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Old 11-11-2011, 08:12 PM
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Default water ok to use?

It is not reverse osmosis, the water is treated at a conventional Class III surface water plant , with coagulation, floculation, a high rate upflow dissolved air clarifier, conventional deep bed multi media filters, followed by Ultraviolet and Chlorine disinfection.

Silicates and phosphates are not very significant, usually on the order of less than 1 milligram per liter.

With fish, the main concern would be chloramines. Chloramines are a result of mixing chlorine with ammonia, they are common in water treatment , and provide a long lasting chlorine residual for health reasons -chloramines would ensure that no pathogenic organisms that might be introduced after treatment could survive in drinking water.

The fish supplier would usually sell sodium bi sulphate, sodium thio sulphate, or citric acid-reducing agents that when added to the fish tank would remove the oxidizers (chloramines). You should check with the fish supplier which is best for your type of fish, and the amount to use.



above is the "report" that my city gave me for tap water in term of use for tanks.. any concerns? I see the silicates and phosphates are less then 1 mg per liter is this still too too much?
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Old 11-11-2011, 08:25 PM
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You could but I wouldn't. The water will still have significant amounts of phosphates and nitrates that could cause algae outbreaks. Chlorine and chloramine would be huge concerns. You'd need to use Prime to remove chlorine before using it in your tank.

People can and do use tap water for their reefs and often get away with it. If you are heading in the direction of being a reef junkie and are considering the more challenging types of livestock that are more sensitive to what's in the water... the investment in a $150 RO/DI will be worth 20 times that to keep your $3000 investment in corals and fish in top health (ie. not dead).
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Old 11-11-2011, 09:05 PM
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those 5 gallon bottles of water, would they be ok provided they are ro?
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Old 11-11-2011, 09:08 PM
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I honest would trust prepackaged water, if you do make sure you test the Ph.

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Old 11-11-2011, 09:10 PM
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Yes, but you will be losing money in the long run. A unit will pay for itself over a year or two probably... plus.. filtered water for you and your family.
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Old 11-11-2011, 09:12 PM
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Those 5 gal ro water will be ok to use. In the short term. Because over the long run it will be expensive to use that water. As scubasteve said, the investment of a ro/di filter unit would be the best solution
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Old 11-11-2011, 09:55 PM
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Use Prime with your tapwater to neutralize the chloramine. Prime says to use a capful for every 50g of chloramine-treated tapwater. Since I use 3 to 4 gals of tapwater per water change, it would be ridiculous to treat it by the capful. I calculate it takes 3 drops of Prime per gal to treat new saltwater made with tapwater.

I don't think very many people know what's in their tapwater, but religiously use RO/DI or RO only because that's what many reefkeepers advocate. (I used RO/DI for many years and it caused me lots of headaches!) It's a pretty tough sell in modern online reef communities to tell someone to go ahead and use local tapwater because reefkeeping has become so technology-oriented. Technology isn't bad, per se, but it may not always be necessary to do a reasonably good job without it. Using tapwater may be one of those instances for you. You will only know if you try it and either it works sufficiently or it doesn't.

I saw a guy's display and frag tanks a couple of nights ago who used tapwater. The SPS corals in his display, in particular, were stunning! I remember seeing reefs locally before RO/DI became de rigueur and they were quite amazing especially since so little knowledge was available back then.

I don't know what size your tank is, or what you want to put in it. But don't be frightened by nay-sayers that say nay to tapwater. With proper husbandry, your nano will look fabulous
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Old 11-11-2011, 11:33 PM
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Those 5 gallon jugs of RO are good. I used them for quite a while when I first started. Make sure you check the params for nitrates and phosphates. I used to get mine from Save-on Foods where they have there own RO system. I used to have to tell them to change their membranes

When I moved closer to work (7 min drive) I started using the Millipore system we have in the lab (makes RO look like swamp water... It's excessive but if ya have it, use it!). However, the inconvenience of having to drive there, fill up the jugs (which takes a while), drive back, and lug them up three flights of stairs has me looking to purchase my own RO/DI. The amount I'd save on gas would pay for the system.

Now, the retarded thing is... I develop desalination technology for a living. Why the hell have I not built a prototype to use at home?
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