Difference in Sea water & Salt Water?

[Lawrence]

Dear All,

Pls kindly tell me what is the difference in Natural Sea Water & atrificial salt water cos i am setting my 2ft tank using salt to prepare my tank but one of the farm owner told me that artificial salt do not have enough natural food for the coral & fishes!! Is it true??

Pls also advise when is the best timing to add fishes & corals into my tank. Thanks!!

[nutx]

Maybe you want to do a search on this topic.

I prefer using salt, as the uncertainty of pollutions in the seawater is removed.

btw, heard a reputable LFS (famour for being cheap in accessories) telling customer Salt is better than Sea Water...but the reason they gave is very funny!

"It's raining these few weeks, the salinity of the seawater drops!"

[ReDDeviLs]

i prefered artificial salt.

but i guess nature sea water may contain some unwanted substances which we do not want? as in harmful.

[kopee]

My office uses 'Sea water' direct from the sea. Cos i have the luxury of resources right at the doorstep of my office. So far got no problem... so every 2 weeks, i will just scoop a pail of sea water for a change...

[Lawrence]

Thanks everyone for your kind advise, if I use salt how long do recommend I should let it stable then put live rock??

[Matt06]

What was created by Mother Nature is always the best, as we can't just simply create the exact same thing using artificial salt, however, you might like to consider the fact that nature sea water especially around our island(s) might contain pollutants. Unless you are talking about sea water from places like phuket or something. When choosing salt, you might like to read up more about each product available, as they each have their own advantage. As for myself, I use Red Sea Salt as it is formulated by using "Solar Evoporation" of the Red Sea Water. So, it is a step closer to nature sea water compare to those synthetic salt.

[Golden Tooth]

Thanks everyone for your kind advise, if I use salt how long do recommend I should let it stable then put live rock??

Do u mean starting a new set up?

[Lawrence]

Yes, I meant setting up a new 2 ft tank. Thank, after adding the salt into the tank, how long later then you recommend I add the live rock?

[Tanzy]

The sea water around Singapore fluctuates quite a bit in alkalinity, salinity and calcium levels, so before using it you must always test it. Red Sea salt cannot be made by solar evaporation as it claims, if it did, calcium carbonate crystals will be formed in the drying seawater. Calcium carbonate is insoluble therefore Red Sea is not being trueful.

[Tanggy]

Premix the saltwater in buckets and test salinity. Wash and placed substrate in tank. Do allow time for the salt to completely dissolve before putting in tank.Especially when livestock has been placed in the tank. Pour water into tank and use a plate to break the fall of the water to minimise cloudiness of the water. Start running your filter and allow the water to clear by leaving the water overnight and check the salinity again the next day.

Then you can start placing the live rocks to start the nitrogen cycle. No livestock is required as the rocks will provide you with the armonia required. Get a armonia, nitrite(NO2) and nitrate(NO3) test kit and wait for the armonia and NO2 to appear and dissappear. You can readup on the cycling and the beginner section. Just have patience and enjoy the hobby. There are no quickies in this hobby. or else you'll spend a fortune. Enjoy!!

[yus75]

There are no quickies in this hobby. or else you'll spend a fortune. Enjoy!!

i very agree w tanggy on this.....

[kopee]

of cos collecting sea water from the beaches are always prone to pollutants... But if you have a basin which good water flow including a depth of at least 10m... i think its not a problem...

[Achilles Tang]

Maybe you want to do a search on this topic.

I prefer using salt, as the uncertainty of pollutions in the seawater is removed.

btw, heard a reputable LFS (famour for being cheap in accessories) telling customer Salt is better than Sea Water...but the reason they gave is very funny!

"It's raining these few weeks, the salinity of the seawater drops!"

That statement may not be entirely untrue.

If there is heavy rainfall, the immediate area around land may have a slightly decreased salinity. Depending on the tides and the movement of water around, this should affect the normalization of salinity levels.

All I know is that I hate to have rain just before a dive because the water visibility will get affected!

To me, the diff between NSW and saltmix water is that saltmix is usually much cleaner and has higher calcium, PH and alk levels but may contain higher than normal levels of heavy metals than NSW.

NSW from off our shores is usually dirty, polluted, very lacking in calcium and alk, and PH may not be very high either. Parasites or chemicals is something you can't control. With many of our shores fringed by parks or golf courses, where fertilizer is used, there may be very high phosphate levels too.

I won't take the risk of using NSW but there are some reefers who still do it for years without worry. It's much cheaper too. But the weight and transportation is no joke too.

[[d]3v|L]

hmmm Morgan is using NSW but his SPS are still doing well

[Tanzy]

3v|L,Nov 24 2003, 05:04 PM] hmmm Morgan is using NSW but his SPS are still doing well

Not as well as he would want it to be.

[Lawrence]

Thanks Guys for the advises, really appreciate it!!

Btw I forgot to ask is it neccesary to throw in some prawn heads into a new tank? As one of the shop owner in Pasir Ris farm advise me to do so!!!

[[d]3v|L]

Not as well as he would want it to be.

how well is well?

[Tanzy]

The same well as your well.