would it be ok to use spring water in a reef tank

[nova62]

i have a friend who has a 125gal reef tank.he moved in to a new house.from the time he moved in nothing has done well in the tank.it was all doing great before the move.i have done everything i can think to make it better nothing works.so i am thinking that ther is somthing in his tap water.i moved all of his corals into 3 of my tanks and in a few hours everything was open and looked great.he donsent have a rodi unit so he was wondering if it would be ok to use spring water.i have never seen anything about using spring water so i didnt have a answer for him.if any one nows if it would bo ok please let me know.


thanks micaiah
R.A.R.E.

 

[kevin95695]

Test his tap water before mixing up SW. I'm betting his water is crap.

 

[nova62]

what should i test for in the tap water.i use tap water in all my tanks at home and the lfs i work at and i dont have any problems.could it be somthing in his pipes.

 

[MrMikeB]

Spring water generally has a high concentrate of minerals and other sediments and is not 'pure.' Although it might taste nice, typically you will be adding sodium, and other trace into the water, which can collect in your system over time as evaporation of the water leaves behind the sediment. Your best bet it to use RODI in my book to get close to zero total dissolved solvents as possible.

What do you mean that 'nothing has done well' - does it always die? There could be many possibilities here so more info would be needed (lights, water params, flow, water change frequency, temp, etc.)

 

[nova62]

some stuff died and some would not open.i have went down the list of things that it could be,lights, water params, flow, water change frequency, temp, etc.last thing i can think of it the tap water

 

[funman1]

Tap is just bad stuff.
Never use it..

 

[nova62]

not all tap is bad i use it in all my tanks at home and all the tanks at the lfs i work at. it all depends on were you live.i live in redding ca and we have pretty good tap water.

 

[funman1]

But you never know when it may change.
The city is not required to tell you if the tds goes from 30 to 1000.
Or if they change chemicals for treating the water, or add phosphates.

It's gambling; and I'm not a gambler.

I would rather plunk down the $200 and sleep well at night knowing I do not need to ever worry about water quality issues in my tanks.
And knowing that when something goes wrong in my tank it's one less thing to trouble shoot.

Why be thrifty with $200 riding on $thousands in a tank?
Just does not make any sense to me.

I'm a stickler for doing things correctly the first time, doing things in this hobby the second time is often too costly, and saddly many jump from the hobby because they never did it right in the first place.

That's my $0.02

Hey man do as you wish, but I call it crazy roulette...

 

[xia]

After moving I couldn't setup my RODI for a few weeks and so decided to use tap water with water conditioner, which definately caused my sps to lose color and brown out. Most everything declined in health. When I finally setup the RODI again, I could definately tell a difference, with just 5 gallons of the top off in my 75g. I did a couple of water changes after that and everything was back on track, everything's coloring up again and polyp extension is good.

Nova, why don't you give RO a try at home, and see how much better your tanks get? For the most part I thought RO was to keep the phosphates down, but who knows what else is in tap water. I did notice an increase in algae while using it.

For spring water, is he getting it out of a creek or stream, or is he buying it processed. If it's processed, just check out the label to see if it's been filtered, or the process that they use to filter it. I think some spring water companies filter their water with RO and then add minerals after the process for taste. IMO it should be okay if it's processed.

 

[Sheldon337]

I have used tap water since moving here (sac) over a year and half ago and have had excellent results. My tank is the best its ever been.

Xia, your few weeks of bad tank health could easily be attributed to the move and a slight cycle IMO.

Lee

 

[xia]

Actually I slowly moved my tank into my office next door to my new house over a few months, so it was cycled. It was when I finally left my old house to go the the new house that I no longer had the RO setup. The tank was it in great health before the tap water. I even had phosban running with the tapwater. The change was dramatic for me, otherwise I would attribute it to other things.

Of course it could also have been the dechlorinator I was using. It made my skimmer go crazy and it also smelled bad. Or could it be my corals were just used to the good stuff? I know that RODI is very clean. Water quality for corals could be compared to air quality for us. Living in poor quality water is like breathing in pollution or allergens. Of course this is just an analogy, and I have no idea what's really in tap water, but that's just the point. RO is clean.

Lee and Nova, do you guys use dechlorinator with your tap water?

 

[Sheldon337]

Nope. Just plain old tap water.

I'll post some growth pics later when i get home. I have experienced incredible growth since moving here and changing to tap water.

 

[funman1]

Changing to tap, from what?

 

[djscribz]

sac tap comes from the river and is run through a treatment plant right on the river. flouride and calcium is added along with chloromine. let tap cure overnight and its just as good as rodi imo

 

[funman1]

Umm my "sac" tap has 1400 TDS
I don't think that's as good as RODI water!?!?!?
Plus I don't know how great river water is either, have you seen the sludge, what about all the run off with phosphates from the local growing fields?

The best tap I have found that could even be close to considering was Citrus Heights and that clocked in at 31 tds

Think what you will about tap, but there's a reason people have water coolers, Crystal Water tm is not in business because their customers are dumb and can't taste the difference between tap and their water.
Sac water sucks, plain and simple.

Anyone who thinks 1400 tds water is as good as RODI; is just plain uneducated.

 

[AZDesertRat]

I would strongly advise you all get copies of the last couple years water quality reports from your water providers. Tap water may taste good but that is no indication it will be healthy for your reef system. The reason I say get a couple years of reports is utilities are only required by law to report the things that were tested for and found to be in the water that calendar year. Not all contaminants have to be tested every year, in fact some things can go 4 years between tests and others 3 years.

The biggest advantage of RO/DI water is consistency, just like using the same salt mix, bulb combination and lighting cycle, the same sucessful foods etc. You know you are using the same water each and every time you add it unlike tap water that can change hour to hour or day to day. You have a big storm, I guarantee you the water you get the next day or even for weeks is not the same you were getting before the storm. Chemicals change, treatment techniques change, dosages change and residual disinfectants go up to combat the water quality. You have a break in the water main down the street, water quality changes and you have absolutely no control over it.

Even the water quality reports are just a snapshot in time, the quality changed the next day. The reports will list the minimum, maximum, maximum allowed and the average for your utility so even then you don't know exactly where you are in that range. Its not worth risking thousands of dollars in corals and fish over a decision to not purchase a $200 RO/DI unit.

I was asked to pop in here and give my educated 2 cents worth and there it is.

 

[MandM]

Since we are doing water testing at the meeting, bring along a sample of your tap water and see for yourself.

Nova67, since you likely won't be driving down from Redding,
I would check that tap water for copper and phosphate for a start.

 

[Sheldon337]

Funman, I changed to tapwater when I moved here from Socal a year and half ago. I was using RODI down there.

I have a TDS meter, I live in Midtown.

I've never tested over 40. Usually 30-39.

I'm just saying what works for me.

I know others use tapwater here in the club and feel they can't express themselves without being attacked.

It would be great if I could read something without a snide comment like "you must be uneducated".

Just MY 2 cents.

 

[funman1]

I'm not attacking anyone, just saying it's plain wreckless (Like riding in a vehicle without a seatbelt, you may have had no problems in the past but someday you may.)

It may "work" for for some, but it's not the best idea for sure, and to spread the word that it is ok, and just fine fine, seems like a bad idea to me.

Do you think all sac water is as good as RODI?
I have sac water and based on my TDS numbers do you feel that's safe for untreated aquarium use?

I must admit your tap sounds better then most, but how long will it stay that way?

Not trying to offend anyone, but instead I'm trying to warn others of the massive dangers. We all learn from mistakes, or learn from others mistakes.
Just trying to help people out and possibly save them from a costly mistake MANY have already made in this hobby.

Sorry if I have offended you or anyone on here.
I just feel very strong about the issue and hate to see threads about peoples tanks gone wrong, from easily preventable things, this being one of them.
I dread the posts "I heard it was ok to.... now HELP something is wrong......"

My warning has been posted, my views have been stated.
If reefers choose this way to run their tanks, so be it.
Different strokes for different folks.

I'm done now.

PS: Again sorry to anyone I offended.

 

[MrMikeB]

When I first put my system together, I read about the need for RODI and decided, what the heck, and just rolled without it. I live in Fair Oaks and have no idea of what the TDS is or is not. What I can share with you is what happened.

I filled the 140 up with tap, mixed in the salt and let her cook for a couple days (with cured LR, and LS). The rock and sand I used were from an established system to reduce the curing cycle. I tested the water every day - actually I was just excited to test something, but the appeal of playing Mr. Chemist has since worn thin on me. Immediately out of the gate, my phosphates were coming in at .2+ and I noticed a bit of a chlorine smell (did not use a Chlorine test).

After a couple months I experienced huge diatom algae blooms, and stagnant growth in many of my newly acquired hard corals. After investing into the RODI, my phosphates remain near zero and the nasty algae has remained in check. I have to admit there have been a lot of changes to the system and I cannot absolutely attribute all the success to RODI, but I feel in my hearts of hearts it has played a huge role in the overal quality of the water and the growth of my tankmates.

If I had to do it all over, I would have bought the RODI up front.