the Carrib. (Roughly 33.5-36.5 PSU) I was expecting a bigger spread.

Alfred

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

I am in the middle of trying to negotiate bulk pricing. Maybe if the price is good enough we can get a group buy going! I would be good for 10 boxes, I figure a buy of 100 boxes would be worth bothering with.

Alfred

 

[basiab]

I don't use that much salt since I have a 24 gallon setup. But you would have to present me with a good case to spend $2 a gallon for sea water when I can do it just as well with the various salts available for about 50 cents a gallon (if you pay $25 for a 50 gallon bag and you can get it cheaper). Plus the space needed for all that sea water versus a relatively small bag of salt and a pail to prepare it ahead of time.

 

[2slo4me]

some good info here. im still lurking. thx

 

[CHEMCHEF]

IMO You dont need to travel that far out, off long island to collect water.I collect about 50 ft. off shore, in the bay. I have good results.
The oldaest tank on this forum has the same water in it. Contact PaulB.
I'm suprised he has not chimed in on this thread.
Remeber our creatures did not come from artificial salt water

I asked this question of a bio chemist once (also a reef keeper that was heavily involved in the hobby). His answer was that Sea Water is basically the same all over the world with the exception of alk and Calcium. Even specific gravity is pretty close unless there is fresh water runoff. He said that if I could collect water off of Long Island far enough out, that I could use it for my tank but would have to filter it.

This is a good question to pose to one someone like Joe Y. of Atlantis Marine Aquarium, I'll shoot him an email.

Alfred

 

[2slo4me]

IMO You dont need to travel that far out, off long island to collect water.I collect about 50 ft. off shore, in the bay. I have good results.
The oldaest tank on this forum has the same water in it. Contact PaulB.
I'm suprised he has not chimed in on this thread.
Remeber our creatures did not come from artificial salt water

Not too long ago i was reading an article about tropical fish being caught off the shore of LI. I made a thread here with the link in it. let me try and find it.

 

[Quang]

Alfredo, last time I checked, the Petco packaged saltwater had an expiration day, so "freshness" would be an issue if you're buying in bulk and storing it for some time.

Which also brings me to another point... there has to be some sort of die-off because what's the use in having an expiration date?

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

Not necessarily. Could just be a precaution to avoid bacterial blooms. (Which would be a problem if you mixed up synthetic salt in a non-sterile environment)

Alfred

 

[Quang]

Not necessarily. Could just be a precaution to avoid bacterial blooms. (Which would be a problem if you mixed up synthetic salt in a non-sterile environment)

Alfred

Ah si, senor. Btw, if you talk to a Petco store manager, you can work out some sort of bulk buy deal if the manufacturer talks fail.

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

Apparently PetCo is now the exclusive distributor of Catalina water in boxes.

I will check with the local manager to see what they have to say.

Alfred