Tap water! Bad idea????

[Buddyboy]

Hi All,

Just wanted to know your opinion on using tap water for an initial tank fillup?
I have a rinky dinky little Aqua Pharm Tap Water conditioner and i'm not looking forward to having to make 38G of RO water with it. Seems like it would take quite a while. Would using tap water to start out my tank be a bad idea? Would successive water changes with RO water clean up (dilute) any chlorine, phosphates, etc. in the tap water? I plan on having a few hardy corals, a few fish, cleaner shrimp, etc. Also, does anyone here use tap water in their reefs? Thanks for your help!

Bud

[Murminator]

I use good ol tap water :mrgreen:

[DanG]

I'd find a local reefer that will let you fill a couple of pails with some rodi water. It will help you get a better start for your tank.

[Psyire]

Bad Idea.

When I test filled my 180g with tapwater, it was yellow. lol

[Buddyboy]

And not afraid to admit it! hahaha Do you use anything to condition the water? Or do you just let it sit for awhile?

Also, I know all tap waters aren't created equal. I live in Vancouver (Surrey). Does anyone know what the tap water is like in this neck of the woods? Water might be cleaner in Edmonton. (wouldn't be surprised!)

Bud

[TheReefGeek]

Edmonton water is running at 150ppm right now according to my TDS meter. But it changes seasonally, and you never know what you might get in tap water, if the treatment plant needs to, they dose chemicals to control algae outbreaks and such.

So I say Bad Idea, for long term success go with distilled, RO, or RODI. And you might as well set yourself up for success from the beginning, because believe me you are going to have your share of trouble with a new tank as it is.

[Bob I]

Unlike some people on this board I don't claim to know everything. Therefore I won't give advice. From my experience it all depends where you are. Where I live in Calgary, I have had a great deal of success with my tap water. I don't believe for one minute that chemicals get added willy nilly. However, I will say that when I lived in Vancouver many years ago, I had little success with tap water. But then we used Gro-Lux lights because they looked cool. No wonder we fought Cyano all the time. So I say use tap water with caution. Check with people close to you to see if they have success before you do.:mrgreen:

[McNasty]

just a suggestion, and I started my tank with tap water , was okay till water changed in the spring and I ended up with a tank of rock covered with hair algea. went to rodi and never looked back.

If i was to fill a tank now I would try and see if you can get water from established tanks from people doing water changes. will help start your tank off quicker for one, save you on the cost of salt as the water you would get would be for the drain any ways.

[TheReefGeek]

Unlike some people on this board I don't claim to know everything.

Is that relevant to this post? Why would you even say that?

Therefore I won't give advice.

Well nobody knows everything, but people come here for advise, so who is supposed to give it? God doesn't frequent the board too often.

[dirtyreefer]

The TDS in Vancouver is alot lower than in the interior. I tested the TDS at 17ppm and I still won't use it. That is unless you enjoy battling hair algae and putting things into your aquarium that you have no idea about.

[TheReefGeek]

wow, 17! Some reefers in the US have 10ppm coming out of their RO units!

[Willow]

i wouldnt use the tap water if the tds was 0. i have to much invested in my corals and setup to risk a tank crash on shitty water.

[Psyire]

especially for the $200 an RO Unit costs..

[G1GY]

This is a tank with just $h!tty tap water!

http://totm.aquariumpros.ca/index.shtml

:rolleyes:

[Snoop Dog]

I agree with DirtyReefer. TDS is about 17, and on 3 start ups in my aquarist Career , all have lead to hair algea and or cyno when I used tap water. RODI I had vertually none.

I guess it just depends on your tolerence level for algae.

[Buddyboy]

Thanks all for you comments and suggestions! I think I will just have to make the time and make the RO water. I think it can probably be done with tap water, but this is my first saltwater tank and don't want to push my luck! hehe

Bud

[seashells]

Well tapwater in Surrey runs about 10-50 ppm TDS, Alkalinity 30ppm Calcium 30 ppm and the pH runs 7.2-7.5 when we test water for people. We use the AP tapwater filter and get a TDS of 0-2ppm. Have had no problems to date. Also making 38 gallons of water goes pretty quick - like coming to the kitchen for a snack only to step in a puddle.

Doug

[Cap'n]

God doesn't frequent the board too often.


Neither do baby elephants, but when they do you should see the sparks fly!

[fkshiu]

Hi All,

Just wanted to know your opinion on using tap water for an initial tank fillup?
I have a rinky dinky little Aqua Pharm Tap Water conditioner and i'm not looking forward to having to make 38G of RO water with it.


Just a correction, the water coming out of the AP Tap Water conditioner is DI water and NOT RO water.

[TheReefGeek]

DI is stripped of more than RO I believe. People use RODI because using just DI would deplete the DI media really quickly, and it is more expensive to replace than the RO membrane, carbon and filter media.