Scripps Water : Google Map, Quality, Transport

[kmooresd85]

Has anybody gotten water yet or do we still need to wait a while in bad need of a water change

i used it and tested it. no problems. same ol scripps water

[DaveMorris]

Maybe this will help those who want to mix, and think they're doing BEST for their tank;
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php

Ron Shimek is one of the marine biologists most responsible for the way I handle my reef tanks. He truly knows what he is talking about.

As for contamination after a rain??? Like has been stated before, the inlet for the Scripps water system is at the end of the pier (425 feet offshore) and the depth there is approximately 60 feet. The inlet pipe goes down approx. 30 feet below the surface. Considering the fact that there are no storm drains anywhere near the pier (that I know of) I find it very hard to believe that any runoff contamination could be measured anywhere near Scripps, let alone where the water actually gets sucked into the pipe. What runoff may find its way to the ocean in that area would be so diluted by the time it got that far offshore that I doubt it would even be noticeable. When I had my 300g up before, and my 135g before that, and my 90g before that, twelve years total, I have always used Scripps water. Rain or shine, sleet or snow...It just doesn't matter. I can't count how many 100's of times I actually was collecting water while it was raining and or immediately following the rain storm. And yes I have even collected water there during a massive red tide. It had no effect on my tank at all. Currently on my 300g I am mixing water, but only because I don't have a Ford F-150 to haul 150g of water around anymore.

[JohnnyAirtime]

Ron Shimek is one of the marine biologists most responsible for the way I handle my reef tanks. He truly knows what he is talking about.

As for contamination after a rain??? Like has been stated before, the inlet for the Scripps water system is at the end of the pier (425 feet offshore) and the depth there is approximately 60 feet. The inlet pipe goes down approx. 30 feet below the surface. Considering the fact that there are no storm drains anywhere near the pier (that I know of) I find it very hard to believe that any runoff contamination could be measured anywhere near Scripps, let alone where the water actually gets sucked into the pipe. What runoff may find its way to the ocean in that area would be so diluted by the time it got that far offshore that I doubt it would even be noticeable. When I had my 300g up before, and my 135g before that, and my 90g before that, twelve years total, I have always used Scripps water. Rain or shine, sleet or snow...It just doesn't matter. I can't count how many 100's of times I actually was collecting water while it was raining and or immediately following the rain storm. And yes I have even collected water there during a massive red tide. It had no effect on my tank at all. Currently on my 300g I am mixing water, but only because I don't have a Ford F-150 to haul 150g of water around anymore.

Where's my LIKE button?!

[calreef18]

Not to discount Dr. Shimek or anything but here's another article with more independent testing that seems more accurate:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1

FWIW I use Scripps and find it to work well, also use reef crystals with good results.

[DaveMorris]

Not to discount Dr. Shimek or anything but here's another article with more independent testing that seems more accurate:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1

FWIW I use Scripps and find it to work well, also use reef crystals with good results.

"More accurate" should probably be read as more up to date. That article is interesting, but I find it simply amazing that the study did not include Coralife salt. First it was one of the salts in Shimek's study that was truly suspect and secondly it most assuredly has got to be one of the more popular salt mixes. FWIW, I just picked up a bucket of Coralife salt today from Pet Kingdom. I bought that brand because it is significantly cheaper than the others.

[JohnnyAirtime]

Not to discount Dr. Shimek or anything but here's another article with more independent testing that seems more accurate:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1

FWIW I use Scripps and find it to work well, also use reef crystals with good results.

Don't forget PART II; http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/aafeature1

[DaveMorris]

And this sums up what I take away from this study:

No salt in this study is an accurate simulation of natural sea water.
All salts had at least one toxic heavy metal that was far in excess of
NSW levels. When all factors are considered, Tropic Marin, Instant Ocean,
and Kent Marine score the best, but such a score can not be arrived at
without some amount of subjective judgment in evaluating the pertinent factors.

Since Dr. Shimek was specifically dealing with sensitive creatures like embryos of marine life, I can see his concern over the use of synthetic salt mix. I would love to see how Red Sea Coral Pro would stand up in this type of test. I'm not impressed with the overall approach that this study took considering the fact the several brands were left out and the data that they were referring to on Instant Ocean was from the 1999 study. They even said that IO has since changed their formulation. Still, it is an interesting and certainly on-going debate.

[dpoltsdsu]

Anyone see good growth of soft and lps with scripps without dosing anything?
Thabks, Dylan

[1904mike]

Dylan I use Scripps in my 20g and I'm not adding anything to it right now.
the only corals I have had long enough to notice growth is some gsp and blue digitata. they are both growing great. I just picked up some torches and zoas and they look great, but I can't judge growth yet.

I will be dosing as per the first page of this thread in a couple weeks when I transfer everything to a different tank.
I've been using it straight out of their hose for a few months now and my tank is doing great.

[specvjeff]

Anyone see good growth of soft and lps with scripps without dosing anything?
Thabks, Dylan

When I used Scripps way back when, I didn't have any problems with soft coral but my LPS didn't display the best color or growth.

[specvjeff]

Anyone see good growth of soft and lps with scripps without dosing anything?
Thabks, Dylan

When I used Scripps way back when, I didn't have any problems with soft coral but my LPS didn't display the best color or growth.

[Bubblehead]

I had good growth with both. I was even able to grow some easier and small SPS frags (birds nest and Miami orchid) without dosing. Agree that when I added iodine and strontium, I got better color.

[Bogg]

Kinda an oxymoron IMO
I you want to grow things you'll need to make up for the elements being uptaken,
You'll need to replenish those either mix or not

Ie: you start working out daily at the gym and just drink water the whole time
When actually you'll need to take in more protein etc to make up for all the extra work your doing.

[specvjeff]

I can back up that statement for him. This is my personal experience and, I can't go without saying that individual results may vary as every system is different. When I was using it, I constantly had issues with red turf algae. I finally decided to purchase my own RODI unit and start mixing. When I started mixing, I noticed after a month or so with water changes every week, the algae started to go away. So I decided to test the Scripps water. I did more than one test and tested the water several times over a couple of months. Each time I would find phosphates in the water. The levels varied but were always between .05 and .15. I also noticed a couple of other things. I was getting much better coloration out of my corals and more polyp extension. I also didn't have to dose as much for Alk, Cal, and Mag. To back up the issues with phosphate, I started testing the Scripps water we picked up to use in the fish system at AquaSD. A couple of years had gone by since I used Scripps so I decided to test it again out of curiosity. Again, I found varying levels of phosphate in the water. We have since switched to mixing at the store for our fish and invert system.

I know many people here use Scripps water and have no issues but again, that is a result of each system being set up differently (ie. media reactors, zeovit systems, protein skimmers, fish stock levels, and how much and how often your feeding, and of course the varying levels of the phosphates). If one were to pick up when the levels are .05 and have an appropriately stocked tank, using GFO and feeding lightly, they wouldn't have issues. I had a smaller tank that was not overstocked but I know red turf algae can grow off smaller amounts of phosphates. I was not running GFO as it was an all in one system. I didn't want to have reactors hanging off the back of the tank. I've always been the type of person to promote fixing the root cause of an issue not merely throwing something at it to cover up the problem.

That is my experience with Scripps water and, I will never go back to using it on a regular basis. In an emergency situation where I absolutely had to do a water change, I'd use it if I didn't have mixed water ready to go, and I have done that. To summarize all this, I like knowing that the water I'm using isn't the cause of a problem since it's easily avoidable.

[naso tang]

Good feedback Jeff. I've got some of that red turf and I never test my po4 so my coral colors reflect it. Don't do Gfo either. Fortunately red turf isn't competing withy coral and my fuge is healthy but Brian's got me thinking of switching...