Dechlorination question

[kittle]

Hi,
I just got a new saltwater fish tank set up (about 60 Gallons). The guy at the LFS set it up with a Jaubert system and told me with the seachem salt he uses, there is no need to dechlorinate the tap water but i was always under the impression that i should dechlorinate any water i put in my tank. can anyone advise me on this? im currently cycling with live rock.
also, the last tank i had was only 6 gallons, and i used API stress coat with it, but i had a huge problem in cycling.. would using that have any affect on cycling?
thanks

 

[louti]

There is no need to dechlorinate saltwater. Not sure the exact science behind it, but I believe that the chlorine somehow bonds with the salt mixture.

 

[canareef]

Chlorine is not the only harmfull thing in tap water there can be phosphates and trace metals (ect) which we don't want in our tanks. It's recommended that you use RO-DI water in your tank. I would spend a couple more bucks and get a RO-DI filter and make your own water at home. Or you can but it at most stores for $2 or $3 for 5 gallons.

 

[kittle]

Ah ok thanks, so for the water thats in my tank now, should i add any conditioner to purify it since there's other harmful things in tap water, even though the guy who set it up didn't think it's necessary

 

[tank a holic]

+1 on the ro/di, its the only way to go
as for the chlorine, chlorine is a gas disolved in the water, it is also the first thing to evaporate, so... if you put chlorinater water in a bucket, and turn it over with a power head, shortly the chlorine will be gone into the atmosphere
however as previously stated the copper, rust, phosphates, nitrates, iron, manganese and other potentially devistation elements still in the water

 

[socalnano24]

+1 on not using tap water, other than Reverse osmosis I don't believe there are any ways to remove all the nasty trace elements.
FYI, a lil tip in this hobby, just because a sales person says something at a store doesn't mean its necesarily golden. Alot of SWF stores will tell you just about anything to make you feel more confident about purchasing something.
I used to dechlorinate water for my fish only freshwater tank; but now I even use RO for my upgraded freshwater planted tank as well as my reef tank. Just because its almost impossible to control your phosphate levels without RO water.

 

[flower]

Welcome to the site!
Cycling your rock in saltwater from the tap is just fine (in a tub)...just don't use that water in your tank. If you did..Drain it and start over..using RO only.

 

[tank a holic]

Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3191997

Welcome to the site!
Cycling your rock in saltwater from the tap is just fine (in a tub)...just don't use that water in your tank. If you did..Drain it and start over..using RO only.
i may have missed....
is there live stock already in the tank, if so would ot be better to do 2 50 or a few 25% WC's??

 

[kittle]

there's only live rock in my tank at the moment...
would it be ok if i use conditioners to get rid of harmful components in the water?

 

[shrimpy brains]

Originally Posted by Kittle
http:///forum/post/3191414
Hi,
I just got a new saltwater fish tank set up (about 60 Gallons). The guy at the LFS set it up with a Jaubert system thanks
I am not familar with this term. Did he run the water from your tap thru any kind of filter??

 

[louti]

Conditioners don't remove anything but chlorine/chloramine. The heavy metals, phosphates, silica, etc, will still be there. That being said, I would not dump my whole tank and start over. Just do your water changes with RO if you do not want to use tap. RO is definitely better, but tap isn't that detrimental to your tank, and it's not an emergency to get it out.

 

[cranberry]

Heeeeeey, is there something wrong in my 13 tanks? I cycled some of them with declorinated tap water. I bet ya couldn't tell which ones i did and which ones I didn't.

 

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by Shrimpy Brains http:///forum/post/3192707
I am not familar with this term. Did he run the water from your tap thru any kind of filter??
Please read my thread https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/370697/jauberts-system#post_3192749

 

[florida joe]

The guy at the LFS set it up with a Jaubert system
How was this system explained to you ?

 

[socalnano24]

Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3192748
Heeeeeey, is there something wrong in my 13 tanks? I cycled some of them with declorinated tap water. I bet ya couldn't tell which ones i did and which ones I didn't.
I was assuming this person meant using tap long term. I suppose on the initial cycle it wouldn't be terrible. Probably still worse off than using ro. I would imagine porous rocks can absorb bad trace elements and even doing water changes with ro long term you'll technically never get rid of all the ppm lead copper etc. It will just eventually diminish to negligible . Just a thought.

 

[louti]

Originally Posted by SocalNano24
http:///forum/post/3192774
I was assuming this person meant using tap long term. I suppose on the initial cycle it wouldn't be terrible. Probably still worse off than using ro. I would imagine porous rocks can absorb bad trace elements and even doing water changes with ro long term you'll technically never get rid of all the ppm lead copper etc. It will just eventually diminish to negligible . Just a thought.
Yes, but one poster above actually suggested to drain the tank and start over. This is way over the top. The OP would be better off using RO from now on, but from reading some of these responses, they would think that the ruined their tank by using RO.

 

[cranberry]

Originally Posted by SocalNano24
http:///forum/post/3192774
I was assuming this person meant using tap long term. I suppose on the initial cycle it wouldn't be terrible. Probably still worse off than using ro. I would imagine porous rocks can absorb bad trace elements and even doing water changes with ro long term you'll technically never get rid of all the ppm lead copper etc. It will just eventually diminish to negligible . Just a thought.
A lot of conditioners "neutralize" heavy metals... like cooper.
I use an RO/DI myself, I'm not saying NOT to use one. But do we know what we are "selling" here?
I asked this before in another thread but nobody bit....
Besides just saying "Tap is bad", what do you think the specific risks are. Who has experienced this that you specifically know of and can it be attributed 100% to the source water.
Like was quoted in another thread:
"Bob Fenner's book, "The Conscience Marine Aquarist" (Vol.I) has some good comments on the RO/DI issue. Not an exact quote; but he says a lot of people tend to blame their water, when that isn't the problem. I completely agree.I've almost bought RO/DI units a few times; then asked myself "why"? Other than the fact a lot of great hobbiests use them (peer pressure) and I love fish toys, I really couldn't think of a good reason. I'll never tell anyone not to buy RO/DI; but I'll never tell a new hobbyist, who is already bleeding money, that he can't have a basic SW tank without it."

 

[shrimpy brains]

I'll bite! lol
I think it may depend on where you live and the quality of your tap.
Personally, I live in the country and have a well. I used nothing but tap water in my tank for 3 or 4 years. Then, I started experiencing issues with red slime algae. I did water change after water change, added more circulation, added cannister filter(at that time I was using an undergravel filter) I added a chiller thinking my tank may be too warm. Nothing seemed to work.
Then, I started buying ro/di from my lfs and lo and behold the problem cleared up. Then, the lfs I was buying water from closed down, so I went back to tap water. The algae problems resumed. So, I started buying gallon jugs from the store. (lot of strange looks when you go to the store and buy 25+ gallons of water lol)
Finally, I broke down and bought my own ro/di and I haven't had an issue since. I would def. say that my red slime issues were directly affected by my water source.
Biggest question is, why didn't I have any issues in the beginning? What happened that changed the quality of my water? And should I be drinking it as I type this?? lol

 

[louti]

I think the bigger issue from tap water is phosphate/silica that leads to algae issues. I don't know about other places, but here in North/Central Florida, these levels are high. This will lead to algae and cyano, but isn't really harmful to fish as far as I know.

 

[cranberry]

But here's the deal..... we say don't use it because of potential algae problems, yet there are just as many people out there who have algae issues that use RO/DI.
I don't use tap on a day to day basis because I don't want to continously put conditioners in my tank.
My tap TDS is 450.