Filtered Water necessary?
- Thread starter wyang76
- Start date
JownsenJesus
Premium Member
Theres chlorine in tap water, as well as lots of phosphates and other chems that can cause algae blooms and stress on fish.
Cagraffwriter
Premium Member
It is pretty critical.
You can find RO water filters used for as little as $75 used.
Using tap water will do everything Jownsen mentioned, and can even kill your fish.
If you decided to use tap water regardless, use amquel or something equivalent to remove all the bad minerals, contaiments, ect. in the water. Amquel has a two bottle kit. One is white and orange, and one is like greenish blue and white. Its a remover and a water conditioner.
You can find RO water filters used for as little as $75 used.
Using tap water will do everything Jownsen mentioned, and can even kill your fish.
If you decided to use tap water regardless, use amquel or something equivalent to remove all the bad minerals, contaiments, ect. in the water. Amquel has a two bottle kit. One is white and orange, and one is like greenish blue and white. Its a remover and a water conditioner.
Corriander
Member
I used tap water back in the 80's for a fish-only setup. Instead of dechlorinator, I let the water sit out for a few days before mixing it.
However, that was in suburban/rural Ohio and not in an area with known BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) contamination in the groundwater. Granted, most volatile and semi-volatile compounds will gas off in a few days if you let it sit out. It is the phosphates, silicates and fluorides you will need to watch out for. Your live rock might get awful hairy.
However, that was in suburban/rural Ohio and not in an area with known BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) contamination in the groundwater. Granted, most volatile and semi-volatile compounds will gas off in a few days if you let it sit out. It is the phosphates, silicates and fluorides you will need to watch out for. Your live rock might get awful hairy.
cthetoy
Active member
You should get it for personal reasons as well. I use it for all my cooking and drinking water. Even though you might not be able to taste the difference my TDS meter reads 300 for tap water and 10 for RO water and 0-1 for RO/DI. For the fish it goes through the RO/DI but for drinking/cooking it's RO only.
Cagraffwriter
Premium Member
My TDS reads almost 500 where I live out of the tap. My RO/DI reads 1. I guess I have really really bad water where I live.
But yeah, you can even feel the difference in the water. Wash your hands with tap water, dry them off completely, then wash your hands with RO/DI water...feels like I have soap on my hands but dont.
But yeah, you can even feel the difference in the water. Wash your hands with tap water, dry them off completely, then wash your hands with RO/DI water...feels like I have soap on my hands but dont.
