Catalina Saltwater

[PSEYE]

I've never mixed my own salt, other than the first time I got my tank up and running about 1.5 years ago. I'm just wondering what everyone's take is on ACTUAL saltwater from the ocean. According to the company that delivers this stuff (I live in California) they (the company) take the saltwater 20 miles north of the shore of Catalina Island. Anyways, I've been using this as my weekly water change for a year and a half. Just wanted to hear your input on doing this. What are the possible pros/cons to doing so?


Thanks


Derrick

[Victoria]

I think it's a great idea. If you live close to the coast and can get it I think its the best way to do it. I know someone who lives in so cal and thats all they use and He has an awasome tank. I have tryed it before and liked it. I would not do it in red tide seasons as I hear it can be bad for your tank. Love to see some pictures of your tank if you can.

[PSEYE]

I think it's a great idea. If you live close to the coast and can get it I think its the best way to do it. I know someone who lives in so cal and thats all they use and He has an awasome tank. I have tryed it before and liked it. I would not do it in red tide seasons as I hear it can be bad for your tank. Love to see some pictures of your tank if you can.

I'm actually in the process of swapping out my soft corals and leathers to SPS. I still have some of my stuff in there, here are a couple of pictures with a horrible camera.

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p469/demodic/CIMG0016.jpg
http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p469/demodic/CIMG0019.jpg
http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p469/demodic/CIMG0017.jpg
http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p469/demodic/CIMG0021.jpg

[Victoria]

Looks great. Are you going to swap out slowly or do it all at once? What size tank do you have? Can you list all your equipment...

[PSEYE]

Slowly...I don't want to disrupt the tank too much.

Its a 40 gallon tank 12" tall by 24" wide
Lighting: Hamilton w/hellolights reflector 1x250w DE HQI MH 14k hung 8" above tank
CPR Bak Pak Skimmer
10gallon sump
Circulation : 2x Maxijet 1200
Sump return: rio 2000 (i think) Its a LOT of water.

let me know if there is anything else I'm missing.

[rroselavy]

I used Catalina during the first year of my 24g FOWLR nano. I was paying somewhere around $0.65 - $0.70 per gallon. I then switched to Scripps water for a time, since a more appealing LFS was selling that.

One concern is that Catalina is going to be around 1.023 SG and relatively low in Calcium (and Magnesium?) for SPS. You'll have to use additives or have a Ca reactor, which could get expensive.

Also, as Victoria has warned - you have to watch out for contaminants. I would be careful to test the water to make sure the parameters are consistent and that there are no measurable nitrates or phosphates. I once bought Catalina water from a Los Angeles LFS that had sediment at the bottom of their containers. Could have been silica based sand residue from the mechanical filtration they do, but I didn't want to use that water.

[rroselavy]

Oh, and I got tired of lugging (2 or 3) 5g buckets of NSW to and from the car, but at least the LFS was on my way to work.

Now I have a closet in our pool shack where I have an old laundry hookup for my RODI filter, a 40g can for RODI storage (with a Kent float valve to turn off the RODI) , a 20g can for mixing, and an outlet for a Maxijet + flow kit powerhead and heater. I was a bit intimidated when I started out mixing but now I'm in heaven; mixing SW is a snap. Takes me less than 5 minutes to make a 15g batch. I let it aerate overnight. Costs less than $0.40 per gallon for SW, and pennies per gallon for purified water for top off and/or drinking water. All told, equipment costs were around $200 total (including RODI, containers, pump, heater and a digital scale to measure the salt), and $35 per year in filters. If you have the room, and don't have easy/free access to SW (like the public spigot at Scripps), synthethic salt may really be the way to go in the long run.

[PSEYE]

I agree, my gf and I are going to alternate mixing water and catalina water.

[rroselavy]

Cool.

BTW: A belated welcome to TR... It's great to have another Socal person on the boards!