Source of Saltwater....

[Ah-lim]

As I live rather near to sembawang beach, I used to use the sea water there for a year for my 1.5 ft nano. No algae problem and death, juz weekly 10 % water change .

Let's juz say the LFS near my area are rather..... :pinch:

Now trying salt mix though. So far so good.

Ps: Did quarantined the NSW too. Just in case.

[tigershark]

i dun know which 1 is better.... but im sure that salt mix can maintain my lifestock alive and most important.... wateris heavy.... it is not easy to buy NSW from LFS even with car.... cannot imagine how to carry 20~40 gallon from my car to my unit...

[May&Bruce]

seems like the majority of us mix our own salt water. The majority surely can not be wrong, right?

Anyway, at the end of the day, both will normally be OK for most tanks, although in my mind there would always be a water quality risk with LFS water, unless you are 100% certain as to 1) where it came from, and 2) what additional filtering/treating the LFS has given it.

[blueheaven]

I don't trust LFS too

However, there might be a possibility that water collected from the sea might contain some trace chemicals that allows certain corals to survive.

So whether or not to buy from LFS is still a preference of the reefer

[May&Bruce]

Sure, its always good to have choices

[madmac]

seems like the majority of us mix our own salt water. The majority surely can not be wrong, right?

Anyway, at the end of the day, both will normally be OK for most tanks, although in my mind there would always be a water quality risk with LFS water, unless you are 100% certain as to 1) where it came from, and 2) what additional filtering/treating the LFS has given it.

The same *and less* can be said for salt mixes. Basically, most kits can give you a reading and most times saltmixes come out lesser. Filtration is an issue, but no longer if the NSW obtain is clear. I'm not ssure for others, but I can tell if the water is yellowish. And oil is a non issue as the two dont' mix.

Whats keeping me still to NSW is the life that it comes with, I dont' think anything thats added is bad or won't be consumed/absorbed for the benefit of whats in the tank.

[FuEl]

I might be going NSW soon. Especially for people rearing larvae, salt-mix might just kill them.

[May&Bruce]

one other consideration is obviously the size of your tank and how much water you change. My tank (inc. sump) is around 600 litres, so if I want to change 20% then that is 120 litres! That's quite a lot of NSW bags to carry into and out of the car, through the carpark, into the lift, etc., etc.