anyone use tap water?

[squirreloso]

i know the importance of using RO water, i use them on my FO and reef tanks, but id like to eventually setup my 220 gallon for an aggressive fish only system.
problem is i use RO in the bottles from the supermarket, yeah its costly but on smaller tanks its not that bad.
i wont be able to use RO on the 220g, so can i just use dechlorinated tap water?
anyone here use tap water with no problems??

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by squirreloso
i know the importance of using RO water, i use them on my FO and reef tanks, but id like to eventually setup my 220 gallon for an aggressive fish only system.
problem is i use RO in the bottles from the supermarket, yeah its costly but on smaller tanks its not that bad.
i wont be able to use RO on the 220g, so can i just use dechlorinated tap water?
anyone here use tap water with no problems??
I (I'm almost afraid to say it) do.

 

[squirreloso]

hehe then it must be working

 

[flcandy]

I dont want to be yelled at but I do to. I just make sure I use a good conditioner like Prime and let it cycle for 24-48 hours and then add it slowly to the tank after I make sure all the readings are normal.
Just be careful with it and test your tap before you add anything other than salt and the conditioner.
Let us know how it goes! LOL
(cringes and waits for the slap!

)
You can also check the LFS in the area they usually have tank ready water for like $.75 a gallon. That is cheaper than the RODI from the stores.

 

[petjunkie]

I have for three years on all my tanks, I add prime and go. It depends on your water quality though, I've never had algea problems but someplaces may be higher in phosphates and have measurable nitrates. I live in an apartment and my landlords crazy about water usage is why I don't but in my new house I am setting up RO/DI. With that big of a tank I don't know if I would risk the water quality, if it is off that's a lot of water changes to fix it. I would just buy a 100 gpd ro unit to be safe, aggressive fish are messier anyways so starting out with clean water is important.

 

[squirreloso]

Originally Posted by FlCandy
I dont want to be yelled at but I do to. I just make sure I use a good conditioner like Prime and let it cycle for 24-48 hours and then add it slowly to the tank after I make sure all the readings are normal.
Just be careful with it and test your tap before you add anything other than salt and the conditioner.
Let us know how it goes! LOL
(cringes and waits for the slap!

)
You can also check the LFS in the area they usually have tank ready water for like $.75 a gallon. That is cheaper than the RODI from the stores.
lol no ones going to yell at you...its our tanks right, we can do what we want
i wouldnt do this with a reef, but FO i imagine it should be ok. algae maybe a problem??? not sure, but i do have dim lighting (standard cheapo flourescent) so hopefully that will inhibit algae growth.
doing the bottled water will take tooooo much time. id need 220 bottles, yikes can you imagine recycling day with all those bottles lined up outside my house lol
me gets the RO bottled water cheap, only 66 cents a gallon
ok i have a dummy question, whats 20% of 220 gallons?? i cant think and my husbands in a fog right now lol

 

[flcandy]

20% of 220 is 44.
I know I have just got to be a brat when I can I was bored the man was sleeping.

I do get blooms but my hermits love it and I keep the glass clean.

See we dont have it that cheep here (people jack the prices up because they are jearks!)
LMAO and it is hurricane season so I am thinking that is another reason. I am looking into the LFS water though I think 75c a gallon isnt to bad and hey 10% change for me is now 7 gallons so not to bad.

 

[1journeyman]

Prime will remove chlorine.
The issue is other things like copper, florine, etc. that are found in small amounts. As you add water to your tank you are slowly poisoning it.
In the overall scheme of things an RO/DI filter is pretty cheap.

 

[squirreloso]

would running carbon help? i think carbon removes alot of stuff like copper?
i have a dechlorinator that says it removes heavy metals also, would this be good to use?
my tap water does have nitrates and it has tested on occasion for ammonia.
it is city water but im in PA, on the news they said we were like #3 for the worst water in the U.S lol
right now i have fancy goldfish in the tank, bare bottom, but they are a pain in the butt health wise. i change 20% of their water every week, even though out of the tap nitrates and ammonia is present, the goldfish's water test 0 ammonia and 5ppm for nitrates, and they are huge waste producers! so maybe i can get similiar results going salt?
44 thnx

so i would need a garbage bin or something that can hold at least that for a water change.
freshwaters so easy, i just hook up the python and go..i dunno im still thinking about this, it might be too much work

id need a sump huh?? the goldfish are running on a filstar canister filter.
tap water, 2ppm ammonia, 10 ppm nitrates
thats at its most, sometimes it is zero on both parts. i think the summer is worse for some reason

 

[bigman]

man i have used just tap water for many many years. i do about 100g a month in tap water not to count the gallons of water i pour in my sump. I dont let my salt settle for 2 days either. i just pour salt in a 30g trash can and put in the water hose and pump into tank. i have had no problem pics of my tank and fish speek for themselves. so dont spend the extra if you dont need to. but i do pour in something like aquasafe. or something else to balance the tap water. be careful what you pour in so your skimmer does not skim it out.

 

[earlybird]

Originally Posted by FlCandy
20% of 220 is 44.
I know I have just got to be a brat when I can I was bored the man was sleeping.

I do get blooms but my hermits love it and I keep the glass clean.

See we dont have it that cheep here (people jack the prices up because they are jearks!)
LMAO and it is hurricane season so I am thinking that is another reason. I am looking into the LFS water though I think 75c a gallon isnt to bad and hey 10% change for me is now 7 gallons so not to bad.

You haven't looked around very hard. Check out www.cleanwateramerica.com there's a location in Naples. They have a "Jug Club" for $7 a month you get all the RO water you can haul out. You can go as often as you like. It is RO water but has TDS reading of zero and zero nitrates and phosphates. They are considerate enough to let those who use the water for aquariums know when they change their filters and they recommend waiting a few days before using the water.

 

[squirreloso]

Originally Posted by BIGMAN
man i have used just tap water for many many years. i do about 100g a month in tap water not to count the gallons of water i pour in my sump. I dont let my salt settle for 2 days either. i just pour salt in a 30g trash can and put in the water hose and pump into tank. i have had no problem pics of my tank and fish speek for themselves. so dont spend the extra if you dont need to. but i do pour in something like aquasafe. or something else to balance the tap water. be careful what you pour in so your skimmer does not skim it out.
dude thats all i need to hear

i will use tap water for this tank
yay

if i have to do RO i wont do saltwater for this tank.
after all, tap water hasnt killed my freshwater fish, turtles or my pond koi...so if its safe for them im sure saltwater fish it will be fine for too
i drink it, im still alive

 

[susiestank]

Originally Posted by squirreloso
i know the importance of using RO water, i use them on my FO and reef tanks, but id like to eventually setup my 220 gallon for an aggressive fish only system.
problem is i use RO in the bottles from the supermarket, yeah its costly but on smaller tanks its not that bad.
i wont be able to use RO on the 220g, so can i just use dechlorinated tap water?
anyone here use tap water with no problems??

Just to let you know - I only have a 25 gallon - I can surely say that my RO-DI has paid for it self. I remember the days of buying water and I would never go back. There are plenty ro-di makers for great deals.

 

[flcandy]

good to know. I use Prime when I do any changes and that removes all the bad things and then I run major amounts of carbon in the filter as well.
I will have to look into that thanks for the site.

 

[squirreloso]

Originally Posted by SusiesTank
Just to let you know - I only have a 25 gallon - I can surely say that my RO-DI has paid for it self. I remember the days of buying water and I would never go back. There are plenty ro-di makers for great deals.

yeah but wont it take like a week to make RO water for 220 gallons??

 

[sepulatian]

It depends on the quality of your tap. I use tap myself. If your water is public water then that could be an issue because of what gets dumped in the water to "purify" it. If you have a water softening unit on a well then that could be an issue. Test your tap for nitrates and phosphates. Check the ph of your tap. If your tap has a less than clean taste or is at all questionabe then DO NOT use it. Don't compromise your entire tank to save some money. It is cheaper to buy an RO unit than to buy water from the store.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by squirreloso
dude thats all i need to hear

i will use tap water for this tank
yay

if i have to do RO i wont do saltwater for this tank.
after all, tap water hasnt killed my freshwater fish, turtles or my pond koi...so if its safe for them im sure saltwater fish it will be fine for too
i drink it, im still alive

Just so you know, tap water is VERY different from town to town around the globe. One person may have excelent water and a mile down the road the water is not so good. FW fish can take many kinds of pollutants being they come from lakes and rivers where the rocks add hardness, metals, and such to the water. Turtles can live in swamps. SW fish come from the ocean where none of this applies. Be sensible.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
Just so you know, tap water is VERY different from town to town around the globe. One person may have excelent water and a mile down the road the water is not so good. FW fish can take many kinds of pollutants being they come from lakes and rivers where the rocks add hardness, metals, and such to the water. Turtles can live in swamps. SW fish come from the ocean where none of this applies. Be sensible.
If you use municipal water, the water company must give you a copy of their latest "ingredients" label. The Feds require this report and you can see if anything scares you.

 

[kirkaz]

Also depends where you are huh? I used tap water for my fish only tank in South Carolina with no issues (the water was pretty good there). Not so good here in Phoenix (very very hard), as such we have an RO system.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by srfisher17
If you use municipal water, the water company must give you a copy of their latest "ingredients" label. The Feds require this report and you can see if anything scares you.
LOL if anything on a water report scared me I would move. I would not use municipal water at all for a salt tank. I don't recommend using tap unless you are absolutely certain that it is safe. If it is questionable at ALL then don't us it.