kiwis Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Hi, So I'm looking at starting a new 400-600 Litre salt water reef aquarium. I'll have a sump with this aquarium and a protein skimmer. I know how much salt I'll need to get started from looking at the salt buckets at my local pet store. I have what may possibly be a really stupid question. How often will I need to do a water change? On my tropical freshwater I do a weekly water change of 1/4. If it's the same that'll be a lot of salt and cost. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 that'll be a lot of salt and cost. Which is why many people collect water from the sea (boat ramps etc.) I'm no expert on saltwater setups but in my experience with a good protein skimmer in your setup and no overfeeding then you can get away with less water changes than a freshwater setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted March 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Collecting water from a boat ramp? Can that be done? How effective is it? Do you need to do anything to the water to remove any bad micro-organisms? Would love to know more about this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Natural salt water is best way to do it. Just make sure u get the salinity right. Some times you need to add a bit of RODI water to it and adjust the alkalinity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted March 31, 2014 Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 See this thread: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=66578 Use buckets or whatever you can get away with. Important is to note LA's recommendation of when to collect water in relation to the tide. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted March 31, 2014 Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 general rule of thumb 10% per week water change but is all dependent on stocking i have a 240L reef with 40L sump and i do around 40L a week/fortnight depending on how lazy im feeling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted March 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 and do you use local sea water also? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted April 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Also do you filter the water to remove sand etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Shouldn't be any sand in it, I run it through a filter sock just to ensure its clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted April 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 and just to be sure you can keep say tropical clown fish? do i need to treat the water? im on the east coast 30 minutes north of auckland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 im on the east coast 30 minutes north of auckland Perfect! Where is your nearest boat ramp/wharf? The further you can go from Auckland the better! :slfg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted April 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Waiwera / Hatfields/ Wenderholm :thup: So do I need to do anything to do the water? I've read stuff from offshore forums around chlorinating the water then dechlorinating it... Is this true? Can I keep the tropical salt water guys with this method? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#!CrunchBang Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 Collect from Hatfields, as Waiwera and Wenderholm have rivers right there with a lot of sediment and nutrients. You'll need to bring down the salinity a bit with RODI water, countdown has 10L bottles called Pure Dew. Don't bother with the chlorination, it's just another step you don't really need to take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted April 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 And I can keep tropical sat water fish with this method? also is this common/successful ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 5, 2014 Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 Yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted April 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 is that yes to both questions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted April 5, 2014 Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No1Daemon Posted April 5, 2014 Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 Yes it is common and yes you can keep those fish. Its very common in fact as salt is so expensive its a good option if its available to you. As the others said just check and adjust the salinity and then its good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwis Posted April 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Okay so when I read / post similar questions on internationals forums am I hit with a big no no Just trying to figure out what is best.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Just a question. Do you, need to dose calcium, magnesium ect.. to the ocean water? As with the salt mix you get cal and mg and trace elements in the salt so you dont need to spend as much on supplements. If ocean water has all this I have wasted alot of time and money in the past haha :rolfl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No1Daemon Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 on internationals forums am I hit with a big no no Less pollution in New Zealand. People have been doing this for years as to do you still need to if Natural salt water contains the correct amount of calcium, magnesium etc. In my opinion yes you do because the corals take up those elements as they grow and they need replacing so in order to get the best growth you need to dose to replace those lost elements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Just a question. Do you, need to dose calcium, magnesium ect.. to the ocean water? As with the salt mix you get cal and mg and trace elements in the salt so you dont need to spend as much on supplements. If ocean water has all this I have wasted alot of time and money in the past haha :rolfl: yes you have :smln: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farriis Posted January 21, 2022 Report Share Posted January 21, 2022 After reading a blog about how to make saltwater for aquariums, I made my own saltwater for my reef tank right away. For future or emergency use, I can store a 5 gallon or even a 100 gallon saltwater tank. When I want to add the saltwater, I just add a heater prior to using the salt water to bring the water up to a suitable temperature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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