Who else uses tap water?

I've been using tap water for 25 years now in 5 different houses, all in the same area.
I didn't test the TDS of any of the water untill the last 10 years or so and it has never gotten above 40, usually around 30.

I would not recommend to anyone to use tap water, but until I have a problem, I'm not going to change.
My current tank is 4 years old and all the rock and corals were moved over to it from a tank I had setup for 8+ years.
 
JHemdal said:
Like has been mentioned - it all depends on the city water source. Our water comes from Lake Erie and is higher in orthophosphate than a reef tank should run (>2ppm) so doing water changes with that source wouldn't make a whole lot of sense - each water change would make things WORSE. Cities that draw from rivers often have high nitrate in the spring (>10ppm ) and again, that is higher than you would want your reef to be.

TDS isn't the specific measurement of concern - high TDS derived from calcium would be a good thing! That's why some well water is actually better to use than RO.


Jay
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Hey Jay have you found a water report for Ohio? I can't for the life of me find it and I'm curious as to what is in our water. I'm guessing that I will need an RO unit as I'm from Brunswick. I think Medina county gets their water from other places as well. guess it's better to be safer
 
the problem with tap water is that if they work on the pipes one year 5 miles from your house where you dont see it and do a water change you could trash your tank, Plus there are seasonal changes with diatoms that you cannot see that will wreak havok with many people.

You nice folks are the exception not the answer, consider yourself lucky because thats all it is.

I love the insurance of a $100 piece of equipment to protect my thousands of dollars worth or reef
 
my sister used to run a reef aquarium using tapwater.
We called it the "Lake Erie" tank :beer:

Personally, I would never use tapwater in my own reef aquarium (pictured here) but hey- to each their own!
September2010.jpg
 
I don't see any reason to change something that isn't broken. I don't even grow a green film of algae on my glass in my sps reef. Tap water is only a problem in some places. Most canadian reefers i know use it. Of course i would use ro water if i had the set up, but then i again i would by 1000.00 skimmer and a 5000.00 lighting set up if they were given to me as well. There are a hundred ways to run a reef.
 
"Couple of years back on my fowlr I poured a couple of pitchers of tap water to top off tank, my Kole tang swam under it and proceeded to die within an hour or two(copper pipes probably). I had that tang for over a year till that day. The next day I bought an R/O and haven't looked back since"

I'm sorry but this just can't happen. For one that trace amount of copper if there was any would not be in high enough concentration to kill your Tang. Its used to treat Ich remember? I dont doubt it died. I just know it wasn't from swimming through the water as you were pouring it.
 
I have been using tapwater in various tanks for over 20 years nownever had a problem with it yet. Back when I was a kid we had tapwater that was almost undrinkable because it came off a limestone well bed was great for africans and my reef though. Don't remember ever supplenting calcium in that tank.
 
wow, my TDS from th tap is 64tds, after my "drinking water" RO unit (used for automated top offs) it is 4 tds, after it passes through the DI its 0. My RO unit for making water change water is 0 before and after DI.

So i imagine the water from my tap wouldn't be too bad to use.


travis32 said:
I use RO water. My outgoing TDS from my faucet is 620. And I know we have copper and brass pipes in the house. After the water goes through a water softner and an RO system, the water is then down to a TDS of 25.

I still have problems with Cyano. Very little hair algae though. I had some HA starting to come in, just a couple patches, I added Chaeto to my tank and my sump and I have seen no expansion of HA. Cyano is another story. It doesn't run rampant, but I can't get rid of it either. It's enough to make me want to try a RODI unit at some point.
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jwalker314 said:
wow, my TDS from th tap is 64tds, after my "drinking water" RO unit (used for automated top offs) it is 4 tds, after it passes through the DI its 0. My RO unit for making water change water is 0 before and after DI.

So i imagine the water from my tap wouldn't be too bad to use.
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Look up your city web site for water quality report. My city reported tds range is 22-168. I always measure my tds to be around 20-25. Check if the report has a warning for use in aquarium and mentions to remove chloramines before using in aquarium. Just simply passing the water through carbon filter is sufficient to break down the chloramines. I used to use RODI, but have since removed the RO. This eliminates the tons of wasted water, and will make my pre filters now last 5 times longer, and get the filtered water 5 times faster. Removing RO if your tap TDS is really high is probably not a good idea. But for those using or plan to use tap water, check your water utility report to see if your water supply contains chloramines, if so, you need to get a filter or additive that will break it down. It's component is chlorine and ammonia. It dissipates once it breaks down.
 
Of course this all depends on your water... Get it tested before wasting your money on this expensive hobby.
 
rkelman said:
"Couple of years back on my fowlr I poured a couple of pitchers of tap water to top off tank, my Kole tang swam under it and proceeded to die within an hour or two(copper pipes probably). I had that tang for over a year till that day. The next day I bought an R/O and haven't looked back since"

I'm sorry but this just can't happen. For one that trace amount of copper if there was any would not be in high enough concentration to kill your Tang. Its used to treat Ich remember? I dont doubt it died. I just know it wasn't from swimming through the water as you were pouring it.
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Swear to god....I had the fish for about a year and a half as I remember, never a problem. I poured the pitcher and he thought I was feeding and swam right into it. Noticed him looking bad an hour later. An hour after that he was getting flushed. I have no other earthly explanation.
 
LOl i drink nothing but tap water. tap water is tested non stop by your municipality and is regulated a lot more then bottled water. this disscussion can go on forever, so lets just say each case is different and it depends on the water being used. to be hounest, if it isnt safe for my reef then i wouldn't drink it.
 
i service tanks for my LFS and i have seen what happens with tap water . it is possable but i have never seen a tank that uses tap water look stunning in any way . use the right water and you will see results much,much better than conditioned tap water .
however you can get away with it in a fowlr tank or if you run out of RO/DI in a pinch but not as a consistent procedure for proper tank maintenance .
 
My tanks have been going for over 20 years now - nothing but tap water from beautiful Columbus, Ohio - Not even once has there been an issue I could blame on the water. It has worked well for me - I intend to keep on doing what works.
 
EdSnyder said:
What if you collected rain water for your tank?
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I'm sure that rainwater varies as much as tap. Easy to test with a TDS meter. Lot's of airborne pollutants spoil rainwater.

That doesn't mean you can't use it... but I won't :)

Think about it this way: where are the most pristine coral reefs located?

Acropora, Xeniids and Corallimorphs thrive in different environments.
 
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