Off the wall question....

molliefan09

So i was just sitting here talking with my boyfriend about setting up our saltwater aquarium and he asked me a question that I dont know the answer of....We live about 5 minutes from the gulf of mexico...he was wondering if that water could be used to help with the initial set up of the tank???

Bluetangclan

Well thats a touchy subject. I personally say no and have many reasons for such even though i have caught stuff for my tank on numerous occassions.(Note i catch stuff, not use the water)
You have a decent risk of a contagion that your normal fish arent used to getting in your tank.
You have a decent risk of contaminants from pollution getting in your tank.
Salignity might not be the same so you either might be too salty or not salty enough. Where i lived on the GA coast we would at high tide have a content of 1.015 as opposed to the 1.025 normal to Pacific reefs. The Keys were much saltier too, i have grown up in salt water, swimming and such, and the Keys were so salty it almost stung.
So all in all i would say no unless you were doing a locally caught tank.

molliefan09

that is a good enough answer for me THANK YOU!!