setting up a new tank with R/O and Tap Water?

bill109

bill109

Active Member
hello
i calld the lfs and they said tht i can use half tap (dechloranated) and half r/o water.?
its a 90- gallon so im gonna try to get more then half maybe like 40-50 gallonis of R/O and the rest tap (im onna get regular tap and and put teh dechlorinated drops in there or buy a bunch o dechlornated water from another lfs.?
hows this sound im gonna start it with the water and add a little but of sand with a powerhead and no filter untill it is done cycling and fish from the last tank go in so suplies go with it.
lets hear some input.
thanx 4 your time
-bill109
 
grubsnaek

grubsnaek

Active Member
whats going on bill,
hope i can help. you can use all 90 gallons of DEC. tap water. not recomended but can. i did with my 125 gallon. i highly recommend that if you go with your idea or with all tap water, that you eventually use RO/DI water for top offs and water changes. and dont use different kinds of dechloranters.
now with your sand are you going Deep Sand Bed or just enough per say.
as for filter you have to have some sort of it. to collect the benifical bacteria that is needed for saltwater to cycle. the best type of filter is live rock. a very good tank can be properly filtered with just a deep sand bed, live rock, and an oversized skimmer. will be all that some need.
are you going to add a skimmer, uv light, heaters, powerheads. also what type of tank are you going with.
what size tank do you have now and whats in it.
 
grubsnaek

grubsnaek

Active Member
im not recommending it, but the fact in the matter is that maybe he cant afford it. i dont know, i was just being honest, giving him optioins.
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
Can you use tap water? YES Is it recomended? NO Is tap water cheaper? In the short run, YES but in the long run, NO. Eventually you will be shelling out more dollars for algae removers and phosphate removers which would have been less costly if you just used RO to begin with. So my advice is to stick woth RO now and you will have less headaches later.
 
shogun323

shogun323

Active Member
Originally Posted by trainfever
Can you use tap water? YES Is it recomended? NO Is tap water cheaper? In the short run, YES but in the long run, NO. Eventually you will be shelling out more dollars for algae removers and phosphate removers which would have been less costly if you just used RO to begin with. So my advice is to stick woth RO now and you will have less headaches later.
Great way to put it in perspective!!
 
grubsnaek

grubsnaek

Active Member
thank you i wasnt trying to lead in the wrong direction i was stating that you can use tap water. and i recommended that it should be switch to ro/di water.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
ok this is whats going on now..
it has bout 35 gallons of R/O and there is a maxi jet 900 going in there. there is only 5 gallons of decholinaed water. i ran the lfs out or ro water. i can go back tomorrow cus they said they need top off... so im going back in 2 days. to drain em again.
can i keep it like tht then put in sand or can i put in sand before it fills with water.. the sand is old sand tht isnt real us i washed it with fresh water cus it was covered in algea.
 
grubsnaek

grubsnaek

Active Member
if the new tank is set up quickly than i would think so. are you using the other tank water. and if not you know you would have to cycle first before adding any live stock.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
Originally Posted by grubsnaek
if the new tank is set up quickly than i would think so. are you using the other tank water. and if not you know you would have to cycle first before adding any live stock.
wait so i can add the last 29 gallons to the 90 (my tank will be empty and the fish will have no where to go but into the new tank) so does it need to cycle? or no?
basically can i add the water minus 29 gal fill it with the sand,rock and re-acclimate?
this is so confusing..
if not then im gonna add my old sand and somehow run a filter or something on it cus its got this deb ris in it from being in a tarp overnight.
 
grubsnaek

grubsnaek

Active Member
alright i say put fish in rubbermaid tote with heater and powerhead. fill tank with water. with so much new water i would say there would be a new type of cycle. how much sand do you have and do you have live rock.
in a tarp out side.
why is your sand in a tarp. dont you have another tank already going.
now im confused.
what do you have what do you need
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
Originally Posted by grubsnaek
alright i say put fish in rubbermaid tote with heater and powerhead. fill tank with water. with so much new water i would say there would be a new type of cycle. how much sand do you have and do you have live rock.
in a tarp out side.
why is your sand in a tarp. dont you have another tank already going.
now im confused.
what do you have what do you need

haha .. the tank was in a tarp
the sand is in my tank with lr and fish.
. can i just put them in acclimating buckets instead of rubbermaid?
how long wopuld the cycle be if i toook down the display to put it into the 90.
is the rubbermaid going to be a home for a few days? if so im going to try to avoid tht.
 
grubsnaek

grubsnaek

Active Member
yes you can put it in there as long as you have enough powerheads and heaters for each bucket. and the cycle should be minimal cause of the water sand and live rock you already had. when the new tank is set up just keep checking your levels.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
Originally Posted by grubsnaek
yes you can put it in there as long as you have enough powerheads and heaters for each bucket. and the cycle should be minimal cause of the water sand and live rock you already had. when the new tank is set up just keep checking your levels.
ok i can do tht and they all can go in? with out a more then a day cycle? well i know tht is a little exadurateing but a minimul cycle with fish in it?
i dont wanan kill eanything i have for fish so far.
yellow tang
pink blue watchman
2 chromis
1 clown
 
a2fire2i

a2fire2i

Member
where are you pulling the sand and rock from to put in your 90 gallon tank? Our of your 29? I would never put fish in a tank until it has cycled.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
Originally Posted by a2fire2i
where are you pulling the sand and rock from to put in your 90 gallon tank? Our of your 29? I would never put fish in a tank until it has cycled.
yeh tht is my problem?
the sand is coming out of my 29 but as well i have sand tht came form a tank tht was recently came down.
i dont wana take out snd form the 29 if ecerything isnt down at the sametime as well as up in the new one.
so i should set this one up as it is my first with all new water and sandand lr and cycle it then?
also i only have one filter tht is on my 29 but a PH is int he half filled 90 with nothing but r/o water.
 
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