Water question
- Thread starter chris0799
- Start date
Allmost
New member
Prime will do that, it will also neutralize any ammonia ...
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html
tap water is not recommended for reef tank due to high po4, and SI and other metals, which can fuel up algae.
Allmost
New member
that's why we use RO/DI water ....
all salt mixes contain copper so its not THAT TOXIC in small amounts
I even dose copper weekly for my SPS to go lighter 
so you cant say tap water is TOXIC and will kill evrything, but you can sure say its not good 
An RO/DI unit will remove all the nasties from tap water. Those tap water filters you can buy at the lfs do not work for a marine tank.
The only problem that I have is that I really don't have the money for an RO/DI filter. I'm only 15 and I don't have a job or anything so it's gonna take a wile to get enough money to get one. What should I do in the meantime?
I have prime. Will mixing that in my tap water help out enough?? If not, any other options???
I have prime. Will mixing that in my tap water help out enough?? If not, any other options???
jeff@zina.com
New member
Prime will make your water acceptable to put fish and livestock in, but you will face other problems that using RO/DI water would solve. Algae can be a problem without RO/DI water, and some corals will have troubles in tap water. As long as you realize that some of the problems you have would be solved easily through the use of RO/DI water, you can use tap water and Prime to start.
You may also want to look at buying salt water from the LFS, saving the money for the salt and getting RO/DI water. Or, many grocery stores have water dispensers that sell RO/DI water for about 25 cents a gallon.
Jeff
Nebthet
New member
I have used tap water for my tank. Check out my tank thread here and you will see what happens to a tank using tap water.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1852918
While it is possible to use it, if you are vigilant with water changes, testing and what not, algae WILL become a huge issue.
Corals when they grow will be slow and not as brightly colored and some you will not even be able to keep at all because they need the better quality.
You will need to put the water in buckets, add the prime mix the salt then let it sit for 48 hours to allow crap to settle on the bottom. Try not to use the bottom inch of water when doing a water change because that crap on the bottom contains some heavy metals and other bad particles you don't want in your tank.
If you are just starting out a reef tank, (meaning not set up yet), you can start off with tap water and give it the two to three months to cycle, add small coral frags of easy growing stuff like zoas, acans, duncans and a fish or so, and in the mean time save up for an RO or RO/DI unit, and buy it when you can.
If you have to buy the parts separately to improve water quality you can do that, and just get the RO unit. That alone will make a tremendous difference. It did with my tank when I started switching over.
Take a look at page 4 and 5 of my tank thread. At the end of Oct, beginning of Nov I started doing water changes with RO water. Not only did I see a massive jump in growth in most of my sps, xenia and acans, but the algae started to back off and now I have next to none.
So if you want to start with tap, you can do that, but switch over to RO as soon as you can. If you know someone in the hobby with an RO unit who is willing to make some for you ask.
You can also buy it as walmart or some grocery stores.
But save up your money, or ask someone to buy it for you for your birthday. Bulk Reef Supply has some of the cheapest ones out there. Also keep an eye on Kijiji or Craigslist for people getting out of the hobby and selling their stuff. You can get cheap stuff that way.
So, just to reiterate, you can start with tap water if you are in a fix, but it is always much better to start with RO or RO/DI right from the beginning.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1852918
While it is possible to use it, if you are vigilant with water changes, testing and what not, algae WILL become a huge issue.
Corals when they grow will be slow and not as brightly colored and some you will not even be able to keep at all because they need the better quality.
You will need to put the water in buckets, add the prime mix the salt then let it sit for 48 hours to allow crap to settle on the bottom. Try not to use the bottom inch of water when doing a water change because that crap on the bottom contains some heavy metals and other bad particles you don't want in your tank.
If you are just starting out a reef tank, (meaning not set up yet), you can start off with tap water and give it the two to three months to cycle, add small coral frags of easy growing stuff like zoas, acans, duncans and a fish or so, and in the mean time save up for an RO or RO/DI unit, and buy it when you can.
If you have to buy the parts separately to improve water quality you can do that, and just get the RO unit. That alone will make a tremendous difference. It did with my tank when I started switching over.
Take a look at page 4 and 5 of my tank thread. At the end of Oct, beginning of Nov I started doing water changes with RO water. Not only did I see a massive jump in growth in most of my sps, xenia and acans, but the algae started to back off and now I have next to none.
So if you want to start with tap, you can do that, but switch over to RO as soon as you can. If you know someone in the hobby with an RO unit who is willing to make some for you ask.
You can also buy it as walmart or some grocery stores.
But save up your money, or ask someone to buy it for you for your birthday. Bulk Reef Supply has some of the cheapest ones out there. Also keep an eye on Kijiji or Craigslist for people getting out of the hobby and selling their stuff. You can get cheap stuff that way.
So, just to reiterate, you can start with tap water if you are in a fix, but it is always much better to start with RO or RO/DI right from the beginning.
