Using Tap Water. What can I do to help?

[rabiasjewell]

My first sw fish tank is being delivered tomorrow..Yippee!! It's a 120g and I've read lots of bad things about using tap water which I will have to do. Is there anything that I can do or add that can lower my chances of future algea problems? I'll also have to start: 45lbs lr, both live and regular sand (can't remember how much, sorry), skimmer, and a filter (sorry again, can't seem to find my receipt at the moment). Anyone have any advice? I live in e.tn so my water isn't really hard or soft.
Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.

 

[cody57]

others may add comments on conditioners to add to your tap water, but you'll want to 'age' your water for at least a week. put a power head and small heater in bucket. i bought two 60lb buckets of instant ocean salt, bought a plastic storage bin w/lid and put the salt in the bin. i fill one bucket(abt 10gals) with salt water, heater and power head and use the other to drain for my water chg. i also use two 4 gal buckets fresh water w/mini power head(included free w/salt) for topping off evaporation. if you age water a week, it will lose some of the harmful chemicals in your tap water.

 

[rabiasjewell]

Wow Cody, sounds like you have quit the operation going on there. Do prepare this water for water changes also? Sounds very thorough but I'm afraid I won't have the time (or extra moola) to take on another project like that. Spring cleaning in addition to the new tank is taking it's toll. Thank you anyway for the advice. I'll keep it in mind for future reference.

 

[cody57]

what i do is have one 10 gal bucket filled w/salt water, age it for a week, use it for my weekly water chg, then refill it for next weeks water chg. i use the 4 gal fresh water buckets to replace the water i lose due to evaperation. remember the water that evaporates is fresh water, the salt stays in the tank, therefore you want to 'top off' your water in between water chgs w/fresh water. once you have enough buckets, its simple, but its recommended you have a power head and heater for your buckets, so when you add water, its the right temp. and aerated.

 

[cody57]

the instant ocean salt i bought (60lbs) included a small power head free inside, you can use it for aerating(sp) your water chg bucket.

 

[cody57]

i didnt address the time thing. it really only takes abt 15 mins to refill the buckets and leave them alone for a week. but its nice to have pre-mixed saltwater for emergencies. my skimmer went crazy and drained abt 15 gals of water, it was nice to have at least 10 gals of warm saltwater to refill tank so my wet/dry filter would work. i'd hate to have had to add 15 gallons of cool fresh water to the tank. good luck w/your tank!!

 

[azeritis]

RABIAS
I do not want to sound mean but you if you do not have time to prepare salt water for changes, you are in deep trouble..... And as a matter of fact it only takes a few minutes to fill a bucket, add salt mix. Then all you do is wait for a few days until you do the water change. You are going to have to do it anyway. So if you perform the change on a Saturday for example, it really does not make a difference (as far as time is concerned) whether you prepare the water on the day before or 7 days before the change. But it makes a difference for your tank.....
As for equipment you only need one more bucket, a small power head and a small heater that are relatively cheap.
How are you planning to do the water changes now?

 

[rabiasjewell]

Cody, would I still need to go through this process (for water changes) if I'm using distilled water? My house has gas heat and I know it will evaporate the heck out of my tank next winter so if this is the case, then I want to prepare myself by doing as you say from the beginning (of my water changes) so that I may develope a good routine and be prepared in the fall. Thanks again for the info.
azeritis, I don't think you are being mean, but you may have misread my initial question. My main concern is what can I do tomorrow when I fill my tank up for the first time. Don't worry, I am prepared to do what is necessary to maintain the health of my tank ie. water changes. Thank you for re-enterating (sp?) the importance of up-keep.

 

[rabiasjewell]

Cody, somehow I totally missed your last post until just now, which in a way answered my last question. Meaning, that I do need to go ahead and set up what you recommended so that the change water will be perfectley prepared and warm for future needs. Right? This means (to me ) that while I'm cleaning my garage tomorrow I'll need to go ahead and make a special place for yummy tank water. lol Sounds good to me! Yet another excuse to go to Lowe's. Man I need to by stock in that company

 

[rabiasjewell]

Still no advice (besides the previous given) for filling up my tank for the first time tomorrow? Come on, there's gotta be something: visen, gin, tonic, some sort of magic pill? Oh well, guess I'll just have to put 10 tangs and 1 lawnmower blenny in there........just kidding I swear!!
Seriousley, is there some sort of additive that can cut down on the chlorine? That is the source of the problem right? HELP! I need somebody, Help, not just anybody, Help!

 

[col]

You can buy water conditioner from any pet shop that will neutralise chlorine and chloramine.
To prevent future algae problems you will need to test for phosphates. These will almost certainly be sky high in tap water. You can buy stuff (like Rowaphos) that you put in your filter and will lower the phosphates.
I use tap water and put the Rowaphos in an old fluval filter in a bucket to lower the phosphates before adding the water to the tank 9mixing the salt at the same time).
The best water is RO/DI, but as said before I use tapwater as it is ok for my FO system.

 

[broomer5]

Here's some ideas you might want to consider.
Your tap water may be fine - or it may be horrible.
The only way to tell, is as someone mentioned - test it.
Whether you mix the saltmix in the 120 gallon tank of freshwater or decide to mix it in external container - is up to you.
Both ways work - in tank being a little easier for ititial mixing - but then you have to deal with adding sand to a semi-full tank.
This clouds the water for the first time really bad - but is managable.
External containers like a large trashcan - is better IMO for mixing up new saltwater. You'd just have to mix up several batches and add to tank after laying down your sandbed.
Either way .... to answer you Q regarding tapwater precautions.
Test the saltwater after you mix it up.
Test it for nitrates and phosphates, pH, salinity and temperature.
I would run the tank filtration/heater for a day or two WITHOUT lighting.
I would test for phosphates and if present add a phosphate reducing media to your filtration.
If nitrates are present - that's pretty tough to rid.
You could also place a polyfilter in your filtration for copper and other metals.
Use a dechlorinator product like AmQuel. Add this to the tapwater prior to adding your saltmix.
Do not light the tank initially. Let it run a few days with no lighting.
Start saving your money for an RO or RO/DI unit.
This is by far the best way to eliminate problems down the road.
Lots of folks use tapwater - some have good luck ... others fight algae/diatoms for months.
It all depends on the tapwater - and what's in it.
Good luck with your 120 !

 

[cody57]

RabiasJewell, i wasnt ignoring you, i fell asleep. the initial fill water, IMHO, is going to alright, because your going to let tank run w/o fish for quite awhile any way. when you add fish, thats when you you want to have the change water to not cause stress on the fish. here's the name of an excellent book i have. it helps w/set-up, fish selec. and everything. 'the conscientious marine aquarist' by robert m. fenner. he suggests adding fresh water to tank, leaving enough room for your salt and sand ect. make sure tank doesnt leak. let it sit overnight. its a real easy read. highly recommend.

 

[cody57]

if you keep the change water in the garage, keep a lid on bucket to keep dirt, dust, etc. out of water.

 

[cody57]

as far as distilled water, i forgot, he mentions it in the book, but i use tap water, so i didnt pay attention. distl'd may get a little expensive, maybe not. he said aging water two weeks and you shouldnt have to worry about chlorine, etc. but i do h2o chgs. weekly, so i cheat. but again, on initial fill-up, unless you have about 125lbs. of live rock, its going to run w/o fish for more than two weeks anyway. although i added 5 green chromis fish to help cycle tank and they're docile enough to leave in tank w/new fish you add, unless you're going aggressive and they'll be lunch.

 

[pyro383]

check out my 4 sale thread, its a ro unit that is cheap $50 made by spectrapure

 

[elan]

when i first set up my tank about two months ago, i put the garden hose directly into the tank, added the directed amount of water conditioner, and then added my salt. All directly into the tank. waited a few days, and then started testing my water for adjustments to salinity. it took about a week to get it right because of waiting a couple of days every time i added some more salt to the tank (i think its easier to add salt than to dilute the water to get to the right salinity)..
I really didnt care about the water in the tank at this point because there was nothing living in it at the time. no live rock, no live sand, etc.....
Once my water was clear as can be (i used a carbon bag to get the pleasant yellow tap water color out), with everything dissolved and at the right numbers, i added some damsels (although i wouldnt add damsels again). I would suggest using a dead shrimp that is store bought.. you should be able to find some threads on here which discuss using this method.
After two weeks, i had my water tested for phosphates after seeing some diatom growth. and what do you know.. phosphate hell..... i added a phosphate bag into my sump and within a week or so, no more diatoms. At that point, i started adding alot of live rock, some cured, some uncured. but then had to take it all out when switching from crushed coral to live sand.
At this point in the game, i think you can do pretty much anything you like to the tank except for one major item!!!
If you plan on developing a reef tank, i would strongly suggest you get your tap water tested for copper (copper will kill your entire reef from what i hear). If it contains copper, you cant use your tap water at all unless you can figure out a way to filter it out such as using a RO/DI unit. From what i understand, copper will seep into your silicone seals on the tank itself, or into the rock/sand you are using rendering the whole tank and everything in it, Reef UNSafe.
If it doesnt contain copper, you can get most of the stuff out of it like chlorine, phosphates, either though carbon bags, phosphate bags, or lots of time.
But i agree with everyone else for the "after setup" solutions for topping off your tank with water. if you are going to use tap, then treat it and leave it sitting with a powerhead. even put a small amount of carbon and phosphate sponges in there to get those chemicals out if you are as anal as me.
Or, you can buy RO/DI water either from the start or for your top off from the LFS (about $0.50 from my local store). I hear some of the LFS even have trucks with large canisters that will deliver the water if you are going to get a significant amount. and they even have premixed salt water available too.
I would imagine your 125 will be similar to mine as far as needing about a gallon of water a day due to evaporation. So keep that in mind when you either buy or use your tap water as far as how much you are going to need to prepare before hand.
All the above is just my opinion as i am still learning alot of this information.

 

[rabiasjewell]

Wow everybody, mucho thanks! This is a lot to soak in and greatly appreciated. The lfs should being calling me any minute now asking for directions and I will ask them about some of the mentioned water conditioners and such. Thank you all for all the advice. I'll keep you posted and am sure I'll have more questions. Thank you!

 

[rabiasjewell]

Okay, it's been eleven hrs. since my tank was filled. The lfs guy said that the salt mix (crystalsea) has a de-chlorinater and also gave me some 'Prime' for when I add my live media. My main concern now is that my tank is still completely cloudy after 11 hours. He said it would take 4-5 hrs to be somewhat clear. I know, I know, you can't always trust your lfs, but, I still can only see about 2 to3 inches of depth. I have two overflows and a skimmer going full force and they don't seem to be putting much more than a dent into the fog. Any advice? I need to get this lr and ls in the tank asap and know I can't do so until this calms down.
I'm sad, but the tank does look awesome in the house.

 

[pyro383]

You can put in your sand and rock now. Your sand will cloud up the tank from 2 hrs to 4 days depending on the suspension on fine particles. Remember you can't add anything for at least 30 days (cycle).