Buy Sea water or make sea water using salt

[tsktcc]

Hi,

I very new to the Salt water aquarium.

I know that there is a kind of salt which can be use to make our tap water to become sea water, what kind of salt are they?

My auntie which have been keeping salt water aquarium have been buy sea water from a Local fish shop at $5 a pail. is that neccessay or better for the fish or reef

Thank you

[tiffanydunk]

those are called sea salt, u can get it at reputable fish shops. like in petmart. =) or other places frm our sponsors. Not wise to get sea water.

[yongkuat]

there are plenty of sea salt that is available in the market.. all with their pros n cons.. read up more about it before deciding on the brand that you wan...

sea water also has got its pros n cons... but if u really wanna use sea water, jus remember to get it from reputable LFS... in case there is alot of impurities in the water..

cheers

yk

[tsktcc]

Hi,

Is the sea salt just dump into a pail of tap water and let it dissolve or do we need to mix some other water conditioner into the tap water before dumping in the sea salt.

Thank you

Li Liang

[Alvin Tan]

Hi,

Is the sea salt just dump into a pail of tap water and let it dissolve or do we need to mix some other water conditioner into the tap water before dumping in the sea salt.

Thank you

Li Liang

firstly, u need to get a hydrometer. i recommend the brand "seatest"..quite accurate...or even better..u can get a refractometer for a more accurate reading...

for me, i pour some salt into the pail and add in water from tap. stir awhile and measure, reading still not to optimum level, i will continue to pour the salt and stir the water till the salt salinity reading reaches the desired level at 1.024 for me.

if u are really serious and decide to venture more into this hobby, u can get a DI filtration system to treat water from the tap for any impurities because tapwater have phosphate too...

i use tropic marin salt now...must say it is a gd salt with good water parameters..

happy reefing...

[angelfishlover]

I use Red Sea Salt.The salt is very affordable and quite good ah but the alkalinity is quite low.Wah 1.024 SG??My SG is 1.022.The SG needs from 1.021-1.025 is okay.For me i reccomend a those using needle hydrometer.Are you setting up a fish only tank or a reef tank???Reef tank more complicated.But i also first time try buy all those expensive stuff.Go to the library and search about marine fishkeeping.

I usually mix water conditioner first then the salt.

[bgrking]

Hi reefers,

After stirring the salt with conditioned water... i discovered that there are some salt residue remains... do you encounter the same issue?

Regards,

bgrking

[Thexder]

Red sea salt tends to have a lot of residue sendiment. I also find that it has low Mg and Ca. Anyone else has the same results?

[XPeriment 626]

Most salt will have residue if you simply stir it in a pail of room temperature tap water. It is best if you are able to leave the salt water to stand overnight with a small pump/wavemaker in the pail to ensure the salt particles are all fully dissolved. This is because salt particles if introduced undissolved into the tank can sting your fish and livestock.

As for buying seawater or making salt, the latter is of course more work and more expensive. However, please bear in mind that Singapore sea water isn't very clean, if you see how many container ships and oil tankers are berthed offshore. Think carefully if you want to introduce that kind of water into your tank.

[Copperband]

This subject is not a matter of which is better than which... it is more of a opinion... Some people think NSW is better and some think Synthetic is better....So what ever floats your boat .....

For me i am using NSW it is reasonably good... and extremely convenient... need not mix and mix.... just buy and use immediate,.... I try not to store NSW .. IF in the event i need to store... I will run a skimmer or at least a pump... to keep things circulating..... Been using NSW for close to 6 months already.... So if u got any questions can direct to me ....

[whitetiger]

i buy saltwater rather then mixing with sea salt. is it not more natural?

[xersion]

seawate unless u can get those deep sea water.. not those near the shore type..

[angelfishlover]

But if u get seawater there will be impurities.I recommend using salt for Marine.Use Marine Environment or Tropic Marin salt cause they are good brand.I'm using Marine Environment now.

[Ah-lim]

There are 2 separate schools in using NSW and salt mix.

Both have their pros and con and had been argued a long long time.

Check out reefcentral thread on NSW vs Salt mix and in their chemistry forum.

Point to note.

Salt mix would nv match 100% to NSW.

Juz as wat copperband says, its a matter of opinion.

[Angel]

Been using NSW since day one and never look back and in my opinion nothing beats NSW.

[angelfishlover]

Natural Sea Water shortform(NSW) looks like New South Wales,Australia(NSW).Lol.Anyway you mus get from reputable dealer for NSW(Natural Sea Water)

[redspring]

Natural Sea Water shortform(NSW) looks like New South Wales,Australia(NSW).Lol.Anyway you mus get from reputable dealer for NSW(Natural Sea Water)

How much you pay for you NSW and where do you get from

[kelstorm]

Natural Sea Water shortform(NSW) looks like New South Wales,Australia(NSW).Lol.Anyway you mus get from reputable dealer for NSW(Natural Sea Water)

i find this statement extremely farnie.. where u think the LFS get their NSW from? how does NSW differs from one reputable and another non-reputable? do u test the water before buying? More often than not, they got it from the nearby waters... chances are, from the same dealer, who supply to other LFS as well.

Does the NSW from the LFS been filtered and skimmered? Just some qns to put some tots into the consideration.

I have used NSW directly from the dealer and once from the LFS as well as salt mix. I must say, to change beyond 750L of water at one time, it is madness and more expensive to use salt mix.

salt mix can be used when u do some amt of water changes like 10%. For me, 10% would have been almost 110L.

As mentioned, u can read from RC abt the debate and then decide for urself.

[Underwater]

When i set up my 5ft last time, l go for NSW from Irwana. They just pump into my tank and no mess, and was much much faster and cheaper than sea salt. Almost clear water after 1-2 hrs. No problem at all when i added new fishes after 2 wks.

But like what Kelstorm said, for top up or small water change, can use sea salt.

[Achilles Tang]

NSW is subjected to a lot of factors - collection point, pollutants in the water like oil, chemicals, fertilizer run-offs etc, salinity dilution due to heavy rains, higher sediments, parasites, lower PH, KH etc. And you have to trust your supplier to sand-filter the water or keep the water aerated/skimmed to remove dying plankton as they don't get enough sunlight in the holding tanks.

Making your own saltwater is troublesome in terms of preparations but in terms of controlling your own environment in terms of salinity, purity, controlled calcium/KH/PH values, they cannot be beaten!

Isn't a tank a controlled environment and so why put in something so variable unless you own a very big tank where NSW is a logical choice mostly because of logistics? You would have to spend more on CR media though if you want to keep a coral tank and spend time adjusting it to the proper reeftank parameters.

My 2 cents,

[Underwater]

For big tank that uses salt mix, unless DI water is used which add to the cost, l'm sure the NO3 and PO4 and other undesirable metals in tapwater would be present too.

[kelstorm]

i change on average 750 to 800L each time when i do water change (abt 2/3 of my tank vol).. i cant afford to do water salt mix.. i need a big holding tank.. hahaha..