Tap water

[Rafael]

I'm new to this hobby, and 8 days ago a set up a 20g SW tank. But just now I read that I'm not suppose to use tap water. What should I do now? I really don't want to restart the whole thing over again. I only have saltwater and 20lbs of aragonbite in the tank with a few LR that I purchased 2 days ago.

What's the big deal w/ tap water?

[upstoday]

Mostly just all the junk that comes along with it, the stuff you wouldn't want in your tank. Chlorine, Nitrates, Nitrites and stuff along that line. I'm using tap water right now, it's the best thing to use but it is ok to use it. I use Seachem Prime which removes Chlorine, chloramine, and ammonia from the water and says it also detoxifies Nitrite and Nitrates.

If anything you just gotta keep on top of the testing and make sure your water levels are ok. I've also heard that you are more likely to get algae blooms using tap water, I guess because of all the stuff in it. Not sure if you want to use it if you had corals in the tank, being that from reading they seem to be much more sensetive to water levels.

I did just buy a RO filter from Home Depot for 159 + tax, not sure if it's something you want to do or able to do, but always something good to aim for.

Not sure if it's possible but I'm sure the LFS also makes some of it's own water, I wonder if they would be willing to sell some, might be a good thing when you go to do water changes. Bring some 1gal containers and fill them up, 2 or 3 would be fine. Just another thought.

I'm rather new, I'm sure some others will drop in and give you a better explained reason for using filtered water over tap water. Alot of guys with alot of experince here, you defintley found the right place to learn from.

[Whiskey]

I am probably going to get reemed for this, but I use tap water for lack of uderstanding about ro/di, what needs to be put back in the water and the fact that it is the only thing to use in a freshwater planted tank.

My tank has been setup (first in a 30G then in a 50G) for about 1 1/2 years now with live rock, a yellow tang 2 clowns 1 yellow tail damsel and aragonite. I also have turbo snailes and assorted hermet crabs and am starting to add coral.

The problem with tap water is that there are some things that may be in tap water that may be bad for your reef. The hassle with tap water is you need to get the KH, salinity and PH right, before it goes in the tank and I try to fill the tank slow just in case it will change anything it won't change too fast.

If you want to change it out than I would just do a series of 20-30% water changes along the normal cource of the tank and in a few months it will be almost compleatly gone.

Good luck,
Whiskey

[upstoday]

I don't think it is a must to use RO water, just that is easier to keep the water in better condition. I wouldn't be overly concerned with using it as long as your testing it regulary to make sure everything is ok.

[noeldhezjem]

i'm also new at this website, just one quick question. What is RO/DI water or filter. thanx

noel

[Whiskey]

I don't know too much about it but I do know that they take out the minarals and things in the water like a water filter for your sink just much much better.

[upstoday]

Reverse Osmosis/ Deionized water. They sell the filters on the net and I found one at homedepot.

They pretty much take everything out of the water leaving you with just about pure water.

[Rafael]

Thanks everybody for the help

[gman0526]

Wouldn't it be better if we lived in a pollution free enviroment?, just apply that same concept to the RO/DI water controversy. We as aquarium hobbyists are trying to replicate an almost perfect ecosystem in our tanks and by utilizing the best available resources at our hands we take much of the stress off our little "pets". Sure there is a lot of polutants in seawater but just the sheer size and volume of the ocean takes care of it. The extra investment in RO will pay itself on the amount of money that you will save on healthy livestock and "water conditioners" in the long run. IMO

[SaltyDawg]

RO/DI is the best way to go, but tap water is ok in a pinch or if there is no RO/DI available. Don't worry about what you might have to add to the RO/DI water because the salt you mix into it has trace elements of what you need anyway.
Wayne

[cruzeoc]

Rafael, if you live in the uk you dont have to worry about allot of chemicals they use in tap water 4 some reason we dont actually use allot of chemicals i was worried about this but i new some 1 who worked at the water works and asked him all about it the main content we have is chlorine witch is very week my tank is done using tap water and it's fine i only use dechlorinator mind you if you live somewhere else say and some1 ffrom your area can tell you what you need to do

[upstoday]

Do most LFS sell any of the water they make? I would imagine they must have some huge systems.

The biggest problem with using tap water is the possible introduction of Chlorine, silicates, phosphates, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, iron, copper among other things. The water quality will vary from area to area depending upon the source of the water. The levels of these things in the water will vary as well. If properly treated, with a good filtration system you will more than likely be just fine. All of these things other than chlorine are great for growing algae, something most reefers go to great lengths to avoid.

As small as your tank is...an option that you have is using RO/DI water from the store that you fill your container with for about 40 cents a gallon. Do test the water as they sometimes dont change the filters as often as they should but the water is usually pretty good.

Since I am renting and have several LARGE tanks (smallest one is 65 gallons, largest 300 gallons) I am using tap water as I go through about 30 gallons of just make up water a week! The water quality here is above average though and checks out very well for all of the potential contaminates. So I havent had any problems yet. A RO/DI unit is in my future after the move from half way around the world though as I will be retiring from the military. As said earlier, you dont really need an RO/DI unit but why not try to provide the pristine enviroment your live stock deserves and is acustomed to.

HTH's

[SaltyDawg]

Well to be honest I would not trust everything the water company says. Most of the bad stuff that comes in from tap water may not come directly from the water plant. There is sedement that builds up in the water lines under the street and in your house, this is where bad stuff comes from. Tap water is fine if that's all you have, but most LFS's sell RO/DI water for about .40 a gallon fresh and .50 a gallon with salt mixed. The only major problems you can get from tap water is uncontrolled algae and the ability to never get your Nitrates down to proper levels.
Wayne

[MikeS]

bottom line....most tap water is BAD :evil: and should be avoided in the reef tank....


In my long journey through the world of keeping marine tanks, the 2 best things I ever did were 1.) remove the UGF from an FO tank. I got this advice about 10 years ago, the improvement was dramatic....and 2.) Stop using tap water! I did this about 5 years ago....the improvement in my tanks was even more dramatic than losing the UGF! :D

Mike

[Hobbs]

just a quick note:
LFS will sell you water, but it is almost always their unwanted water change. Still best to get a RO

[Aquaman]

I didn't believe in RO/DI water until I got tired of loosing my little pets and switched over from tap water. My tank looks better, I'm going a little bit longer between water changes and I have not lost a single creature since switching over. I did a slow change, about 4 gallons a week. I get my water from the little windmill stand at my grocery store. It always tests perfect. (one other tip I have: If you need a 5gallon container sometimes depending on what brand of salt you buy the LFS will give you a nice container for mixing SW for free. Just ask if they have any salt that comes with a free mixing container)

[malkore]

Another big reason is that synthetic salt, and all the buffers they add to it, are designed to mix up properly in pure water (ro/di water).
Case in point. I mix up two batches of saltwater, same amount of water and salt in both, one tap water and the other RO/DI.
the tap water 24 hours later shows a pH of 8.0, a whole lot of calcium, and moderate alkalinity. The RO batch has a pH of 8.2, a moderate calcium, and moderate alkalinity.
Basically RO water should have little to no buffering ability on its own, so it will readily accept whats in the salt mix, and any additional things like Kent SuperBuffer. Tap water in my area comes out at 7.8pH (rested) and 8dKh...so in order to get the right salinity, my calcium, KH and pH all go wonky if I use tap water.

Its 20cents a gallon at my LFS, or 13cents at the grocery store. Eventually I'll get an RO unit installed and life will be easy.

[rbmount]

After RO/DI my second choice is distilled. I used tap on the initial fillup, and had a bad cyano outbreak. Since then I bought a RO/DI unit and that is all I use for changes and top offs.

[AquaFX]

All the above reasons are valid, may I add just one more dimension. Anything that IS in the raw water (except those things that evaporate) will concentrate.

In other words you add 100 gallons of water with 200 ppm of X and 10 gallons evaporate so you add 10 more gallons at 200 ppm. And this happens 20 times; you now have 400 ppm of X. Everything continues to concentrate.

So even if the initial water quality is not bad, it will be much worse soon.

I think I explained that, if not let me know, I will try to do better.

Marianne

[cich1]

a very good point Marianne, on the same note however if you started with tapwater and switched to ro/di water for topoffs and water changes it should start to dilute the bad things so if you started with tap water alls not lost, no need to start over

[AquaFX]

True, It will dilute through water cahnges. Thats a good thing.

[Kaston]

I use tap water :badgrin: thats the only thing i use :badgrin: , but we have a well :razz: so there is no clorine in it, it does have a few minerals in it but none that will hurt the fish I think :?

[MikeS]

Kaston....what have you tested your well water for?

Mike

[Kaston]

Everthing, I'm not sure were the papers are but we did test it to make sure it had no hevy metals like mercury if it did I would be a little loopy. Oh, wait a minitute :banana: :chuggin: :uzi: :banana: never mind. Well i did test it for nitrATE and it showed oppm.

[MikeS]

That's good.....have you tested it for phosphates or silicates?

Mike

[Kaston]

yes it was clean it may have a slitest bit of copper but not enough to hurt anyone or thing my food has more copper in it then my water

[MikeS]

You can remove the copper with carbon filtration....it's a good idea, as copper can build up in your system otherwise....JMHO....

Mike

[Kaston]

Yeah I have a activated corbon filter for most of my fish

[soundengineer]

I have a 20 gallon with a penguin 300 filter on it...and I use it to purify my tap water...... lots of carbon.....and a coupe days of running and its nice and clean....its amazing how clean you can make the water with just a little carbon
I dont run the bio wheel on the "cleaner tank"
when I need to make satwater for water changes... I just empty the good clean water into a 5gal bucket that has only been used for making water...and I mix away....


works really good......havent had any problems with it :)

[Whiskey]

I posted a long time ago saying that I use tap water, I wanted to come back and say, that now I don't, and kinda wish I never did. As soon as I got real lighting (more than 1, 20W strip) I found the error of my ways very quickally in the form of algae.

I find that using RO/DI your salt mixes up better, with a better balance and also that algae is cut way down.

Whiskey

[Doctor_Reef]

I find that using RO/DI your salt mixes up better, with a better balance and also that algae is cut way down.
Whiskey

Ditto's on the clean water and salt mixes up better.....

[soundengineer]

I agree that Ro water is definately better...
but I had a tank laying around...so I just decided to put it to good use with some carbon...no sense in letting it collect dust...and I dont really want to make another real tank out of it....one tank is enough to maintain for me :razz:

[Doctor_Reef]

Sounds interesting..... By the way like your avatar picture.... Neat set up!!!!

[Sugar Magnolia]

very neat set up...who do you set up for?

[soundengineer]

very neat set up...who do you set up for?

anyone and everyone that needs it...and can pay for it obviously....

we do everything from 2 little speakers on stands for the local school play...all the way to Arena Size shows for traveling Bands.....I do the audio side of things..... but we also have a huge lighting department capable of the same wide range of productions...and then some.....


sorry to be a thread hog........oink...oink.....

http://www.audiohelix.com/

thats my site.... look at the gig pictures section to see some more stuff I do......