tap water? spring water?

[rpick]

started my tank with tap water. is there any way to get rid of the bad qualities in tap water? how 'bout spring water? can't put ro unit in my condo although my fish store sells ro water but may be a hassle getting home? any suggestions?

 

[gati]

hate to break it to you, but you will now have algae problems. but the good news is that you can help it by using distilled, not spring, or ro water for your water changes and top offs. yes, it's pricer but well worth it in the long run.

 

[rpick]

i read about tap water and algea. trying to get it right.

 

[arkey.d]

Yes absolutely used Distilled water instead of Tap water!

 

[buckshott]

Some spring water is ok to use. Just look at the label it should say if it went through the R/O process. Distilled is good. You can go to a lfs or ***** and get their water which has everything you need.
NOW I used my tapwater and all levels are where they need to be. I have natural springwater into my house. Yes used from the tap.

 

[rpick]

found someone who has a few 5gal water jugs. my lfs has ro for $.50/gal. now i have a way to get that water home with no problem

 

[rpick]

my mistake. $.15 cents/gal.

 

[mudplayerx]

There is no real problem with initially starting your tank with unfiltered tap water in my opinion. I did it in my 55 gallon tank with no ill effects. I did get a diatom bloom (which is natural), but the snails cleared it up in 3 days. I also got some sort of hair algae growth during the diatom bloom, but the snails ate all of that too.
I now use distilled/ozonated/microfiltered water now for topoffs and haven't had any kind of bloom. Definately don't use unfiltered tap water for topoffs.