couple of q's

hawk70

hawk70

New Member
I know how everybody says that tap water is bad and i understand that. People suggest a ro/di unit for water or buy it from a store. My first question is can you use a regular britta that attaches to the kitchen sink? They clam to remove everything from the water.... is this an ok option? My second question is about test kits for water. I have a "freshwater master test kit" by aquarium pharmaceuticals,inc. It measures pH, ammonia, nitrite, GH (general hardness) and KH (carbonate hardness). My question is, can i use this on a salt water system? Are they the same tests? I didn't pay anything for the kit and I know that they can be pricey, sure would be nice if i could use it? Thanks for your time....
 
madd catt

madd catt

Member
No you cant i think the reagents are made differant and so is the color coding on the cards to get your result.
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member
britta filters I think just use carbon as a filter don't they?
I wouldn't trust them. Distilled water in the store isn't that expensive if you don't want a RO/DI filter.
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
britta filters make the water tast better but doesnt actually remove all that much of the crud that we try to eleminate.
and test kits are specific. if it says SW thats all it will work on and vica versa.
Mike
 
C

cowbuoy

Guest
actually - if you look at the package for the filters you will notice that the brita and pur PITCHERS only help smell and taste
But the Brita and Pur faucet attachments remove a lot of stuff, metals, etc
I do not use them so I dont know how good they will work
It Must be better than straight tap though
I get 5 gallon RO from the grocery store for $2
if I go direct to the water store (like they sell to offices, etc) I get it for $3
I sometimes pay a little more since I would guess they take better care of the filters etc at the water store
water is such a big business these days I would think that everyone who lives in a town of any size would have a water dealer nearby
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
does your lfs test for free? if so have then do all your testing. You should still have a test kit for when you can't get to the store but for the rest of the time use the lfs. esp during cycling when you have no fish in the tank, we didn't buy a test kit till we added our first fish.
 
D

daniel411

Guest
If "Brita" could remove everything from water till it wasn't even registering conductivity... well... I'd save my copy tens of millions a year! It doesn't.... get RO
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
the britta water filter will do nothing.
The tests are for freshwater and some are for both. But even the ones for both (like the nitrAtes) may require a different color chat for fresh and salt. If i had to use one test it would be the nitrIte which (I think) can be used for fresh or salt.
As far as water, I have used tap water in salt and fresh tanks in half a dozen cites since the late 70's. I have never lost any livestock because of that. I recommend your use you tap water and use the money saved to by macro algaes/marine plnats/ a lorger tank, better filtration, better light, or better fish and corals
 
doodle1800

doodle1800

Active Member
I bought an American Pharmaceuticals filter for my 55 to fill it. $29 - hooks up to kitchen sink. Seems to have worked well - we'll see. Supposidly it removes chlorine and all kinds of contaminates. $29.00 online at P@tSma@t. Might consider it. Deionizes water...
 
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