Changing Temp and tap to RO water

[JenK]

I have a 75 G tank with 6 inch dsb and 60lbs uncured rock - been curing for 7 weeks, Nitrites are at 0.1 ppm. Started out using distilled water by the gallon from the grocery store, but due to the large amount of water changes during the ammonia and nitrite peaks, gave up and started using tap water. Now that the peaks are done, I'd like to switch back to distilled water.

I'm thinking the change in water might cause a pH fluctuation since my tap water is very hard water, was planning on a 5 gal water change twice a week?

Also, my lfs advised my water temp to be 74 deg. Reading on the site, that is way too low. I plan to buy my livestock from them because the next fish store is 6 hours away - unless I mail order.

Would you advise I bring the water temp up gradually, say 1 degree every few days? Would the higher temp be harder to aclimate my future livestock? Too much fluctuation doing both changes at the same time? Thanks for your help, great site!

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

[welcome]
first off i am guessing you don't have any fish or inverts in your tank. if not then you can raise the temp as fast as you want i keep mine around 79 degrees. as for water you could just do a good size water change and it won't cause any prob.

by the way where in SD are you?

 

[CoralFiend]

Since I have had a 75 gallon reef tank (currenty upgrading to 140) and know how much water you will need - especially if you stick to a regular water change regimen - I would suggest getting a RO / DI filter.

They may seem a little pricey up front, but the benefits in the long term FAR outweigh the initial expense. You are asking for trouble using unfiltered tap water. You are probably adding phosphates, nitrates and who knows what all to your system. Do you like algae?

I keep two large contaiers of water on hand at all times - one full of RO/DI fresh water and one full of constantly mixing salt water. That is pretty common practice.

As far as temp goes. People are all over the map on that one. Personally, I shoot to keep as close to 80 degrees on a constant basis as I can. My 75 had no chiller or heater and I could control it by using fans and adjusting the ambient room temperature. Of course, I live down south and do not contend with the harsh environment during the winter that you do. I had what I considered a pretty healthy reef (until the hurricane came around anyway) and my temp would swing 3 - 5 degrees during the day. Maybe not that desirable, but it had no catastrophic effect on the livestock.

Regarding acclimating your new arrivals, I would think that slowly raising the temp inside their container when you bring them home should suffice. What you want to avoid is sudden changes in temp and water chemistry. As with most things in the hobby, slower (acclimating, in this case) is better.

Hope that helped...

 

[JenK]

Thanks for your help. I'm in Armour, SD. A small town about an hour south of Mitchell.

I have a few things growing on my LR, I can only guess what they are (new to the hobby). Looks like 2 small colonies of fan worms, some bright red tube worms with feathery heads, a few tunicates and maybe a leather coral.

They survived the cycle - had extremely high amonia and nitrite peaks during the cycle - thus all the water changes. They should handle the water and temp change ok too.