What do you do for water?
- Thread starter sea_fan
- Start date
jackri
Active Member
A lot depends on your tap water. RO/DI only for me though.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/vb/s...d.php?t=351021
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/vb/s...d.php?t=351021
flower
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Sea_Fan
http:///forum/post/3217906
I've been getting my water from my LFS, but now they're not doing that anymore and I'm running low. Is it safe to use tap water and condition it? Or should I get it from somewhere? Thanks!
Never use tap water if you can at all help it. I used RO water from Walmart and mixed my own salt, the LFS asked too much. Walmart sells water for .37 a gallon. I used 5g jugs.
Now I have my own RO unit, because I got very tired of hauling water in 5g jugs.
http:///forum/post/3217906
I've been getting my water from my LFS, but now they're not doing that anymore and I'm running low. Is it safe to use tap water and condition it? Or should I get it from somewhere? Thanks!
Never use tap water if you can at all help it. I used RO water from Walmart and mixed my own salt, the LFS asked too much. Walmart sells water for .37 a gallon. I used 5g jugs.
Now I have my own RO unit, because I got very tired of hauling water in 5g jugs.
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
My 55g with a refugium has been running since 2002 and had fish and soft (easy?) corals for over 3 years before I screwed up. nitrates and phosphates are unmeasureable. I use no water changes and straight untreated tap water.
A lot does depend on what type of tank you are running. For a fish only or fish with live rock, tap water is fine. For a tank full of rare delicate sps corals probably not.
Bang_guy used to use a method of purifying his water for his system that used pickling lime (i think) and baking soda to precipitate calcium carbonate leaving behind pure water. You might pm him on that method. Eventually he added an ro/di unit.
my .02
A lot does depend on what type of tank you are running. For a fish only or fish with live rock, tap water is fine. For a tank full of rare delicate sps corals probably not.
Bang_guy used to use a method of purifying his water for his system that used pickling lime (i think) and baking soda to precipitate calcium carbonate leaving behind pure water. You might pm him on that method. Eventually he added an ro/di unit.
my .02
rlablan
Active Member
What kind of water you use really depends on where you live and how your city treat the water.
I use RO because I live in chandler/Phoenix AZ. I am about 8 miles away from the phoenix water area. Their tap water is 600ppm on the best of days.
Here in Chandler is usually 400ppm from the tap.
For me, it is only RO. I don't have to use a DI unit. It's not necessary to get my levels at 0.
I payed $220 at Lowe's for a 3 step RO unit and it gets my water at 0 and keeps it there for over 1 year with the same filters. (We also use ours for ice and drinking too) The kit included a holding tank, a spout, all plumbing pieces, and of course the filter unit itself.
Replacement filters are the cheapest at 20 bucks for my model. Other units were 50+ dollars a filter.
If your water is bad, even with a FOWLR tank, you will have issues with algae, diatoms, even cyano.
If it works for you with the tap from your area, then just use it. I think it is best like a trial and error thing, because your area is not always the same as someone elses.
Good luck!
I use RO because I live in chandler/Phoenix AZ. I am about 8 miles away from the phoenix water area. Their tap water is 600ppm on the best of days.
Here in Chandler is usually 400ppm from the tap.
For me, it is only RO. I don't have to use a DI unit. It's not necessary to get my levels at 0.
I payed $220 at Lowe's for a 3 step RO unit and it gets my water at 0 and keeps it there for over 1 year with the same filters. (We also use ours for ice and drinking too) The kit included a holding tank, a spout, all plumbing pieces, and of course the filter unit itself.
Replacement filters are the cheapest at 20 bucks for my model. Other units were 50+ dollars a filter.
If your water is bad, even with a FOWLR tank, you will have issues with algae, diatoms, even cyano.
If it works for you with the tap from your area, then just use it. I think it is best like a trial and error thing, because your area is not always the same as someone elses.
Good luck!
fibinotchi
Member
You could also use distilled water but you only wanna do that to get you by until you get RODI or a better option.