Tap Water?

[blackburnd]

Ok I'm going to be perfectly honest. I am prett new and have read a book or two and this site is the first time I have ever really heard of RO/DI water. I myself do not have the money to go out and purchase one of these units. On top of that I live in an apartment, and don't want to go installing things on their plumbing. I am currently using tap water. There are no fish in my tank just the cleaning crew at the moment. What kind of problems am I really going to have using tap water? Do some of you out there use tap water? If so chime in and let me know how it has worked for you. Frankly I have spent alot of money on getting this tnak setup as it is the list seems to keep growing of stuff "I need" to have a successful tank, and I am about ready to just cut my losses. any 411 apreciated. Thanks in advance. ***)

 

[imfsub12]

hea i'm a newbee to and dont' have anything yet.. what size of tank did you get for your apartment?? and how much have u spent on it. as i'm trying to find something resonable to start up with..

 

[reefforbrains]

RO is just the best choice because its as pure as you can get, then you can add your salt and your mineral levels and such should be dead on where you need them as apposed to tap/well water that may already have such things as phosphate or nitrate in it from the getgo.
If its a smaller tank just get some waterjugs and use the water from the grocery stores machine.

 

[mrmike]

I use tap water. You have to be sure and add one of the additives that removes chlorine,etc.

 

[blackburnd]

I had a 65Gal tank that I had used as a FW tank awhile ago. I spent $150 for the wet/dry filter, i think $50 for the pump, $120 for the skimmer, i think round $150 for live rock, $60 worth of Crushed Coral, $60 worth of Live Sand because I later heard Crushed Coral is no good, No clue how much for salt, $30 for a new testing kit, I think i spent like $50 on my cleaning crew maybe a little more. I bought new glass tops for my tank, and a new light. I think I'm forgetting some things here, but not sure..... From what I understand I need a refractometer round $40, a water purification unit not even gonna talk about the price on that... I still need to set up my 10gal QT tank that I am just gonna paint the bottom black, throw on a Hang on Back filter, throw in some PVC and call it a day... Still more money though...
Anyone else have some 411 for me?
Thanks again

 

[sepulatian]

I use tap water. My water is pure though. I live at the base of a mountain. I run the water that I use for my tanks through a Brita filter just for good measure. Tap water is fine to use as long as you test it to be sure. Test it for phosphates, copper, nitrates, ect. Do you drink your tap? Does it have a taste other than clean water? If it is questionable at all then do not use it. You don't have to buy an RO unit. Wallmart sells RO water for about .30 a gallon.

 

[blackburnd]

Ya I drink it.. Taste fine to me but I have been drinking city water for years.

 

[artist55]

I started out with tap water in my 30 gallon and had one problem after another. During the course of the year it was set up I switched over to RO for all my water changes. My problems stopped and since then it has been function great. I get my RO water at Walmart for .37 a gallon and I don't mind doing the legwork to get it. It's well worth it. I recently switched everything over to a 55 gallon and I'm using aragonite substrate now instead of that crappy Crushed Coral. All that stuff is is a nitrate trap and now my nitrate problem has disappeared. Also, invest in a refractometer. It is the most accurate thing there is. I found out that my SG was measuring at 1.028 with the cheap tester and the refractometer measured at 1.023. This site has been so helpful to me over the past year and I can't thank everyone enough. Spend the money if you can for the best equipment and you won't be sorry. Enjoy.....

 

[uberlink]

Bite the bullet. You can buy a decent RO setup that can hook up to your tap without altering plumbing for $100 or so. You're going to spend a lot more than that on other stuff for this hobby, and you won't regret it once you get it. At least, that's my thought.
Alternatively, you could get an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals tapwater filter. They're pretty cheap--$30 or so. Replacement filters are about $15. These are just a DI (deionizing) filter, which is often used as the last step in other processes (like RO/DI), but they take out 99.9% of the impurities in the water. The downside is that you'll only get 50-100 gallons per filter, so they are not really cheap in the long run. But you could use it for top offs and water changes, and you at least wouldn't be constantly increasing the metals, chlorine, etc. you're adding to your tank.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by BlackburnD
Ya I drink it.. Taste fine to me but I have been drinking city water for years.
That would not be a good sign then. Buy your RO water. If you have a large tank 60+ gallons then you will soon find out that it is well worth the money to buy you own RO unit. I am very fortunate with my water. Most people are not.

 

[geridoc]

Let me give you some history. When I started in marine fishkeeping 35 years ago we didn't use RODI water. Typical hobbyist survival was under a year for most specimens. Improved equipment and understanding of the nitrogen cycle in tanks have markedly extended that life expectancy, so that your animals will be in your closed system potentially for many years. It is not unusual to have some fish survive in home tanks for 10+ years. Now, what about the water? When water evaporates, only the pure water leaves. Anything that was in the water stays behind, and if similarly contaminated water is used to top off, more of the contaminants are added, and none are removed by evaporation. This leads to increasing the concentration of contaminants. What contaminants are in tap water? After all, it is safe to drink. It turns out that there are hundreds of substances in treated tap water - not only chlorine, phosphates and nitrates. There are numerous organic compounds, such as dry-cleaning fluid, gasoline, insecticides, etc. Granted, they are there in very low quantities, but as water is continually added to the tank the concentration of these gradually increases since there is no way for them to leave the tank. That is why RODI is so important in marine fishkeeping. RODI water has no (or very low) dissolved substances, so there is no cycle of increasing concentration as evaporation is replaced. If you want the kind of survival that better fishkeepers achieve you need to use RODI water for topoff. Yes, it can be an expense, but there is no such thing as cheap in successful marine tanks. Cheap usually means buying it again after killing some fish. Go for RODI!

 

[shinobi9119]

dumb question but...... RO?

 

[jeffrat]

you can also just go to your local pet store and buy either there already mixed ro water ore real ocean water and not have the hassle of mixing salt. It is not that much more.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by Shinobi9119
dumb question but...... RO?
Reverse Osmosis.
Pushing water through an extremely fine filter. So fine that mostly just water molecules can get through. Some Silicates and Phosphates leak through but not much of anything else.

 

[taznut]

same story as everyone else... a lot of problems with tap water... took forever to get rid of the tap water with water changes but it is well worth buying the RO water from the store...

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by GeriDoc
Let me give you some history. When I started in marine fishkeeping 35 years ago we didn't use RODI water. Typical hobbyist survival was under a year for most specimens. Improved equipment and understanding of the nitrogen cycle in tanks have markedly extended that life expectancy, so that your animals will be in your closed system potentially for many years. It is not unusual to have some fish survive in home tanks for 10+ years. Now, what about the water? When water evaporates, only the pure water leaves. Anything that was in the water stays behind, and if similarly contaminated water is used to top off, more of the contaminants are added, and none are removed by evaporation. This leads to increasing the concentration of contaminants. What contaminants are in tap water? After all, it is safe to drink. It turns out that there are hundreds of substances in treated tap water - not only chlorine, phosphates and nitrates. There are numerous organic compounds, such as dry-cleaning fluid, gasoline, insecticides, etc. Granted, they are there in very low quantities, but as water is continually added to the tank the concentration of these gradually increases since there is no way for them to leave the tank. That is why RODI is so important in marine fishkeeping. RODI water has no (or very low) dissolved substances, so there is no cycle of increasing concentration as evaporation is replaced. If you want the kind of survival that better fishkeepers achieve you need to use RODI water for topoff. Yes, it can be an expense, but there is no such thing as cheap in successful marine tanks. Cheap usually means buying it again after killing some fish. Go for RODI!

this is probably one of the best ways I have ever heard any one explain the benifits of Ro/di water, doc do you mind If I save and quote this paragraph inthe future?

 

[pappa d]

blackburnd, i also cant really afford a RO/DI unit at this time due to all the money spent here and there on my tank but what i have been doing is filling up 10gallons at a time at my local jewell. its very cheap, under 5 dollars for all of this. and since its reverse osmosis you wont have to feel guilty, or take as much of a risk. but in my oppinion you shouldnt use tap water. so IMO do whatever is more convenient to you, either spending more money all at once for a RO/DI unit, or getting some cheaper water from store with a little hassle

 

[geridoc]

ReefkeeperZ: You are welcome to use the paragraph. However, if you sell it, please cut me in

 

[cjml]

Hello! Yes you want to use ro/di water-well worth it. We too started off with tap water-very bad-lots of trouble and spent way more just to fix the problems it caused. We bought ro/di water from our lfs until we could get our own. Do you have a store near you you can buy from? They usually do not charge too much. Well worth it! :happyfish :happyfish

 

[dchec2100]

Originally Posted by uberlink
Bite the bullet. You can buy a decent RO setup that can hook up to your tap without altering plumbing for $100 or so.
Anyone have any info on what type of unit and where they can be purchased?