RO Water/Tap Water

[Coralgurl]

Not sure how to set this up as a poll, but just wondering how many people use ro, ro/di or tap water in their tanks? - Figured it out!

I ask because I've been filling my tank for 2 days now with ro water, wont be full until tomorrow morning, and I have to fill my sump still. (have been turning the water off during the day as my hose isn't quite long enough and I have a big clutzy dog who has already tripped over it once, knocking the hose out of the tank)

Have seen a few threads where people don't always use filtered water. I want to start my tank off right and I know, patience, patience, patience...

Thoughts?

[hillegom]

I use RO/DI even though our TDS here in the lower mainland is very low. Mine in Surrey right now is 12, last summer it was 15.
I understand yours in calgary is high, 200 or so? I would definitely use ro/di there. Just another thing to keep dissolved solids out of the tank.

[gregzz4]

Our tap water here in Burnaby is only 7-8 lately, so I'm only running the RO as it's enough to acheive 0 TDS. I have DI if I ever need it after a rainstorm or what have you

[mike31154]

The two gents from the West Coast have pretty much nailed it. Heavily dependent on your source water TDS. I ran treated tap water here in Vernon for a couple of years and am glad I finally saw the light & began using RODI. TDS here is over 200. Some of the dissolved solids are good, like calcium & magnesium etc. but most of the rest are just going to build up in your system & cause issues long term.

You should be able to pull some sort of report online from your water supplier that shows the breakdown of TDS in your tap water. This will give you a better idea of what's going into your system if you decide to use treated tap water.

[Cal_stir]

south western ontario here, TDS is @ 180ppm, water treated with chloramine so RODI is a must

[fishytime]

RO/DI here

[Coralgurl]

I only have an ro unit and need to pick up a tds meter. Thanks for the replies!

[megs_clark]

RO/DI water.
Our water has a low tds reading to begin with but when ever I use the tap water I end up with green hair algae. When I stick with RO/DI or just DI water it clears up. Also I dont have to clean the glass half as often using the purified water. Totaly worth waiting for it to fill with RO/DI water!!

[Coralgurl]

I'm waiting, not going to cheat....:lol: I remember what our current tank went through with the set up and not going to repeat the same mistakes!

[kien]

the way I look at it, using RO/DI water with a TDS of 0 means you know exactly what you are putting into your tank, nothing. That is, pure water and nothing else. With non-zero TDS water you don't quite know what you are putting into your tank. Most likely a little bit of this and a little bit of that which may or may not be good for your tank. You just don't know :-)

Granted, you end up mixing your perfectly clean water with salt, but one would assume and hope that the salt that you are mixing into your water has been tested and is suitable for saltwater tanks and their inhabitants :biggrin:

Having said all that, there are plenty of people who use tap water with success.

[gregzz4]

You haven't mentioned what TDS meter you're considering, but I'd suggest the dual in-line style (http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/dual-inline-tds-meter-dm-1-hm-digital.html) so as to measure Tap and RO water results.
I actually bought a second meter (single style (http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/single-inline-tds-meter-sm-1-hm-digital.html)) so as to measure DI results as well, but that's me being lazy and not wanting to move the meter around.

[paddyob]

Similar to the poll I posted earlier today. Ha ha.

Not the only one wondering !

[Coralgurl]

Similar to the poll I posted earlier today. Ha ha.

Not the only one wondering !

Your poll was part of the reason I asked. I don't dose anything ATM and run a simple system. I guess as the tank evolves will see where it goes, but for now, no reactors or zeo and want to keep it simple. I only bought my ro a few months ago and love having one, much easier than weekly trips to the water store....lol. Sump is finally filling and started adding salt.

[blacknife]

I started on store bought ro, but quickly gave up and moved to tap. I have been battling all kinds of algae and nutrient problems, recently switched to ro/di. I can not blame my problems on the water as i was a noob and made lots of mistakes, I can not fully give my tank looking better lately to the switch to rodi, as i have a better idea what i am doing now, and spend a little more time tweaking this chemistry set that is my reef tank.

[reef-keeper]

I use ro/di in my freshwater as well the tds meter reads well over the 200 mark in Edmonton.

[whatcaneyedo]

In 2009 70% of poll respondents on this site said that they used RO water. However DI was not an option on that poll. It will be interesting to see if that has changed much.
RO/or no RO
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=56581&highlight=ro%2Fdi

I use RO/DI because it eliminated the source water variable. That way if I have something go wrong in my tank I can say: "well my lighting is still the same, my water is pure, the temperature is stable etc... so what have I done or added lately that could have caused this?" It makes problem solving much easier.

[dsaundry]

Water here in Chilliwack is awesome..so tap water in my top up resevoir is all.

[Gripenfelter]

I used to use tap. Now RO/DI only.