Tap or RO water?

[miogpsrocks]

Hi.

When you first fill up your aquarium for the first time, do you use tap water with chemicals to take out the chlorine or RO water?

I know that RO water is to replace water that evaporates but I am unsure about the initial fill up ?

Thanks.

 

[g_langley]

RO, right from the start.

 

[Fish Keeper82]

RODI water for everything. Setup, mixing, top off.
tap will have hard metals in the water like copper that will kill corals and you will also have more algae problems if you use tap since it will be higher in phosphates.

 

[g_langley]

And when cleaning equipment in tap water, always rinse off with RO or tank water.

 

[Bent]

The answer to this question all depends on what's in the tap.

Saying that no on has a successful reef using tap water is just plain incorrect, however that's the exception not the rule.

Personally I wouldn't do it, I would use an RO because I can some what control it, whereas someone else is controlling my tap entirely.

If you want to use your tap, it's possible. Ideally you would want to have it analyzed to see what all is in it and what hurdles you would have to overcome. But even that's not garunteed, as the contents can suddenly change.

 

[Dundermifflin]

Although people do run their tanks successfully with conditioned tap water, my suggestion is to go with an RODI unit. For $200 you can get a 4 stage 75GPD RODI system from BRS. A great investment. They're fairly easy to set up and they're hassle free. Changing the resin and filter every so often is a simple task. With RODI you know you're getting the best water possible.

 

[DJasak]

I have to agree with everyone suggesting RO water. When I first started out, someone used the analogy of using tap water with a good water conditioner is like saying, "sorry for the bad air, but here's an air freshener to make up for that." It really helped open my eyes. A good aquarium starts with good water. Not all, but most sources of tap water have some sort of impurity, whether it be heavy metals, phosphates, or water chemicals, they can all cause issues with your tank. There can be a lot of uncertainties with the water that you just don't know about until your having issues with your tank. Not to say RO will automatically cure you of any issues because the next step in aquarium success is aquarium maintenance, but it does get rid of the "junk" in your water and will make your fish much happier.

 

[3dees]

I got my ro/di off e-bay. 100 gpd 4 stage with built in pressure gauge and tds meter for less than 200.00. there are a lot of the same units that are just re-labeled. I bought 25' of tubing when I set up my 120 gal. tank. ran the tubing from the ro unit into the tank. about 15' away. took two days to fill.

 

[cloak]

Like mentioned above it all depends on how good your tap water is. There's actually quite a few hobbysists out there that use tap water for their reef tanks and have had great success. If you have a RO/DI unti or just RO then use that, but if your waiting on one then I would just go ahead and use the tap water. Who knows, you might be one of the lucky ones. It's not like your going to bypass the "uglies" if you do use RO/DI water from the start. I'm still amazed at the amount of threads out there where the owners are using RO/DI water, yet there still having some of the same problems that tend to accompany bad tap water. GL.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/1/chemistry