Filling a 120- tap water ok?

[nemonick84]

120 gallons is a fair bit of water, a fair bit that I really don't feel like paying for. Any concerns in filling my tank with tap water if it won't have anything in it for at least 1-2 weeks? The sump/fuge will be running w/ cheato to soak up any phosphates that may be present and the water will obviously be treated with a chlorine/chloramine remover.

 

[t-bone2]

i cant think of any but what do i know

 

[Nick A]

This is something I also would like to know. Filling a 300 gal with only R/O water will cost a lot. So far with my 20gal ive done a half RO and half tap w/ dechlorinator.

 

[kappaknight]

I would test the water in your area. Being that you're close to that lake, the water for your area may be more pure than others.

 

[jimbo045]

I say tap is fine, I use it. JD

 

[chucksta1]

You're not addressing a couple of underlying questions.

First, what's your tap water test at? Some tap water is "O.K." or at least close. Some is only fit to flush the toilet. It depends on where you live.

Second, a 120 is going have an evap of 1 - 2.5 gallons a day, depending on wether or not you use evap for cooling. At that point, you really don't want to drag water home from your LFS or from a seller of distilled. Your best bet would be a good R/O unit. Even if it only outputs 20 gal a day, it will soon pay for itself in time and convienience. If you were running a 20 or 30 gallon tank with a full hood and limited evap, you could get away with buying your water and bringing it home. At the point at which you are going over 100 gallons, owning a R/O unit is the only way to go.

R/O from a home unit has a cost of pennies a gallon plus the convienience factor, think "Big Brute X 2, 1 for fresh, 1 for salt premix".

Good luck.

Chuck.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Why not start it out right from the beginning. If you don't know your tap water quality don't chance it. Some things never go away even with water changes and evaporation so don't add them to begin with.

 

[areze]

yay for tapwater!

no but really, thats after a year of your typical suburban tap water in atlanta. no skimmer however. algea was unstopable none the less.

and here it is yesterday, filling with 100% pure RO/DI water. after about 15 hours of cleaning to get all the algea off the rock, all new sand(it was caked with cyano). grossest smells Ive ever smelt.

 

[AZDesertRat]

And believe it or not Atlanta has probably the best tap water in the US.

 

[areze]

yup. not Im not saying it couldnt be done; what I had was the most extreme case, but still an interesting sample of what tap water does put into the tank and you will need to ruitinely remove or it will end up that bad.

whats worse, your seeing the best angle, the darker back side of the rocks were caked with sponges.

 

[flinster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8220040#post8220040 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by areze
yay for tapwater!

no but really, thats after a year of your typical suburban tap water in atlanta. no skimmer however. algea was unstopable none the less.

and here it is yesterday, filling with 100% pure RO/DI water. after about 15 hours of cleaning to get all the algea off the rock, all new sand(it was caked with cyano). grossest smells Ive ever smelt.

did it smell worse that the chatahoochee?

 

[areze]

I would sleep in the chattahoochee, bath in it, boil spaghetti in it with chattahoochee fish before I would EVER put my hand in the tank the way it was again.

seriously, it was DISGUSTING. everything was slimey, and thats if you didnt grab a hand full of sponge. the smell literally gave me a headache. and it took 8 razor blades to clean the glass.

 

[HippieSmell]

I started my 120 with tap. A slight algae bloom in the beginning, but everything was otherwise fine. I wouldn't worry too much, but RO or DI is better.

 

[DC321]

RO or DI is better.

Save your headaches for later on...

 

[Kurt03]

last time i tested my tap it had 20ppm nitrate in it. Thats just starting off in a bad direction. I started my tank with tap till i got my rodi and chaeto. After adding rock and my spike i was back to 20ppm nitrate. I started the sugar method and was down to 0ppm nitrates in a few weeks! Just be carefull to go SLOW! I did have a pretty bad cyano bloom before i got my nitrates down.

 

[ADA33]

Dont do it start out RO/DI. TAP was my first huge mistake.

 

[Kurt03]

If i had the choice i would have waited till i got my rodi as well.

 

[Waxxiemann]

I agree, haste makes waste

 

[Zoos]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8220004#post8220004 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AZDesertRat
Why not start it out right from the beginning. If you don't know your tap water quality don't chance it. Some things never go away even with water changes and evaporation so don't add them to begin with.

I agree

I wouldn't put tap in my tank. and the tap will have somethings that the chateo won't get.

 

[JmLee]

dont do itttttttttt.