alge help.....seriously

jacobsdad09

jacobsdad09

Member
im not saying ro water is bad im not what im am orignally asking what is the harm of not using ro water so that i can have some alge in my tank.....and the only answer people can come up with is that it might get out of control.....and id like some other answer to support the only ro water and ill have to add my own macro alge.....................................
ps i know how to spell basically i missed one letter.....
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Jacobsdad....Let me say it this way....Take a clean glass of water and put a few drops of urine in it. You don't need the pee, but it won't kill you either..it's just a little something extra in the water. who needs it super clean anyway.
The cheapest I could ever set up a SW tank was $1000.00, that does NOT include the price of my critters. I spent $130.00 alone on just the snails for a CUC ... for 37 cents a gallon I can avoid the ugly algae, and keep my expensive critters in some super clean water. Of all the things to be too cheap to purchase, I wouldn't think of skimping on the water.
I know you mean well, but every town is different. maybe the water in your part of life isn't as bad as we make it out to be....but what if the "extra" stuff in another part of the world has a very different affect. Your advice could do allot of damage to somebody who trusted what you had to say. RO water is pure and clean with no extras to have to worry about. That is why we advise all folks to use it. It guarantees a good start on at least the water quality.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member

I assume by your quote that you feel that RO water takes those elements out of tap water. What you must remember is that we are trying to duplicate ocean water. We reintroduce elements into the RO water or clean slate as you put it via our salt mix
Quote:
chloride, sodium, sulfate, magnesium, calcium, potassium, bicarbonate, bromide, borate, strontium, sillicate, fluoride, iodine, zinc, selenium, copper, tin, iron, manganese, phosphorus, cobalt, nickel, chromium, vavdium, molybdenum.....sounds like ro water is taking more then ur are putting back in?
You can most certainly have any type of algae in your tank it is after all your tank. I think the point is that if you use RO water you are eliminating any products that may be found to be harmful to your tank inhabitance that may be introduced via the tap water.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Hit that tap water with some Prime or Amquel and let it sit 24 hours to mature. The only way to be sure is to use it and see what happens.
I've used tap for years to start tanks, but never to continue topping it off. Plus, I know my local water conditions and sources, so I know my limits.
All you can do is try it and see.
 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
This is ridiculous. The problem with tap water is that in most cases we don't know what is in it. Most of us avoid using it because tap water tends to promote nuisance algae and there could be stuff in it that is bad for our live stock. Will it kill your fish if you use dechlorinated tap water? Probably not. If you want to use tap water than use tap water.
You knew when you posted this that people were going to be against using tap water. This whole thread is akin to me going to catholic forums asking, "where is the best place to get an abortion?" and then complaining when people start calling me a babykiller.
 
jacobsdad09

jacobsdad09

Member
lol thats good....yea kinda i was just looking to see if anyone could give some advice towards what will happen if i did use tap water.....all i got was only use ro water(except one) becuz its clean
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flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by JacobsDad09 http:///t/388455/alge-help-seriously/20#post_3426510
lol thats good....yea kinda i was just looking to see if anyone could give some advice towards what will happen if i did use tap water.....all i got was only use ro water(except one) becuz its clean
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If you want some algea just get some Kents microvert and squirt it in there. Or just overfeed. Believe me, the algae will grow.
 
gemmy

gemmy

Active Member
I used tap water on a nano tank before and the results weren't so good (it was an experiment). I used a water conditioner to "make the water safe". The tank had bouts of severe cyano and was unable to keep inverts. There was copper in the water even though the water conditioner was supposed to remove copper. The tap water also had high nitrates.
 
xcali1985

xcali1985

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///t/388455/alge-help-seriously/20#post_3426657
I used tap water on a nano tank before and the results weren't so good (it was an experiment). I used a water conditioner to "make the water safe". The tank had bouts of severe cyano and was unable to keep inverts. There was copper in the water even though the water conditioner was supposed to remove copper. The tap water also had high nitrates.
I didn't think it was possible to remove copper with a liquid based solution. As far as I know the only way to remove copper is through copper absorbing media and filtration. As far as actually deactivating or breaking it down via chemicals, I would think that that wouldn't be safe for your tank. Who knows.... May have been snake oil!
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xcali1985 http:///t/388455/alge-help-seriously/20#post_3426658
I didn't think it was possible to remove copper with a liquid based solution. As far as I know the only way to remove copper is through copper absorbing media and filtration. As far as actually deactivating or breaking it down via chemicals, I would think that that wouldn't be safe for your tank. Who knows.... May have been snake oil!
Now I'm selling oil? j/k
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///t/388455/alge-help-seriously/20#post_3426663
Not in age but in knowledge
Thank you, Joe. You know, I still need some help writing that book. Since I'm going to be a stay at home dad for a year, I'm gonna be writing on it as much as I can and I need some help... if you are still interested.
 
xcali1985

xcali1985

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/388455/alge-help-seriously/20#post_3426664
Now I'm selling oil? j/k
No, im saying that the conditioner you used may have been snake oil. As in claiming to do something, that it probably does do, but to a minute degree. There are a lot of products that claim to do a lot, when in real life use it has minimal to no effect on what it's intended for. (edit: just noticed your j/k at the end, lol)
For the OP, the only way you can know what is actually in your tap water is to test for it. There are a lot of test, albeit it all are not cheap, and most are not sold in this trade as they are not usually chemicals that we monitor for. Your municipal water source should have a booklet that they release every now and again (maybe yearly) that tells what their test are (usually at the station. There are a ton of things that can make it's way into the water on the way to your house so you should still test it locally.
Will tap water grow algae, You bet, is it the best way to grow algae, no... Like I said before I have a friend with a tank covered in hair algae be loves it and it actually looks nice as a swimmer, not my tastes.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
There is a website you can send a water sample to in the mail and they will test it for you for a small fee. You can send them your aquariums water, your tap water, your bath water... anything, lol. They will test it and give you the exact chemical composition in whatever ratios there are. It's very detailed, the measurements go all the way out like 0.000000001. well worth it if you are interested.
If it's a reef tank, I wouldn't suggest to keep adding tap water as your top off water. But, being a fish only tank, I hardly think it matters. Even if there is elevated levels of copper in your local tap water, it wouldn't make a difference to the fish. Also, algae removes many heavy metals from the water column, including copper.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
besides, if there are elevated levels of copper in the tap water being used to top off the tank, it doesn't make any difference. Copper is often used to treat fish diseases. Too much can harm fish, duh, but if copper builds up that much in your tank to kill your fish, then you could sue the water company for malpractice (whatever, I'm not a lawyer) poisoning your water supply. lol.
 
xcali1985

xcali1985

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/388455/alge-help-seriously/20#post_3426676
besides, if there are elevated levels of copper in the tap water being used to top off the tank, it doesn't make any difference. Copper is often used to treat fish diseases. Too much can harm fish, duh, but if copper builds up that much in your tank to kill your fish, then you could sue the water company for malpractice (whatever, I'm not a lawyer) poisoning your water supply. lol.
lol!
 
gemmy

gemmy

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xcali1985 http:///t/388455/alge-help-seriously/20#post_3426658
I didn't think it was possible to remove copper with a liquid based solution. As far as I know the only way to remove copper is through copper absorbing media and filtration. As far as actually deactivating or breaking it down via chemicals, I would think that that wouldn't be safe for your tank. Who knows.... May have been snake oil!
Supposedly, the majority of heavy metals found in tap water can be broken down by water conditioners. "Prime also detoxifies any heavy metals found in the tap water at typical concentration levels." This information can be found in the description for Prime and the wording is similar for a handful of conditioners that I referenced.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Detoxify is not the same thing as remove, sweetheart. :D
Detoxifying a chemical/metal is when the detoxifying agent binds to the element/chemical and makes it unusable for other atoms/molecules to bind to it. Eventually, the atomic bond that it created during the detox is broken, freeing up the chemical/metal later on. This, of course has the exception of a few chemicals like chlorine and chloramines. Technically, you don't have to use a chlorine detoxifier at all, if you let the water sit with an open top and a small pump for 24 hours before use. Just a little FYI. XD
 
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