I am a beginner in terms of marine aquarium and wanted to check if I could use natural sea water to establish my tank.

Question
Hi, I am a beginner and wanted to check if I could use natural sea water to establish my first sea water tank. Could you also answer my following questions regarding it?

1. How long shall I process the water if natural sea water is used instead of synthetic salt?

2. I am going to have a separate hospital aquaria for my new additions to the tank and sick fish. What should be used as medication for the quarantine tank?

3. As the quarantine tank will not have any base medium, pH might drop down drastically. This will certainly cause over stress to the fish. What should be used to keep the pH stable at 8.2 - 8.3?

4. Kindly suggest the best filter media for the both quarantine and display tank?

5. How do I keep the calcium reading stable at 400 without using sophisticated equipment as I do not have a huge budget at the moment? May be six months down the line.

Please spare some time to answer my questions. Your time and expertise will be appreciated


Answer
(REVISED ANSWER)
You are welcome.  Thanks for the feedback ratings.  I will try to answer quicker and to do better to get better scores...

I would suggest you try out the new forum for more information and to ask more questions... there are more people there and they are always willing to help and for you to read up on thier quiestions and issues to see if they might help you also...

www.thelittleocean.com

I hope to see you there...

b


Hello Deepanker,

You can use natural seawater, in fact many folks do... The big issue to consider is to make sure that hte water is clean, not collected from local beaches or near storm water treatment plants.  Depending on where you live, you might want to locate a 'university or research facility, as they usually have filtered water for thier use and usually allow local hobbyist access to it as well.

If the water is clean there is no 'processing', other then to make sure it is similar temperature and peramters as your display tank, or whatever tank you are putting it into.

To answer your questions...

2.  You dont want to 'medicate' the tank prior to knowing what you are treating... in other words each issue/illness/desease will recquire different medications..  There is a difference between hospital tank and quarintine tank... a QT will be used to isolate new acquisitions prior to placing them into your display tank to minimze/avoid introducing new issues into your main system...

3.  ph is subject to go up and down within a range between 7.6-8.3  there is no way to LOCK thge ph to a specific pH....  i.e the pH will go up and down depending on outdie conditions... if the lights are on, the pH may go up, if the windows are constangly closed and there are lots of people inside, the pH may go down...   the do sell pH buffers, but those are usually used to bring the levels to back in the 'range' and make sure you dont 'overshoot' or go past the target pH...

4.  I dont use 'filter media' regularly... saltwater systems are filterd 'biologically', thru the use of live rock and sand...  if you want to filter out 'particulate matter' i.e. food stuff, sand, poo, etc, then you can use a filter pad... I would suggest using 'batting' usually sold in fabric stores, walmart, etc...  I cut strips and place them into the baffles of the sump when i want 'clearer' water... usually before i have company, or before taking pictures, but other then that, the tank is best when it looks more natural, dirty, imho...

5.  Calcium and most other trace elements will drop depending on DEMAND... that is if you have a lot of corals, and they use/need a lot of calcium, then you should expect the calcium to come from the water... BUT, if you do regular water changes, and have a 'normal' amount of hard corals, then your calcium will stay at the same level as the water you are using... if you are using natural seawater, then it will be the same calcium as that water, if you are using synthetic, then it will be at the level designed for that particular brand.

You can read up on calcium and ALKalinity issues at www.bulkreefsupply.com   they use a formuala, method previously called/referred to as 'RANDYs TWO PART SOLUTION'  I suggest you read that information along with some information located at www.reefkeeping.com, (search for two part solution)

But again, in my experience, unless you have a heavily stocked hard coral, (SPS) and clams, and i mean HEAVILY stocked, and you dont change the water often, then you might need to dose/suppliment the calcium, but if you have a normaly stocked tank, and perform routine water changes, then you probably wont have to add or do more then just change the water...



I hope this answered some of your questions, if not, please let me know.

you can join the new forum at www.thelittleocean.com and talk/chat with other reefkeeper members and get more info and feedback on what you are planning on putting together...

hope to see you there soon,


bill