cephlover87
New member
water is just fine
water is just fine
your setup sounds just fine to me, i have had a VERY successful 125 gallon reef tank for over a year now and before that in the same tank i was holding sharks and stingrays and all sorts of cool animals and i have never once used anything other than conditioned tap water, the only thing that is actually important is the salt, if you have a reef tank with sensitive corals than the type of salt is important, but as long as the salt adds elements such as calcium and trace elements it should be fine, in terms of how much of a water change, its not an exact science, 10 gallons should be just fine but if you feel that you need a little more than go for it, to mix the salt, personally i just bought a paint mixer and attached it to my power drill. my LFS owner (and also a good friend) laughs at me and chastised me at first, but after a year of great reef keeping he has come to realize that fish keeping isn't about an exact science, its about experimenting and figuring out what works for you, i use the coldest water out of my bathtub faucet into 5 gallon buckets or 30 gallon totes and then i simply use my return pump, which has an inline heater, to add the water to my tank. the fish and corals can deal with things like these, in the wild when a storm brings down colder water the corals adjust and make due, in the same way your water parameters will even out in a matter of hours if not minuets so don't kill yourself being exact on every little thing, just mix and pour and get the salinity close but again, its not the most important thing in the world, im a living testimony that tap water with the right conditioner (prime) is just as good as RO/DI units, heck i have had a feather star in my tank for 7 months now and he is doing just fine. so if he can survive tap water than anything can as long as you have the right skill,
good luck
water is just fine
your setup sounds just fine to me, i have had a VERY successful 125 gallon reef tank for over a year now and before that in the same tank i was holding sharks and stingrays and all sorts of cool animals and i have never once used anything other than conditioned tap water, the only thing that is actually important is the salt, if you have a reef tank with sensitive corals than the type of salt is important, but as long as the salt adds elements such as calcium and trace elements it should be fine, in terms of how much of a water change, its not an exact science, 10 gallons should be just fine but if you feel that you need a little more than go for it, to mix the salt, personally i just bought a paint mixer and attached it to my power drill. my LFS owner (and also a good friend) laughs at me and chastised me at first, but after a year of great reef keeping he has come to realize that fish keeping isn't about an exact science, its about experimenting and figuring out what works for you, i use the coldest water out of my bathtub faucet into 5 gallon buckets or 30 gallon totes and then i simply use my return pump, which has an inline heater, to add the water to my tank. the fish and corals can deal with things like these, in the wild when a storm brings down colder water the corals adjust and make due, in the same way your water parameters will even out in a matter of hours if not minuets so don't kill yourself being exact on every little thing, just mix and pour and get the salinity close but again, its not the most important thing in the world, im a living testimony that tap water with the right conditioner (prime) is just as good as RO/DI units, heck i have had a feather star in my tank for 7 months now and he is doing just fine. so if he can survive tap water than anything can as long as you have the right skill,
good luck
