Water for my tank is gone.

JMorris271

New member
I am so sad to say that my water well has run dry because of the drought. Is it absolutely required to do water changes to have a nice reef tank. In my part of SC our water reservoirs are turning green. We are in a crisis and I just can't churn out RODI anymore.
I guess Prime will have to do for now.
 
Any LFS that sells RODI in your area? I have a few near me that sells it for $.25 a gallon. Hauling buckets is a pain but if you just do small frequent changes it's not too bad.
 
There was one point in time where I haven't done a water change for maybe 4+ months. Lighty stocked, running carbon, topped off with clean ro, and you should be fine. I didn't even have a sump or skimmer and i kept lps
 
I am sorry to hear that, that is rather catastrophic.
For your nerves and peace of mind, I did read a survey not so long ago, where Aquarians using treated tap-water were compared to people using well water, RO, natural ocean water and other sources. It did seem that people who have natural seawater had it the most easy, but tap-water users did just fine. Sometimes better that RO users.

You might want to focus on mixing up the treated tap with whatever water you already have in small doses so you can spread out the impact of the change in water quality, rather than fearing the worse and just rush into it because you are forced.

And again. I am generally sorry to hear that your place in beginning to run into real water problems, that is ofc, besides the impact on your aquaria, a very serious situation.
 
run rodi waste into washing machine....thats what i do. i have zero waste, but then again im only making about 10 gallons a week..
 
Skipping water changes for a few months (or more) should not be a problem...try not to over feed, keep filters and skimmers at their best operating condition...a diatom filter may help
 
There's a local grocer with an RO machine I've used in emergencies...they don't really advertise it, it's "for drinking"...but it's a big RO machine....the only problem is you have to explain to everyone that walks by why you're filling up trash cans with water...and make sure no one throws garbage in it
 
Look into going no water changes? I know it is harder but seems possible. There is a real long thread in the advanced topics sub I think.
 
How big is your tank? Seems like using Prime might be worse than no water changes at all. My TDS is > 450, I can't imagine the amount of junk in there. If the tank is small, perhaps you can buy a bottled water and use that? I can get a 5g bottle of RO water at Lowes for under 20 bucks. One water change a month might be ok for a while.
 
Your own well quit producing? You've obviously got a major problem on your hands. Have you talked to a welldriller?
 
I found gallon jugs of pure water for $1.25 a Gal. and can sure live with that. I'm doing 15% changes a week for a 125 gal. which I'll cut back to 10%.
I feel so vain worried about my tank when our wheat and corn fields are dead and shortly the feed for stock will need to be imported.
 
You can probably cut back to 10% every two weeks if you're managing nutrients other ways auccessfully
 
There's literally nothing you can do about it so why feel bad? You can buy the same water and dump it in the wheat fields, but I'll bet a dollar that using it on your tank will generate a bigger benefit for more lives, yours included. I feel the same way sometimes, but can't underestimate the intangible value our tanks bring. Happy tank = happier me = better at life. Sounds trite, but if my tank starts crapping the bed I worry. And that's unneeded stress.
 
And then people might say well If your tank might bring you stress, why not get rid of it? There's the potential for stress in everything we do. But the reward is there as well. Otherwise life would be boring. Sorry. Rant over.
 
Not a perfect solution. but you need water for more then just your tank..

I know there are areas everywhere with dead spots of no water.. Get water service to deliver you water in large amounts. here its about 70.00 a month plus the tank rental. You can connect that tank to you well pump. I know several people not to far from us who do this because they have no city or country water and Water under the ground.. its actually on Knob Creek Road area in Kentucky Just north of ft knox..

if this is going to be a long term problem invest the 300-500 in a water tank instead of renting.

You can also get one that fits in a trailer or back of a pickup and get the water yourself. Been there done that building homes out in the middle of no where and water not ran to home yet.....

I am sure the County and state are working on a perm solution to the water shortage

Good Luck
 
It can be done. Have good tests, (Salifert is what I use) and test nitrate, alk, (and if reef, calcium and mg) weekly. Use supplements to bring the tank up to level (params are in my sig line) and just plan that when it does get better, you're going to do a series of 30-20-20% changes that will boost your trace elements properly--- There are a lot of people that keep a fairly stable basic reef without the regular changes: we don't encourage it, because it's NOT the best, especially for beginners who are putting other stresses on the tank, but you'll get through it fine if you test, pay attention, and just don't 'push' the tank with a heavy bioload.
 
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