Using Natural SeaWater For Your SW Aquarium

I have long asked the question, "Why can't you just use beach water for your fish tank"? The answers you find on the internet vary widely from "You can't!" to "Will never work" to "Too much pollution". The bottom line is that YOU CAN USE BEACH WATER SAFELY AND EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR SALTWATER AQUARIUM! I live 30 miles from Cape May, NJ and I travel there in the summer months and stock up on water straight from the beach in The Villas, NJ. The water is clean, the PH is usually about 8.2-8.3, Salinity is perfect, there are no phosphates, amonias, nitrates, etc and the natural silt in the water is teaming with microbial life that my Mollies (yes my MOLLIES...the freshwater fish you buy at pets mart for .99cents ) love to eat as soon as I dump the stuff in the tank.

As for the mollies, I use them because Sallie Joe over at Garf.org , along with her late husband Leroy, proved to me that these fish make excellent janitors for your tank as they love to algae and other detritus in your tank. I currently have 6 of them in a 10 gallon tank running with Fresh SeaWater from Cape May and Nitrates are zero! (I change water every 10 days currently).  Watch a video of Sally Jo's Mollies here 

So to end this opening post: YOU CAN IN FACT USE BEACH WATER. IT IS HEALTHY AND VIBRANT. CONTAINS GREAT AMOUNTS OF TRACE ELEMENTS AND OTHER MARINE NECESSITIES, IS CHEAP AND FUN. IT IS IMPORTANT TO TEST THE WATER FOR POLLUTANTS BEFORE USING IT. IF YOU LIVE IN A HIGHLY URBANIZED AREA THIS WATER WILL PROBABLY NOT WORK FOR YOU.


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THE PHOTOS BELOW ARE FROM A 55GAL SW TANK STARTED WITH NATURAL SEA-WATER FROM VILLAS, NJ IN CAPE MAY.