Tap, or Distilled H2O????
- Thread starter perryfish
- Start date
perryfish
Member
Kay so I think what I have decided to do is go with both the multi-skimmer and the RO/DI. I am going to dump the CC and go with the sand. The only thing is all I can find is live sand. And some of you guys have mentioned useing south down sand, but where can you find it?? Is that all live sand? Better yet When you add sand to the tank does it have to be all live sand? Can you even buy sand that isnt alive? Umm I have looked around and the only thing that I have found is Black sand. Showed a picture and it really was black sand....Not my first choice I must admit.
Oh and another thing I am going to go with the RO water to begin with. The local water and ice RO water. That should be okay right? In my 125 gal it is tap water and the water evaporates rather fast. Is having tap water in the tank a big reason why or will it evaporate quickly no matter what kind of what you have.
Sorry so many questions. I have my fish but the are a lot easier to take care of. So I dont want to bosh things up on a more expensive tank. Thanks for the help!!
Perryfish
Oh and another thing I am going to go with the RO water to begin with. The local water and ice RO water. That should be okay right? In my 125 gal it is tap water and the water evaporates rather fast. Is having tap water in the tank a big reason why or will it evaporate quickly no matter what kind of what you have.
Sorry so many questions. I have my fish but the are a lot easier to take care of. So I dont want to bosh things up on a more expensive tank. Thanks for the help!!
Perryfish
jeo
Member
perryfish, first of all when tap water, or any water evaporates, it is only the water that goes, all of the bad stuff stays in the tank. All water evaporates the same.
I think RO water is just about as good as RO/DI but get a second opinion
Southdown sand is dry playsand, not live sand, and it is a lot cheaper to buy this way. If you seed it with a little live sand it will turn into live sand. I put 100 lbs of it in my tank along woth 80 lbs of livesand. You could go for even less LS than I did though. the only bad thing is that it will cloud a lot. You could do what I did in my brothers tank and put down the southdown
D ) and then put a layer of LS on top and then put the water in so the southdown is at the bottom and won't cloud. I found my southdown at Home Depot.
p.s. What are you going to be putting in this tank?
I think RO water is just about as good as RO/DI but get a second opinion
Southdown sand is dry playsand, not live sand, and it is a lot cheaper to buy this way. If you seed it with a little live sand it will turn into live sand. I put 100 lbs of it in my tank along woth 80 lbs of livesand. You could go for even less LS than I did though. the only bad thing is that it will cloud a lot. You could do what I did in my brothers tank and put down the southdown
D ) and then put a layer of LS on top and then put the water in so the southdown is at the bottom and won't cloud. I found my southdown at Home Depot. p.s. What are you going to be putting in this tank?
perryfish
Member
I am going to put 40-42 lbs of LR in the tank along with corals. I am not sure about what kind of corals just yet. I want fish but unsure on the kind. There are so many awesome types of fish that I'm not sure yet. I am going to have to make up my mind soon though. As soon as I have an idea I will let you know and get some opinions.
Thanks for the tips
Perryfish
Thanks for the tips
Perryfish
justinx
Active Member
Originally posted by beaslbob
perry fish: tap water is fine for saltwater tanks. The money saved by not buying processed water or water processors is better spent on . . . . . better filtration . . . .
RO FILTER!!!!!
I am not going to argue this any more than it already has been, but if you start with bad water, you will end up with bad water. PERIOD. A picture speaks a thousand words . . . . . right Bob?
perryfish
Member
Hey found a good web site for the partical break down of southdown sand from Home Depot....
www.reefs.org/library/articale/r_toonen23.html
perryfish
www.reefs.org/library/articale/r_toonen23.html
perryfish
gatorcsm
Member
I would recommend the RO/DI as well (Not a huge difference in price to get the DI as well, and it will give you 0 TDS. The RO effluent portion can be anywhere from 10-20... Usually somewhere around 96-98% less than the influent to the unit. The DI then removes everything that is left.
Checkout the airwaterice units. They are a great unit and their customer service is outstanding. If you need the web address for them, just do a search for the name airwaterice, and you should see it. They don't sell these units here, otherwise I'd say check them out here... Take a look at the typhoon 3. This one is nice because it comes with a TDS meter and a pressure gage. It also has a tap off so you can create RO only water, as well, for drinking. I use it to fill up 5 gallon carboys for my water dispenser. I have a float valve on a trashcan that I fill up with DI every week or so. I don't keep it constantly on to keep it from cycling. This can decrease the life of the RO mebrane and the DI resin.
Checkout the airwaterice units. They are a great unit and their customer service is outstanding. If you need the web address for them, just do a search for the name airwaterice, and you should see it. They don't sell these units here, otherwise I'd say check them out here... Take a look at the typhoon 3. This one is nice because it comes with a TDS meter and a pressure gage. It also has a tap off so you can create RO only water, as well, for drinking. I use it to fill up 5 gallon carboys for my water dispenser. I have a float valve on a trashcan that I fill up with DI every week or so. I don't keep it constantly on to keep it from cycling. This can decrease the life of the RO mebrane and the DI resin.
donjasper
Member
Do people drink the tap water in AZ?
I use tap water (for now. I'm not a zealot and may change my mind). I also know that the local tap water is pretty good. Industries have moved into town because of the high water quality.
I'd never use the tap water in So. Calif - where I used to live - because I never drank the stuff (used bottled water instead). My bro and I had a "You're kidding conversation". He mentioned that he buys his water from a LFS. I was surprised that they did that in in So. Calif, and he was surprised they didn't here in podunk Or.
I use tap water (for now. I'm not a zealot and may change my mind). I also know that the local tap water is pretty good. Industries have moved into town because of the high water quality.
I'd never use the tap water in So. Calif - where I used to live - because I never drank the stuff (used bottled water instead). My bro and I had a "You're kidding conversation". He mentioned that he buys his water from a LFS. I was surprised that they did that in in So. Calif, and he was surprised they didn't here in podunk Or.
perryfish
Member
in phoenix and surrounding areas it really depends on where you are at. In Queen Creek the water is great. Drink the tap all the time. In Gilbert it tastes like rust, so you dont drink from the tap in gilbert. In mesa and phoenix it tastes old. So it depends on where you are at really. As for the small towns like Jo City, Holbrook, and Heber the tap is better than bottled water..
bwmichael21
Member
The price of buying RO/di isn't costly for the peace of mind that it will give you. Bacteria levels and other inpurities vary often in water supplies throughout the year and you only hear of them if the water becomes unsafe for Human consumption. Unless you work for the health agency you don't really know how pure your water is.
huckleberry
Member
i just go down to the local grocery store and get RO/DI water for a quarter a gallon... it's much better than distilled or tap...
easy too...
in my opinion, don't use tap... i hardly ever drink the stuff, why would my fish? i drink bottled water...
easy too...
in my opinion, don't use tap... i hardly ever drink the stuff, why would my fish? i drink bottled water...
popoty
Member
I use tap water with out a problem. Except for the initial Diatom bloom during cylcing. It could be that I am blessed with very good tap water. IMO RO/DI would be a great benifit if you can afford one and if your tap water is sub par. I am not familair with distilled water and SW tanks, so I can not comment on that.
Just my 2 cents.
Just my 2 cents.
reefnut
Active Member
Originally posted by madd catt
Can anyone make a actual statement to this {thing} people seem too have that ro is better than distilled?
Distilled water can be the purest form of water possible. When water evaporates all of the impurities are left behind. The problem come in with the distilling process itself. Distilled water has been known to contain phosphates and some of the older plants (from what I understand) use copper tubing in the distilling process.
With a Home RO/DI unit you are in control of the water... meaning after it is purified you can keep it pure. You are in control of replacing the filters properly, etc. So in those aspects IMO RO/DI water is better than distilled.