soo i filled up with tapwater

[mike tv]

i used tap water. i forgot to get RO/DI water from the store on my way home with my supplies, and the stores all closed on me. since i didnt want the rock to die and was admittedly eager to see if my diy setup would even run i filled up with water from my hose (used regularly, semi rural town, water feed from a lake)

my tank is right now circulating with ~10gals of untested tapwater. i havent even tested the water in the tank yet (i have run out of spendable money for a few days and forgot to budget for a test kit) there is 5lbs of (hopefully still) live rock, 10lbs ls and 5lbs white plain marine sand. the only circ is from the gravity fed overflow on the crappy little aquaclear 70 i found in my basement. oceanic salt mix was mixed in, sand settled. hydrometer (inaccurate, i know, but well washed) shows 1.024 fairly steadily replacing 1L of evap a day (no lid right now) and temp is 79

basically, i was planning on making 25% water changes with rodi water and the same salt mix every 2-3 days over the next week or two, hoping to remove as much of the impure water as possible before adding any more rock or really beginning to cycle, i threw a couple flakes of fish food in there to try and feed the bacteria, which i thought may be suffering given my obviously sub par water conditions.

i know it seems like im diving into this with not enough money or research done, but really its quite the opposite. i just didnt like the idea of spending my savings on a tank when i didnt even know how to mix or test saltwater. this is more of a practice tank than anything.

is anything horrible to come from me using tapwater in the first place, if i were to make the pure water changes? will anything negative result from the tank going untested for the first few days, given that im not in any sort of rush to get life in the tank?

thanks in advance

mike

 

[mike tv]

oh and the top off is being done from the filter in my fridge which was recently replaced and is fairly high quality

i have some marineland pad filters with an activated charcoal chamber in the back that had been previously used by a friend to block less mentionable or legal smells from escaping a cabinet which he uses

when i initially filled it up, i jammed one of these into the aquaclear's little sump section, and it seemed to clarify the water quite well

would the carbon filter being in there at all help to make up for my foolish haste in using the water?
is there any saving this setup or should i drain and use rodi from the start?

i hope waterchanges and filtering will help, since i do so hate to fail entirely

 

[Nano Chris]

I wouldn't use tap water, and if u used a garden hose (or a hose that as copper) that would be bad for you're inverts if you have or plan to have any.

 

[mike tv]

copper is what im most worried about, since my town uses chlorine and not chloramine and i have the time to wait

if there was copper in the water, would it ever dissipate with water changes/time? or would it have poisoned my tank for the duration of its life

also, i know i shouldnt have used it, it was not part of the plan, but i didnt want to leave everything till the next night. my first lesson in patience has definitely been taught, and i believe i learned from it. better to wait for the real thing than to makeshift anything

 

[mike tv]

bump for copper question

 

[billdogg]

if you have any doubts, run some polyfilter - it will take the copper out for you. the reality is, however, that unless you used VERY hot water, such an insignificant amount would have leached out that it would make little if any difference. I would strongly suggest that you invent in your own ro/di unit for future use. no worries about the stores closing, etc..... will easily pay for itself in no time, just from a peace of mind standpoint.

 

[mike tv]

its definitely going to be in the equipment i purchase when i start a tank of any considerable size, this is more of an experiment so that i can make some mistakes before i build the tank i want.

but thanks for the advice!
haha im even excited looking at what im fairly sure is some kind of algae in there

 

[indydog1]

there will be lots more of that soon. depending on how your tap water tests. it is also part of the new tank syndrome.

good luck and welcome .

 

[otrlynn]

Your plan to do frequent water changes to get rid of as much tap water as possible is probably feasible. Since your tank is so small, you can get away with buying RODI for awhile until you can buy your own RODI unit. What you should buy ASAP are some test kits. If you want to hold the line on cost, the API test kits seem to be pretty accurate. At minimum you will need tests for alkalinity, high range pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. The all in one dip-strip tests are not very accurate. If this is your learning tank, it will be well worth your while to learn to do your own water tests. The tests will tell you when your tank has cycled and you can add some livestock. Have you read the "stickies" or threads at the top of this forum, the ones that are marked with the * ? They have a ton of valuable information for newbies.

 

[mike tv]

I kind of like the algae right now, as its a form of life and life is amazing in itself. That said, I'm quite sure I'll develop the contempt for problem algae that is common to all of you, as far as I can tell.

by the way, I've got red spots on one or two of my rocks (they both look like they might be dead acros) which have spikes coming out of them, whats that?