Water question !!!

[luisedumuller]

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the dumb question but i am really a newbie :lol2:

I am about to set up my first tank and i don't know what option to use for my salt water: RO/DI water or regular water with water conditioner.

I am most likely to go for a water with water conditioner because of price.
A guy in a LFS told me that it hould be fine to use tap water with conditioner but I read a few different opinions on that matter.

What are your thoughts ?

Thanks for the help I am really i doubt here...

Cheers !!!

 

[bundybear1981]

Many people keep tanks with conditioned tap water but RODI is generally considered better.
You don't know what other nasties can come in conditioned tap water that can cause issues in years to come. RODI will remove these from the water for you.

A few online retails sell units from about $190 (ex. shipping) for a 200LPD unit. It will last a long time and allow you to make your own RODI

 

[Ron Reefman]

I had a friend who kept a nice tank with 'conditioned' well water. So it can work, but I'd bet 80% or more of the reefers here on RC use RO at least and probably RO/DI.

Good luck with the new tank and welcome to RC.

 

[luisedumuller]

Thanks for the reply bundybear1981 and Ron
How about the increase in the water bill. Is it significantly ?

 

[homer1475]

I can only speak about my nano tank, but I make about 15 gallons of RO/DI a week every week. My water bill only went up like 10 bucks in a three month period, Your mileage may vary. I collect the waste water also and use it for other things instead of just throwing it down the drain(washing machine, watering flowers, FW tank, Etc, Etc).

 

[civics14]

I'm not sure the water cost in Australia, but where I live its like $4 per thousand gallons. Having a 70g tank and doing only a 10% biweekly water change is negligible in cost. My salt cost more

As far as using conditioned water vs. RODI water - I haven't tried condition water since from what I researched when I set up my tank all pointed in the direction of RODI water due to conditioned water being high in phosphates and other minerals that could lead to algae problems... I HATE ALGAE!! I even dislike coraline algae, I scrape every bit off that starts growing on my glass.

 

[scumbag_gli]

Here's the thing, you're going to have to buy water either way. Whether it be tap water with conditioner, and RODI unit, or water from the store.

IMO - invest in a RODI and profit. I have never seen GREAT results using tap. Sure, theres a few success stories, but why even gamble?

 

[CStrickland]

Maybe the guy at the store thought you were just keeping fish? Coral is a whole nother level because it's quite sensitive to things like copper that don't hurt us at all. So water that's perfectly safe to drink can be not good enough for coral. Plus the salt mixes we use are designed to be added to pure water, so if your tap water alkalinity is 6 ppm to start with the alk in the salt can push it too high.

That said, if I had a 10g nano I might just use "distilled water" for convenience rather than buy a rodi

 

[gone fishin]

I don't know what all is added to the tap water in Australia. I know some places do not put in a lot of things like they do here in the states. My personal opinion is you can't really go wrong with a well maintained RO/DI unit .

 

[bundybear1981]

They add a lot to the water here too... Depending on the source it can vary a little (this is the recent Sydney report. Down about pg 24 is a treated water report)
I recall that at minimum in Australia all water must be treated with both chlorine and chloramine with most areas adding fluoride to the potable water. I know my TDS in to my RODI ranges for 250s to 350s depending on the day thou.

I don't think it was really noticeable for the water costs. I more notice the power the tank uses.

 

[lifeoffaith]

After my experience with well water used ONLY as top off water a couple times, I would never use it again. To be sure there were probably more issues than that such as feeding too heavily, but the risk is not worth the algae issues that you will likely run into IMO. My tank became a lawn of hair algae, and even after I got a sea hare to take care of it, as soon as I sold him off, it started growing back.

 

[kmbyrnes]

RO/DI is the best way to guarantee your water quality.
Added benefits -
no schlepping to the LFS for RO/DI
no expensive water conditioner
you can keep some on hand for emergencies