Water directly from ocean?

[damselfish]

Hi everybody,

I'm pretty new to crabbing, but I've done my research. I'm ready to mix up my substrate with some salt water, as well as getting salt water ready in a dish for my crabs.

I live right on the ocean in western Florida, so it makes sense to me to simply use water directly from the ocean for this. I know it will be safe for the crabs because it's close to the best approximation of their natural habitat, but I'm concerned about plankton in the water once it's brought into a closed environment.

I'm worried that over a bit of time, the decay of plankton could be an invitation for mold/bacteria in my crabitat, as well as creating an unpleasant stench. I've considered boiling it to kill the plankton prior to using it, or putting it through a sieve to at least remove larger zooplankton.

Does anyone have experience with using water directly from the ocean in their crabitats and have any guidance? Thanks a bunch!

[soilentgringa]

We generally don't recommend ocean water as all the organisms dying off and producing ammonia and other harmful byproducts in a closed space probably aren't good for the crabs.

There is also no real way to gauge what sort of contaminants may be in the water.



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