PETCO Ocean Water......Do you use it for reef tank ? What do you think about it ?

[nemodan]

PETCO Ocean Water..Do you use it for reef tank ? What do you think about it ?

Hi all

I would like to know if you use PETCO Ocean Water in your reef tank and what do you think about it.

I have been reading a lot on internet and most of the users of PETCO Ocean Water said that is very good to excellent. But I would like to here what this forum think.

Concerning price, I know it is more expensive than a 5G Artificial ocean water done at home. I did my numbers and after buying destile water + salts it will cost to me 1-2 dollars more. But I only use 4 gallons per week in my 2 nano tanks (14G one and 12G the other one). So price is not a negative aspect in my case.

I would like to know about its quality and your experience in your reef tank.

Thank you very much !!!

Daniel

 

[new2saltyfish]

in a small nano tank it's probably better because you avoid the risk of level fluctuations but on a bigger tank it's probably too pricey for most.

 

[frank180reef]

if u guys buy it it would be good to post the parms
salinity, alk, calc mag ect

 

[nemodan]

if u guys buy it it would be good to post the parms
salinity, alk, calc mag ect

I already have 5G at home and I will post the parameters .........if I open the box after taking my decision of using it. Will wait to here more about it.

I just read on this thread that Ledreef use it.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?134109-Fs-sps-part-2

There is also this thread concerning parameters:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1255993&highlight=petco+real+ocean+water


Thanks
Daniel

 

[ricomike]

I have used it for years here and there whenever I was too lazy to mix my own saltwater and have had no detrimental effects and judging by the fish and coral it seems to be quite favorable. I've never tested the parameters of their water but I can say may salinity never deviates from 1.024.

 

[22engine]

I used it a few times when I had my biocube. The salinity was never the same when I tested it. Mostly it was high 1.027-1.030. Couple time low. But I added RO to it to bring it down. Too expensive for me to use it all the time.

 

[nemodan]

I used it a few times when I had my biocube. The salinity was never the same when I tested it. Mostly it was high 1.027-1.030. Couple time low. But I added RO to it to bring it down. Too expensive for me to use it all the time.

Thank you guys for your postings.

22engine....if we take out the variable $$$...... what about your corals. Have you seen anything negative on the water ? Was your tank doing Ok ?

Thanks again for posting !!!!
Daniel

 

[Ledreef]

the seawater is the best water for the fish tank they have bacteria only the ocean have give your coral best color grow 70% more any other coral from pre-mix water. I have 72 gal with 30 fish 14 shrimp 1 lobster .3 acro crab any my tank only 9 month old

 

[Ledreef]

If the fish have really bright color look the color

 

[nemodan]

NICE TANK !!!!! Leadreef

I saw also your pictures in the thread I posted the link. It is amazing that in 72 G you are keeping that bioload....mainly 30 fish. That is like 2fish per gallon. Well done !!!

Going back to the water quality. In your other thread (posted in one of my previous answers) you mentioned that you do a 20G water change every 2 weeks and do not supplement. Doing just that you are growing SPS (including acros that are diffucult) and soft corals plus all that fish bioload.

My take home message is that this water is ........incredible good !!!!

Thank you Ledreef for posting those pictures.......1 picture = 1000 words.

Daniel

 

[dz6t]

Petco salt water is rebranded Catalina saltwater. It is very good.
Their salt mix is another story.
I use it once a while to get the bacterial growing in my system (thanks to Ledreef, he actually has a microscope to look at the bacteria).
I can say the effect is visible in terms of coloring of corals. But it is too expensive to use it alone because I have 1000 g of total volume.

 

[MURedhawk]

I bought 80g of it to have when I filled new tank because hard to make that much at the start. It worked great and levels were perfect for cycling. It would be a bit expensive to buy for routine changes for larger tanks. I had to order the 80g in 3 separate orders in order to get the 4.99 shipping deal per order. Otherwise shipping would have been outrageous.

 

[22engine]

I think its good water and agree it has properties that can't be seen in salt mixes. If you have money to spend then by all means try it out. At 12.99 a box and I do a min of 5 gallon a week change. That would cost me 624 dollars a year. For that price I could buy enough coral pro salt to last me 10-15 years.

 

[Ledreef]

11,99$ per box

 

[Ledreef]

The serial. Fish tank king. And tank. They only use seawater. Box. is natural ocean in your house. Think how many coral have you guys lost die. Because the water believe you guys or not I never have lost coral anything in my talk

 

[Ledreef]

Carnation coral grow all I've in my tank

 

[Ledreef]

All over*

 

[nemodan]

I have done some measruments this morning.

Instant Ocean Reef Crystal : 12 hours mixed and heated to 78

CA... . 480 API kit
ALK....11.4 dKh / 4.1 meq/l. Salifert kit
Nitrate....0
Nitrite......0
PH..........8.2

PETCO sea water : mixed for 1 hour and heated to 78

Ca.......480
ALK......9.6 dKh / 3.4 meq/l
Nitrite ....0
Nitrate.....0
PH..........8.03

PH was neasure with the RKL ph probe.

Magnesium to come later in the day.

This looks pretty good for me !!!!!

Daniel

 

[P-Nut]

Hmmmm....interesting. I always asume almost everything sold in Petco is complete S---. But I will take a look at this since I only change 5 gal per week.

Any idea how old the water is? - don the boxes have a date?

My guess is that the real sea water is better because of all the trace elements. For some reason, and I am going from memory here, it seems that artificial salt mixes can't always get all the proportions right (they probably don't care enough).

 

[Ffej]

I've used it for 5g changes per week in my 26 and I've seen nice results with it, including some significant coralline growth after water changes. I've since switched back to RODI with a salt mix as the cost factor can be a bit prohibitive.