Substrate/Water question

lawdawg161

lawdawg161

Member
What is the consensus about using beach sand? Is it OK, good, bad? I live in NC, so it would be southern atlantic sand (mostly shell I would guess)
Also...
What recommendations can everyone give about sources for water. Are the conditioners they sell for tap water in the LFS worthwhile at all? I am REALLY trying to avoid having to buy water, and I simply can't afford a RO/DI unit at the moment. I haven't seen one yet for less than about $130.
Any help is always greatly appreciated.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
I would not use beach sand unless you can guarantee 100% that it is speckless and clean.
As far as water, the tap water conditioners are crap because you need to replace the cartridge every 30 gallons. I would check to see if you can get a cheap RO unit on an auction site or two... if you get my drift. If not, email me. Ry84@msn.com
 
salt phish

salt phish

Member
you can buy ro water usually infront of a grocery store and what NC beach....... Ocean Isle beach..... here for me..
 
mbrands

mbrands

Member
I wouldn't use beach sand. Think of all the crap that gets washed up onto miles of beach . . . you want that in a small aquarium?
I use three 6.5 gallon water containers and fill them outside of the grocery store with RO/DI water for $0.25/gallon. Have you considered that method?
 
tronicsdr

tronicsdr

Member
I wouldn't recomend any water conditioner either... I used gallon jugs of distilled for a while but then I switched to using a DI filter, no RO... I did a bit of reseach and RO isn't all that its cracked up to be for the cost... but a good DI filter will get rid of any tapwater impurities and get the filtered water "set up" for the perfect PH when you add your salt. Remeber when water is deionized the PH should end up perfect when you add your salt.... I have noticed my algae has decreased quite a bit even from when I was using distilled... I got my DI set up for 40 ro 50 bucks and replacement cartridges are only around 20. I usually get around 100 gal per filter...
I am sure you will get a lot of varied opinions on this one!!
 
lawdawg161

lawdawg161

Member
I haven't had much luck finding a DI only filter setup.
How are they different from the faucet-style "brita" type filters?
 
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