-
Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.
tap water
- Thread starter NyteGTI
- Start date
I currently use RO/DI and make sure the readings are 0....why chance getting minerals or other impurities leaching into the tank.
i'm going to end up getting a RODI unit after the new year but the initial fill was tap water and top offs have been jug water from a fillup station. any issues? I know the knee jerk reaction is always RO/DI but is it possible to have started with treated tap & not have a problem. yes I'll see more algae than most because of the phosphates and silicates but will it work itself out with the top offs & RODI in the new year?
Are there people on here who have success with just tap water? The answer is yes and I know some people off the board who don't use RODI as well. However, there are certain things that come into play here. If your TDS is really low naturally you might get away with it, but if it is high you are going to have problems. The second part is what you want to put in your tank. For fish only or very very basic corals they can tolerate the TDS. More sensitive corals are going to struggle and probably die in a tap water environment. You hit the nail on the head with algae and diatoms that can and will come from the elevated TDS in your water.
Since you filled with tap water and have been topping off, the water will have a higher TDS. If you start doing water changes with RODI you will lower that over time but I would probably up my water change percentage just to get things going in the right direction. When you start a tank the mistakes you make (we all make) can be very hard to get rid of. It is better to start correct and continue on that path. Depending on the size of your tank, how long it has been running, what is in it and how much RODI you can make, you might want to think of draining and refilling.
Since you filled with tap water and have been topping off, the water will have a higher TDS. If you start doing water changes with RODI you will lower that over time but I would probably up my water change percentage just to get things going in the right direction. When you start a tank the mistakes you make (we all make) can be very hard to get rid of. It is better to start correct and continue on that path. Depending on the size of your tank, how long it has been running, what is in it and how much RODI you can make, you might want to think of draining and refilling.
I'll probably just refill tonight with store bought water then. It's only a 12G nano with LR just ending the cycle so nothing to kill with the water drain but the BB. I'm not putting anything into it except random drops of ammonia to keep the bacteria alive after the cycle is complete. I'm going away for a week at the end of this month so I'm waiting on fish until I get back.
The tank will more than likely be a zoa tank but seeing Darren's acans may have swayed me into doing both. I'm not a huge DIYer so not going to be putting finiky corals in here because then I'd have to get into dosing & lighting upgrades that I'd rather save for my 2nd tank once the GF & I move into a bigger place in the new year.
Basically I just wanted to make sure nothing is seeped into the rock that now I'd have to start over and wait another 4 weeks for my cycle. plus I like my scape as it is right now
I was also asking just to see if there's anybody that actually had success with treated tap because I can't seem to find anybody willing to admit that they have not used RO/DI lol
The tank will more than likely be a zoa tank but seeing Darren's acans may have swayed me into doing both. I'm not a huge DIYer so not going to be putting finiky corals in here because then I'd have to get into dosing & lighting upgrades that I'd rather save for my 2nd tank once the GF & I move into a bigger place in the new year.
Basically I just wanted to make sure nothing is seeped into the rock that now I'd have to start over and wait another 4 weeks for my cycle. plus I like my scape as it is right now
I was also asking just to see if there's anybody that actually had success with treated tap because I can't seem to find anybody willing to admit that they have not used RO/DI lol
I used treated tap water for years with pretty good sucess. But every August I would get an algae outbreak, most likely from high nitrates & phosphates.
High TDS in tap water isn't necessarily bad. It depends on what the particles are that are creating the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). In Rockaway the the TDS is 380ppm which seems bad except it's mostly calcium and magnesium. We have very hard water but we also have silicates and phosphates so I use an RO/DI just to be sure.
High TDS in tap water isn't necessarily bad. It depends on what the particles are that are creating the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). In Rockaway the the TDS is 380ppm which seems bad except it's mostly calcium and magnesium. We have very hard water but we also have silicates and phosphates so I use an RO/DI just to be sure.
i used treated tap water in manhattan. I also kept astrea snails for over 4 years that were the size of half dollar coins. they were Mexican turbo sized...hahaha there was a lot of algae that grew. But a non sps tank can be easily kept in my opinion, in fact there were studies on soft corals that grew around the effluent from power plants. So dirty water for some corals is not a big deal.
here in nj my tap water is putrid. In about 3 months I'd have this green awful unholy stuff growing on my faucets if I don't treat the water with a softner. So imagine using that stuff without RODI. no thanks. I just dropped several hundred on pumps - no need for them to go into early retirement due to calcium/zinc buildup.
here in nj my tap water is putrid. In about 3 months I'd have this green awful unholy stuff growing on my faucets if I don't treat the water with a softner. So imagine using that stuff without RODI. no thanks. I just dropped several hundred on pumps - no need for them to go into early retirement due to calcium/zinc buildup.