Natural Sea Water

[finksmart]

On the side of the Belt Pkwy there's a sign that explains why the local water is so murky. It is because there are more phytoplankton and algae in a drop of seawater here than in the tropics. In fact, the water around here contains more nutrients than the tropics. Also if you watched Planet Earth, a show on Discovery, it points out that we are surrounded by seasonal seas, with currents strong enough to draw nutrients from the deep. These nutrients contribute to the massive amount of algae and phytoplankton we have in the local water, causing it to look murky. If you take a bucket of sea water here and let it settle, it's just as clear.

 

[JJSBLM]

On the side of the Belt Pkwy there's a sign that explains why the local water is so murky. It is because there are more phytoplankton and algae in a drop of seawater here than in the tropics. In fact, the water around here contains more nutrients than the tropics. Also if you watched Planet Earth, a show on Discovery, it points out that we are surrounded by seasonal seas, with currents strong enough to draw nutrients from the deep. These nutrients contribute to the massive amount of algae and phytoplankton we have in the local water, causing it to look murky. If you take a bucket of sea water here and let it settle, it's just as clear.

i will try your theory this week... along with pictures to prove, or disprove it

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Kepp in mind that there are smart places to take water from and not so smart places.
I also threw a mushroom in my tank this morning to test a simple to keep coral.
I'll keep posted

i will try your theory this week... along with pictures to prove, or disprove it

 

[JJSBLM]

Kepp in mind that there are smart places to take water from and not so smart places.
I also threw a mushroom in my tank this morning to test a simple to keep coral.
I'll keep posted

i agree with you 100% stagnent water is not where i will be sampling from

 

[Will C]

You may want to watch the salinity, the north side of the Great South Bay is brackish water, the salinity picks up as you get closer to the inlets.

 

[Pedro Nuno Ferreira]

Hi Everyone ;-), I've been following this thread and now I would like to share some experience and images with you all, about some of the places where we, some of the ones that live on parallel 49 on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, collect NSW as well as the equipment used, which as been improving so far...
I've using NSW for some time now and every now and then I collect live plankton of which I will also post here some photographs. When I started some 21 year ago, the use of NSW was done but people would go collect it of shore which I couldn't and at that time pollution was a serious issue since there was no facilities or very few to treat domestic and industrial effluents, the people awareness was not as it is today, no recycling concerns or very few...well ever since things have changed and improved and now it is regarded safe...although, i must say, the risk of bringing Godzilla home still exists but I/we regard it as a controlled risk, a bit like the risk of bringing home acropora or motipora bugs, or a bacteria that makes way to to cause problems, even with quarantine...
Many of us store the water for a month or so in closed containers placed in a fresh and unlit area, this helps control whatever bad could come in it (Godzilla included;-). So far the reports of incidents are basically due to overfed systems in which NSW with possibly some flat worms is put and these finding a nutrient rich water column, simply develop significantly.

Here you can see one of the places where NSW can be collected and also one of the places were I collect natural sponge to feed the spongivore fishes. The pace is Valadares sul (=Valadares south beach). Its a place where I spent many weekends of my childhood as my family had a house close to the beach. The video was done at the end of the afternoon and the tide was almost low. You can see afloat Saccorhiza polyschides that you can see bellow completely out of water during the low tide period as well as some other algae and animals found in the intertidal zone.

Laminaria, Saccorhiza polyschides, almost out of the water

Hymeniacidon sanguinea orange sponge out of the water and moisty

Codium tomentosum - mostly liked by Zebrasomas

Codium tomentosum out of the water along with Ulva rigida (green algae - very much liked by Tangs) and mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis.

Chondria coerulescens - "jewel of the jewels" this dazzling vivid blue algae of our cost never cease to impress me.

Anemonia sulcata - "the crown of rubis" of our cost. This beautiful anemone of our cost is very aggressive.

Anemonia sulcata, Bunodactis verrucosa (closed), Lythophyllum incrustans (coraline encrusting algae, "jewel" of our coast

Aplysia depilans - Vinagreira do mar - Sea hare similar to Aplysia californica, which when disturbed releases a crimson substance whose composition is believed to be very oxidizing as it is similar to Hydrogen Peroxide

Bellow you can see some friends of mine getting water by the first method which for obvious:Yikes::tired: reasons has been abandoned for the most part and replaced by a "motorized method":approve:

Given the hard work involved, everyone interested gave some money and we bought a motorized pump.
Bellow you can see some friends of mine at the "official inauguration" of the motorized equipment to pump sea water, little over one year ago. Also this is one of the rocky beaches where I collect natural sponge

Preparation of the equipment

Carlos Mota, wearing the Nike shirt, the person that had the original idea and whose tank is maintained only with NSW

For logistics improvement we found another location partly suggested by me and now this is where it happens

Have a look here and here and here

preparation

Well this is how we collect presently natural sea water at the Gaia beaches. Our friends from the city of Aveiro have now started to do the same thing but with a more portable pump powered by a 12V connection and transformer

Paulo Marinheiro on the left, an architect friend of mine whose tank you will see below

here you can see two tanks of two friends of mine maintained only with natural sea water (just see the pictures)

De volta a carga (carlos Mota) (

1 2 3 4 5 ... Ultima P?gina)

Aqu?rio de Paulo Marinheiro (

1 2 3 4 5 ... Ultima P?gina)

Well I'm now buying one of these 12V pumps for pumping diesel, petrol, or salt waters and will collect the water more easily.

We have more examples throughout the country.

If you like to see more photographs of some of the places where I collect sponge, water, as well as some other photographs sent for the same purpose by other members, well have a look here Viagem ? volta do mundo (

1 2) (its kind of slow due to the videos)

Cheers
Pedro Nuno ;-)
Post Scriptum: I'm not in the photographs ;-)

 

[Pootie]

dudee dudeeee dudeeeee. thoes tanks are sickkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.. and looks like a lot invested, that light bill must be sky high. but well worth it..

 

[Paul B]

Isn't the water off Long Island a little too 'murky' to use in a tank that houses tropical sw fish and corals?

The water here in NY is "murky" because it is full of life where as the tropical water is basically dead. If you hold up a glass of NY water you will see (if you have good eyes) plankton or at least copepods and other microscope fauna. All of the worlds great fisheries are in northern waters, the further north, the better. Thats because of the nutrients that feed the algae which feed the plankton which feed the fish.
There are no large schools of fish in tropical waters for this reason.
Our water also becomes crystal clear when it settles.
If you collect in the Sound the water will be muddy. The bottom of the Sound is mud. I have been SCUBA diving in the sound for almost 40 years and there is way more life in the Sound than in any tropical sea. It is just hard to see because of the plankton and mud.
I have been using it in my reef since Nixon was President, he died but my reef is still going. :tongue1:
I just strain it to remove jellyfish which will die in my tank, adjust the temp and salinity and dump it in.
The best place to collect in New York is on the Ocean beaches such as this in South Hampton but you can collect in the Sound.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Pedro do you have a "local" species tank?

The two wise masters of NSW collecting is pretty interesting. Both are fascinating tales.

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Patiently awaiting results:splitspin

i will try your theory this week... along with pictures to prove, or disprove it

 

[Pedro Nuno Ferreira]

Hi Paul B ;-)...remember me...Zanclus and live sponge...
South Hampton...so distant yet so similar...

Praia da Aguda (Aguda Beach) Vila Nova de Gaia -Portugal

rough sea...not good for sponge collecting

Relaxing....

Cheers
Pedro Nuno ;-)

 

[Pedro Nuno Ferreira]

Pedro do you have a "local" species tank?

The two wise masters of NSW collecting is pretty interesting. Both are fascinating tales.

Hi JRWOHLER
I do not have a "local" species tank yet. Its a completely different biotope and temperature is critical since over 19?Celcius problems start for many of the organisms...still when one has the local aquarium and scientific institution siting right on the beach where one collects sponge, water some times, algae or simply relax, 7km from ones house...I can wait a little longer

Here is the Aquarium and Scientific Institution and some of the local species exhibited in the aquarium

Esta??o Litoral da Aguda - E.L.A

Diplodus vulgaris - Sargo
http://www.reefforum.net/photopost/data/534/PICT3008.MOV

Trisopterus luscus - Faneca - Whiting-pout
http://www.reefforum.net/photopost/data/534/Trisopterus_luscus_-_Fanecas.MOV

Labro sp. - Wrasse
http://www.reefforum.net/photopost/data/534/Labro_sp_.MOV

Muraena helenae - Helen moray eel
http://www.reefforum.net/photopost/data/534/Muraena_helenae.MOV

Careta careta turtle

Enjoy

Cheers
Pedro Nuno ;-)

 

[Paul B]

I took this picture yesterday. This rock has been in my tank for decades and when I collected it in the Caribbean with all of my other rock, I bleached it so I could bring it on the plane. It looks exactly like a healthy rock taken out of the sea.
My tank has always had a portion of it's water from the sea. All of your animals came from NSW, none of them came from ASW. If you live on an Island why would you use fake water?
Has anyone here ever heard of someone having a problem with real water?

 

[MikeyZO]

I think most people's concerns are two fold... how to collect enough and bring it back home to do a water change, and the overall fear that, although areas around long island are, in fact, teaming with life, there is the fear that a lot of the water surrounding this area is polluted, both with people just being people and throwing crap into the water as well as boat wash, gas spills, oil slicks, and runoff from commercial businesses, such as the LIPA stacks in Northport (granted it is supposed to be only cooling water runoff, but you never really know).

This is in no way a "This is why you shouldnt" post. Just bringing to the table what I would think the major concerns are. If the water is clean enough, I see no reason NOT to use it.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I used the natural seawater sold at petco. It's fine and cheap enough.

This option is viable only to those with very small setups. Anything on a larger scale would be prohibitively expensive and hard to transport.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

This option is viable only to those with very small setups. Anything on a larger scale would be prohibitively expensive and hard to transport.

Yes I wouldn't recommend it on anything above a 55 which was the largest tank I have set up with it.

 

[Pedro Nuno Ferreira]

This option is viable only to those with very small setups. Anything on a larger scale would be prohibitively expensive and hard to transport.

Hi ;-)
Not necessarily, it depends where you live and what kind of house you have...meaning...that the place you live and the kind of house must have easy access for allowing to pump water from a reservoir in your car to a reservoir in your house, otherwise it is back breaking work to transport jerry cans from the car to into the house, not to mention from the sea to your car.

We basically use pumps to do the job as you may see bellow on the photographs taken last Sunday as we pumped out of the sea some 850 gallons that were distributed among us according to each ones needs at the time. One of my friends took home some 370 gallons as he does almost every fortnight and this was done nice and smoothly:tongue1: as shown in the video bellow

http://www.reefforum.net/photopost/data/534/Colecta_Praia_da_Granja.MOV

and once at home he simply pumped it to a reservoir of the same size he has in his coral propagation room while we talked and took photographs of his corals and some frags his got for me. He only uses NSW, have a look

His main reef tank

Some frags

here a photograph of the hose

here a friend of mine filling up his jerry cans...I think he took home some 60 gallons

here some photographs of the place and a video

a curious bird

http://www.reefforum.net/photopost/data/534/Praia_da_Granja.MOV

Next Sunday I'm going to collect some 100 gallons here some 30 Km from my place with a 12V pump that can pump some 100 gallons in 15 or 20 minutes. The pump is connected to the cigarette lighter connector in the car. Its simple, easy and fast and we always manage to find a sunny day to collect the water. Once at home we pump it from the reservoir/s in our cars to the reservoirs into the house and can use it immediately or store it tightly closed and placed in a fresh and shady place to be used some times one month later or even more as I once did.
About the cost its mostly fuel costs to run some 8x2 Km like the place show above which is some 8km form my place, up to 30x2 km depending on the place chosen and where you live.
Again it is mostly a matter of where you live and the kind of house you have since it has to give you the possibility of pumping the water from...to.
This does not mean that you don't use a salt mix, on the contrary, you should always have one at hand.

Cheers
Pedro Nuno;-)

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Pedro he is singling out my post and suggestion no big deal.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Hi ;-)
Not necessarily, it depends where you live and what kind of house you have...meaning...that the place you live and the kind of house must have easy access for allowing to pump water from a reservoir in your car to a reservoir in your house, otherwise it is back breaking work to transport jerry cans from the car to into the house, not to mention from the sea to your car.

We basically use pumps to do the job as you may see bellow on the photographs taken last Sunday as we pumped out of the sea some 850 gallons that were distributed among us according to each ones needs at the time. One of my friends took home some 370 gallons as he does almost every fortnight and this was done nice and smoothly:tongue1: as shown in the video bellow

http://www.reefforum.net/photopost/data/534/Colecta_Praia_da_Granja.MOV

and once at home he simply pumped it to a reservoir of the same size he has in his coral propagation room while we talked and took photographs of his corals and some frags his got for me. He only uses NSW, have a look

His main reef tank

Some frags

here a photograph of the hose

here a friend of mine filling up his jerry cans...I think he took home some 60 gallons

here some photographs of the place and a video

a curious bird

http://www.reefforum.net/photopost/data/534/Praia_da_Granja.MOV

Next Sunday I'm going to collect some 100 gallons here some 30 Km from my place with a 12V pump that can pump some 100 gallons in 15 or 20 minutes. The pump is connected to the cigarette lighter connector in the car. Its simple, easy and fast and we always manage to find a sunny day to collect the water. Once at home we pump it from the reservoir/s in our cars to the reservoirs into the house and can use it immediately or store it tightly closed and placed in a fresh and shady place to be used some times one month later or even more as I once did.
About the cost its mostly fuel costs to run some 8x2 Km like the place show above which is some 8km form my place, up to 30x2 km depending on the place chosen and where you live.
Again it is mostly a matter of where you live and the kind of house you have since it has to give you the possibility of pumping the water from...to.
This does not mean that you don't use a salt mix, on the contrary, you should always have one at hand.

Cheers
Pedro Nuno;-)

He was talking about expensive on a large scale NSW purchased at a store and you are talking about FREE of charge NSW collected locally. Two completely different concepts with a wide sticker price difference.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

He was talking about expensive on a large scale NSW purchased at a store and you are talking about FREE of charge NSW collected locally. Two completely different concepts with a wide sticker price difference.

Expensive to you might not be expensive for someone else and proper husbandry for you might be carelessness and laziness for someone else as well. Glad to see you so active as of late, happy reefing!