Calgary Tap Water: Any Copper Issues?

Enigma · #1 03-30-2012, 02:07 PM

I dug through the old posts on the forum, and I noted that Calgary's tap water has been discussed a few times. Instead of bringing back posts from 2009, I've opted to start a new one.

It looks like my Mexican Turbo snails are about to bite the dust. I now understand that these are a temperate species and are not suited for reef tanks. However, I don't want to just shrug my shoulders and brush it off as a temperature (or other reef specific) issue. In doing that I could miss something that needs to be resolved.

When I set up my 10 gallon tank I used tap water. I wasn't aware that this could cause issues at the time. I did use tap water conditioner, as I was worried about chlorine. I did some top ups using tap water as well. I didn't use the conditioner for those. I did do some top ups with distilled, and my one water change so far was with distilled.

Is it possible that the copper content in Calgary's tap water could be significant enough to cause issues in my tank?

Aquattro · #2 03-30-2012, 03:09 PM

Lots of people in Calgary use tap water, I doubt there's any issue with it that would kill snails.

Money pit · #3 03-31-2012, 11:39 AM

No copper in the water, but if your house is old it may have copper pipes.

Aquattro · #4 03-31-2012, 02:10 PM

Copper pipes "could" leach into the water, especially if you're mixing hot and cold. Hot water would pull more copper out of the pipes.

Enigma · #5 03-31-2012, 03:31 PM

Thanks for the info

We're in an old house in Huntington Hills. The pipes I can see are not copper, but who knows what is behind the walls.

I am now looking at an RO/DI system. Though the fish tanks are small, we have many carvinorous plants in the house that also require RO/DI. I also use the RO/DI water in our three AeroGardens. I'm constantly at Walmart buying water (or so it seems). An RO/DI system would pay for itself in a year (based on my calculations) and be much more convenient.

b16a2 · #6 04-12-2012, 01:46 AM

From my experiance I have found Calgary's tap water to be very harmful to my reef. I have not conducted any tests on the fresh water itself, only how my reef has responded to it.

Long story short, Calgary's tap water was encouraging green hair algae growth throughout my whole tank (including sump!) After switching to pre-purchased RO/DI water though, my water hasnt been more clear and my previous algae issue is almost completely resolved.

I would recomend treating your frish to the good life with some clean pure RO/DI water. Here in town you can purchase it for 1$ per gallon, and I believe it is worth every cent.

Good luck. Please document anything if you do experiment. Im curious to see what you guys come up with.

badAZZlars · #7 04-12-2012, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b16a2

From my experiance I have found Calgary's tap water to be very harmful to my reef. I have not conducted any tests on the fresh water itself, only how my reef has responded to it.

Long story short, Calgary's tap water was encouraging green hair algae growth throughout my whole tank (including sump!) After switching to pre-purchased RO/DI water though, my water hasnt been more clear and my previous algae issue is almost completely resolved.

I would recomend treating your frish to the good life with some clean pure RO/DI water. Here in town you can purchase it for 1$ per gallon, and I believe it is worth every cent.

Good luck. Please document anything if you do experiment. Im curious to see what you guys come up with.

A buck a gallon? Seems excessive. Buy a rodi unit. They aren't that expensive and are worth it.

Enigma · #8 04-12-2012, 04:16 AM

My rodi system arrived on Monday. I purchased the aquarium model from Aquasafe Canada.

http://www.aquasafecanada.com/store/...ii-r-oi-system

My only gripe about it so far is that one of the DI canisters is a bit leaky. No matter how much I tighten the end cap it still leaks. I'm sure some plummers' tape will take care of that. Oh, and it took me two hours to put it together.

With how much water I'm making, it will pay for itself in six weeks. I need to get a TDS meter, but I'm pleased with the test results. I'm saving the waste water for the washing machine.

thedwightguy · #9 05-08-2012, 07:24 PM

As someone who did a great job killing goldfish in Edmonton (1963), live in Los Angeles, and spent half my life in Vancouver/Victoria (water is pretty inert) I wouldn't put any prairie water in a tank without RO and testing and knowing what else is in it. Answer: lot's of "stuff".

Edmonton, back in the day, pulled water that seemed half something else. Calgary water (smell it out of the tap) has to have lots of "stuff" in it.

What's the city's water formula? It should be published/accessible.

Dlo132 · #10 05-11-2012, 10:26 PM

If people are curious about the Contents of the local water, I could get the results from work (and get them to run a fresh test).

My work makes over 100000L of deionozed water a day, and the finished product has to be tested for numerous amounts of "yuk". I am sure the lab would run a straight test on tap water for me, and I can post the results.