Tap water vs ro
- Thread starter schippy
- Start date
bdhough
Active Member
Potentially. R/O units are not to expensive. They make really small ones. You really only need one that does 10-15 gallons. You may just have a slow initial setup.... Shop around some. The best way to go is RO though..... If all else fails though then purified water will get rid of alot of impurities you don't want in your tank.
T
thomas712
Guest
You can also purchase RO or RO/DI water from places like Meijer or Wal mart, also you should be able to find water stores in your phone book like Culligan or others that sell it in the 5 gallon bottles.
Thomas
Thomas
D
daniel411
Guest
Thomas, does Meijers sell RO DI water? I'll be very happy if they do.
T
thomas712
Guest
Mine does .29 cents per gallon refills. Also check these stores out for the 5 gallon water bottles if you are albe, this will save you a ton of one gallon fillups.
It should be located in the bulk foods sections, but every Miejer is different, a little, so you may have to ask at the service desk or some employee.
Thomas
It should be located in the bulk foods sections, but every Miejer is different, a little, so you may have to ask at the service desk or some employee.
Thomas
stonedpimp
New Member
i just found it at kroger for 40 cents, the 5 gallon contaners were 12$ full. if you have an area with alot of well water (country) thats were to look.
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Originally posted by tangsfornuttin
Gotta love Beaslbob, pretty much everything he says flies in the face of standard thinking....
Your standard thinking or my standard thinking
Wish I could claim this is all original but I first read about balanced fresh tanks back in the late 70's. the results were amazing. I have since applied some of those idea to salt. About 90% applies directly. the main limitation is there is no direct equilivant to fast growing plants. You certainly make things interesting, sir.
I think though if you are planning on growing large amounts of algae like you are, that's probably ok to do. The phosphates and nitrates in tapwater will fuel the growth of those "marine plants" tremendously. However, I would worry about all the other stuff that's probably in your tapwater: copper, chlorine, etc.
I have no more algae growth than tanks using RO/DI water and conducting regular water changes. My 55g evaporates 1/2 g per week. My tap water has 30ppm phosphates. Therefore, each week, plant life has to process .3 ppm phosphates. Clorine is a gass and readily escapes from tap water in a matter of hours. I have never seen any distress on any fish from the direct addition of tap water. Tap water requires a prolonged contact time to react with copper. Therefore, running the water for a few seconds prevents significant copper in the water. My chemistry buddies tell me the RO water is much more corrosive and will react readily with copper pipes.
But then again, you don't have any inverts right? Your tank is just fish only?
Well for now anyway.
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
tangs:
all i know is that tap water poured directly in my tanks has never stressed a fish.
the 30ppm was from the water authority. the point was it could have been 1000 times higher and all that would have happened is I would have more macro algaes/marine plants.
I only post my saltwater experience here. Inculding the 10% difference I have found. Including the most recent experiences. Again routine water changes routinely change the water. Stable balanced unchanging water requires stopping the routine water changes.
My tank has no inverts. What will happen if i add them?
all i know is that tap water poured directly in my tanks has never stressed a fish.
the 30ppm was from the water authority. the point was it could have been 1000 times higher and all that would have happened is I would have more macro algaes/marine plants.
I only post my saltwater experience here. Inculding the 10% difference I have found. Including the most recent experiences. Again routine water changes routinely change the water. Stable balanced unchanging water requires stopping the routine water changes.
My tank has no inverts. What will happen if i add them?
reefnut
Active Member
A quote
current 55g salt is 7 months old and still a work in progress. filtration is one tetratec and macro algaes/marine plants. ammonia 0, mitrites 0, nitrates 40-100 trending down, ph 8.2. 5 damsels, yellow tang, 15 hermits, 5 turbo snales, bahama star, green brittle star.
current 55g salt is 7 months old and still a work in progress. filtration is one tetratec and macro algaes/marine plants. ammonia 0, mitrites 0, nitrates 40-100 trending down, ph 8.2. 5 damsels, yellow tang, 15 hermits, 5 turbo snales, bahama star, green brittle star.
overanalyzer
Active Member
Originally posted by Schippy
is there a problem with tap water and inverts??
YES!! Tap water often times contains trace elements of heavy metals one of which is copper .... copepr kils inverts. Other heavy metals effect the general health of inverts.
Best advice I can give in this post is to ignor beaslbob who's name is closely related to beelzebub or Satan's right hand fallen angel.
So if you want hellish results then by all means follow beaslbob's advice - otherwise I would suggest going with the filtered water.
bob - put your money where you mouth is and post some pictures of your no LR , no LS using, No Base Rock havin' - algea as the only means of filtration tank. I dare you ......
and before you give me a lame - hey I have no digital camera - get regular film and take some pictures and have them developed on disk. Also - if you don't have a camera Kodak has one that is a throw away that will automatically be developed on disk .....
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Originally posted by ReefNut
A quote
current 55g salt is 7 months old and still a work in progress. filtration is one tetratec and macro algaes/marine plants. ammonia 0, mitrites 0, nitrates 40-100 trending down, ph 8.2. 5 damsels, yellow tang, 15 hermits, 5 turbo snales, bahama star, green brittle star.
update: nitrates now 20 ppm
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Originally posted by overanalyzer
YES!! Tap water often times contains trace elements of heavy metals one of which is copper .... copepr kils inverts. Other heavy metals effect the general health of inverts.
Best advice I can give in this post is to ignor beaslbob who's name is closely related to beelzebub or Satan's right hand fallen angel.
So if you want hellish results then by all means follow beaslbob's advice - otherwise I would suggest going with the filtered water.
bob - put your money where you mouth is and post some pictures of your no LR , no LS using, No Base Rock havin' - algea as the only means of filtration tank. I dare you ......
and before you give me a lame - hey I have no digital camera - get regular film and take some pictures and have them developed on disk. Also - if you don't have a camera Kodak has one that is a throw away that will automatically be developed on disk .....
So you mean to tell me that every single copper ion always remains in the water and is not filtered out by the maceo algae which consumes ammonia,nitrAte and phosphate ions? Everything I have ever read indicates that heavy metals are filtered out by plant life.
As to the picture, I have already posted this. Still a work in progress but I am happy with it. The orange on the center rock and blue/green on the rock beside it are the colors of the rock when I put them in 7 months ago. At the time this pic was taken the glass had not been cleaned in 3 months. I have since added another 4' light and have a minor algae bloom which is subsiding. While this is going on, the glass does have to be cleaned every 4 days or so. nitrAtes are now down to 20ppm. I cut back on feeding.
attml
Active Member
I'm with Tangsfornothing and others on this one. Everyone's tap water is different from city to City, county to county etc... The bottom line like Tangs and others have said is that in 99% of the cases tap water has elements not suitable for a healthy reef tank so RO/DI is your best bet for reducing those unwanted elements. After RO/DI the next best solution is RO (only) then distilled. Stay clear of tap water and you will be happy you did!
overanalyzer
Active Member
Originally posted by beaslbob
So you mean to tell me that every single copper ion always remains in the water and is not filtered out by the maceo algae which consumes ammonia,nitrAte and phosphate ions? Everything I have ever read indicates that heavy metals are filtered out by plant life.
Actually copper ions and other heavy metals are absorbed by EVERYTHING porous in your tank. Thus rocks, silicone, fish, plants, shells, crushed coral, live coral - anything with a pourouse opening.
I stand by the belief that there are many paths to follow to get to your desired end - but not all paths should be recommended.
What you are doing may appear to be working for you, but it does not look like any salt water tank I have seen - rather it looks like a planted Freshwater tank. And I will be interested in the lifespan of your reef.
I firmly believe you are giving bad advice and it should not be followed. I also firmly believe that any person who follows any one other person's opinion exclusively deserves what they get!
