Hello! I have a RO/DI question...

[robinfly]

I've been lurking around this board for a while and I have to say that I'm impressed with how active it is Anyhow, I'm trying to transform a two year old FOWLR tank into a modest reef, and of course I have about a million questions about reefkeeping that I wanna ask.
Right now I'm trying to decide whether or not to invest in a RO/DI unit. I know it sounds evil, but yes I have used tap water in my tank for two years. The reason why I've just used tap water is that, strangely enough, neither myself nor my LFS has ever been able to measure ANY phosphates in my tap water. Since I don't seem to have a phosphate problem, do I really need to start using RO/DI filtered water before adding anemones / corals? I'm ignorant as to other problems tap water can cause. I'm still open to buying one, but honestly I'd rather invest in a calcium reactor at this point to help moderate my tank's calcium and PH (this course of action is what my LFS recommended as well).
What should I do?

 

[ebeckels]

i must say that i don't have any elaborate stuff on my tank... I have good lighting i guess. 2 96 watt bulbs... i use tap water and all my corals are huge and getting bigger and anemones are great as are the fish...the only problem i had was ich with a hippo.

 

[diatom]

Well there are other bad things in your water then Phosphates, however if you don't have any algae problems and you have limited funds (like most of us) then by all means keep using the tap water and get a diffrent toy that you'd prefer.
BTW I just bought a 4 stage reefpure RO/DI Filter for 135 bucks and I love it...my tank has never looked better.

 

[sonny]

I agree with Diatom... Another option would be to just get a bare bones RO or just a DI. Either would be upgradable, and would help with getting other impurities out of your water. There are lots of minerals and metals in most tap water, including copper from copper pipes in the system. Pure water is the most important thing you can put in your reef aquarium.
Sonny

 

[diatom]

Good point Sonny!
Also I agree with Sonny about agreeing with me!!

 

[robinfly]

Thanks for the feedback! I just broke down and ordered a 100gpd ReefPure RO/DI unit. I'm sick and tired of always being paranoid about what's in my water - My fish have been showing signs of HLLE for a while now and my live rock has never really flourished, and I suspect that my tap water is playing a role in this.
Now I just hope I can figure out how to attach it to my sink!

 

[diatom]

Robin it's fairly intuitive on hooking it up...when it gets there if you can't figure it out just post I'll walk you through it.